Abstract
The purpose of the study is to reestablish the link between theories of organizational learning and knowledge creation – theories that in research, have been pursued as independent themes for almost two decades. Based on the literature review, I build a framework that proposes how the two streams of literature complement each other, how they are similar, and how they are different. To understand the framework’s empirical applicability, I utilize it as a theoretical lens to study an innovation project in a Danish public service organization. Based on a longitudinal and participatory research strategy, I build eight propositions that are used to discuss and extend the organizational learning and knowledge creation literatures and to justify the framework’s applicability. Finally, I present the managerial implications and the conclusions of the study.
Highlights
According to Lyles (2014), the study of knowledge creation and organizational learning is “pursued as independent themes in research (...) and the links between them tend to be forgotten (...) because it is hard to reconcile fundamental assumptions about knowledge, information, environment and learning” (Lyles, 2014 pp.132–133)
I propose the bold statement that knowledge creation processes on an individual level and a group/team level cannot be viewed as organizational learning unless a formal decision to use, rework or reject the new knowledge is made
Both individual employees as well as members of teams in innovation projects can learn without their new knowledge reaches an organizational awareness where it can be used for renewal
Summary
According to Lyles (2014), the study of knowledge creation and organizational learning is “pursued as independent themes in research (...) and the links between them tend to be forgotten (...) because it is hard to reconcile fundamental assumptions about knowledge, information, environment and learning” (Lyles, 2014 pp.132133). When Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) insisted that knowledge creation in a firm was different from organizational learning, they created a membrane between the two fields that lead to the development of different theoretical constructs and definitions This deliberate choice to disregard organizational learning has since been noticeable in the knowledge creation literature, since the concept of learning is hard to find (Nonaka, Kodama, Hirose, & Kohlbacher, 2014; von Krogh, Ichijo, & Nonaka, 2000). With this study I aim to alter the tendency of diversification, since the two research paradigms can cross-fertilize each other and increase our understanding of how innovation and change emerge (Argote, 2011; Easterby-Smith & Lyles, 2014) This argument is predicated on the premise that knowledge and learning are intertwined. Knowledge creation is defined as the act of making knowledge created by individuals available, amplifying it in social contexts, and selectively connecting it to the existing knowledge in the organization (Nonaka & von Krogh, 2009)
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