Organizational Learning : The Effects of (Network) Structure and (Individual) Strategy

Earlier theoretical accounts of collective learning relied on rules and operating procedures as the organizational memory (March, 1991; Rodan, 2005). This paper builds on this tradition drawing on ideas from social network theory. Learning is modeled as a social-psychological process (Darr & Kurtzberg, 2000; Rulke, Zaheer, & Anderson, 2000), in which organizations learn by exchanging information internally between their members (Argote, Ingram, Levine, & Moreland, 2000c; Carley, 1991, 1995). Learning is also characterized as stochastic and creative (Gruenfeld, Martorana, & Fan, 2000). This model is used to explore predictions about to the effect social networks have on idea generation and learning and alternative strategies for choosing from whom to seek information