Information technology and organizational learning: an investigation of exploration and exploitation processes

Information technology and organizational learning: an investigation of exploration and exploitation processes

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Article ID: iaor20082948
Country: United States
Volume: 18
Issue: 5
Start Page Number: 796
End Page Number: 812
Publication Date: Sep 2007
Journal: Organization Science
Authors: ,
Keywords: knowledge management
Abstract:

This study investigates the effects of information technology (IT) on exploration and exploitation in organizational learning (OL). We use qualitative evidence from previously published case studies of a single organization to extend an earlier computational model of organizational learning by introducing IT-enabled learning mechanisms: communication technology (e-mail), knowledge repositories of best practices, and groupware. We find that each of these IT-enabled learning mechanisms enable capabilities that have a distinct effect on the exploration and exploitation learning dynamics in the organization. We also find that this effect is dependent on organizational and environmental conditions, as well as on the interaction effects between the various mechanisms when used in combination with one another. We explore the implications of our results for the use of IT to support organizational learning.

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