Are There Typological Characteristics of Individual Unlearning?

Organizations have sought solutions to produce consistent, competent practices while updating organizational processes. A traditional method of learning used strategies of identifying gaps in knowledge, and teaching lacking information to close gaps. Faulty learning completion processes often yield decreased work product quality, and productivity, or increased product costs. Knowledge base change creates ongoing difficulties for individuals who must unlearn, store, and use new knowledge processes to update the old. Knowledge change, or unlearning, speculated to involve a replacement of prior knowledge remains unconceptualized due to limited, anecdotally based research. This qualitative study aims to further characterize unlearning initiation processes, and clarify knowledge replacement factors: 1) How does individual unlearning initiate? and, 2) What factors contribute to the unlearning process? Three weekly-spaced interviews with 31 participants categorized unlearning using Rushmer and Davies’ (2004) typological unlearning model. Predominately two knowledge change typologies were demonstrated and a new unlearning model developed

Linking an unlearning context with firm performance through human capital

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among organisational unlearning, human capital and firm performance. In doing so, this paper comprehensively reviewed the literature on the unlearning concept, and developed and validated a model to measure unlearning in 112 companies listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange. The methodology involved the construction and analysis of a structural model using both subjective and objective criteria in our measurement variables, developed from a relevant literature review. Our findings show that managers need to develop an unlearning context process to create human capital, which is a primordial asset to improve firm performance

MANAGING OBSOLETE KNOWLEDGE: TOWARDS A CLARIFIED AND CONTEXTUALIZED CONCEPTION OF UNLEARNING

The paper aims at clarifying, specifying, and contextualizing the concept of organizational unlearning in the IS literature, through a systematic analysis of the concept. We suggest a definition of unlearning as an intentional practice in order to reduce the possible negative impacts of obsolete knowledge. Reviewing the IS literature based on the suggested definition, we identify four dominant views of unlearning. Using this definition, we empirically explore how organizations apply unlearning in the case of disruptive IT changes. The insight from the empirical study shows a wide range of unlearning practices which are applied to different organizational and technical factors. In addition, we identify six characteristics of the IS context which have direct bearings on applying unlearning practices. Using these empirical insights, we suggest how the concept of unlearning can be clearly defined and specifically operationalized in order to avoid common misunderstanding of this concept. We conclude by commenting on how the dominant views of unlearning in the IS literature can be completed and enriched

Unlearning before Creating new Knowledge: A Cognitive Process.

Recent research expresses serious doubts on the \ concept of unlearning. It is argued that knowledge \ cannot be discarded or eliminated in order to make \ space for the creation of new knowledge. Taking into \ account the recent scepticism, we focus on the \ cognitive dimension of unlearning and propose an \ alternative conceptualization. Considering how far \ unlearning can go from a psychological/cognitive \ scientific perspective, we propose that unlearning is \ about reducing the influence of old knowledge on our \ cognitive capacity. This study: (a) investigates the \ unlearning process within the cognitive domain and \ on an individual level and (b) proposes unlearning \ process triggers that detract or facilitate the \ knowledge change process, which could subsequently \ contribute to unlearning on an organizational level

Rigidities of imagination in scenario planning: Strategic foresight through 'Unlearning'

The emergence of strategic foresight from scenarios has constantly puzzled theorists. Whilst practitioners and scholars of scenario planning contend that scenarios generate strategic foresight by both stretching a manager's mental model by exposing them to a wide range of equally plausible futures, and triggering and accelerating processes of organisational learning, the true nature of this link between strategic foresight and organisational learning remains vague and undertheorised. Our paper tackles this puzzle by explicitly focussing on how strategic foresight emerges from the organisational learning process that unfolds during scenario planning. We undertook a 24-month long longitudinal study capturing both 'actions' and 'reflections' of a leading Scotch whisky manufacturer during their scenario planning exercises. Surprisingly, and perhaps counterintuitively, our findings unearth the role of 'unlearning' rather than 'learning' as a key mechanism that leads to the emergence of strategic foresight within the scenario planning process. Further reflection on the 'unlearning process' reveals that unlearning involves a 'letting go' or relaxing of deeply held assumptions and this in turn inadvertently leads to strategic foresight. Overall, by developing and introducing 'unlearning' as a key mechanism for the generation of strategic foresight, our paper aims to improve the effectiveness of scenario planning interventions as practiced

Machine Unlearning: Solutions and Challenges

Machine learning models may inadvertently memorize sensitive, unauthorized, or malicious data, posing risks of privacy violations, security breaches, and performance deterioration. To address these issues, machine unlearning has emerged as a critical technique to selectively remove specific training data points' influence on trained models. This paper provides a comprehensive taxonomy and analysis of machine unlearning research. We categorize existing research into exact unlearning that algorithmically removes data influence entirely and approximate unlearning that efficiently minimizes influence through limited parameter updates. By reviewing the state-of-the-art solutions, we critically discuss their advantages and limitations. Furthermore, we propose future directions to advance machine unlearning and establish it as an essential capability for trustworthy and adaptive machine learning. This paper provides researchers with a roadmap of open problems, encouraging impactful contributions to address real-world needs for selective data removal

Strategies Used by Retail Business Managers to Address Disruptive Changes in Technology

Disruptive changes in technology have shifted the competitive landscape in the retail travel industry and have led to high failure rates of traditional brick-and-mortar travel agencies. Retail business leaders have estimated the loss of market share to new market entrants at approximately 40% in 5 years. Responding to disruptive changes in technology may increase market share and survival rates of incumbent firms. Grounded in Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the strategies used by retail business managers to address disruptive changes in technology. Participants were 6 owners of travel agencies located in Nairobi, Kenya, who had owned their travel agencies for more than 5 years. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and review of company documents and archival records. Data were analyzed using Yin’s 5-step data analysis approach. Five themes emerged: business opportunities, competitive strategies, changes in technology, dynamic capabilities, and the business model. A key recommendation is to encourage retail business leaders to optimize their dynamic capabilities through collaborations with experienced partners for developing technology, products, and processes. Implications for positive social change include the potential to encourage retail business leaders to focus on sustainable business practices, thereby contributing to increased longevity and sustainability of retail travel businesses, which may lead to increased meaningful employment for unemployed individuals to enhance their quality of life