Organizational learning processes in downsizing

The purpose of this article is to explore organizational learning processes by examining how companies learn to do something new, namely downsize, on the basis of a small sample of companies in Europe. In a first step, the range of possible responses to downsizing, as discussed in the literature, is presented and compared with the responses described in the interviews. Significant gaps between the options described in the literature and the activities undertaken by the sample companies were found. In a second step, models of organizational learning are presented, specifically focusing on knowledge acquisition, information distribution and interpretation, and compared with the learning processes described by the sample companies. The article suggests that had the companies used a broader range of knowledge acquisition strategies, they might have expanded their range of responses to downsizing. A revision of organizational learning models to include a greater variety of perspectives in a problem definition phase before knowledge acquisition is undertaken is recommended. -- Um erfassen zu können, wie europäische Firmen lernen, die für sie neuen Aufgaben des Downsizing zu planen und durchzuführen, wurden zunächst die Erfahrungen in der US-amerikanischen Wirtschaft anhand einer Literaturanalyse und durch Sekundärstudien ausgewählter Untersuchungen ausgewertet. Anschließend wurde eine Primärerhebung durchgeführt. Es wurden Expertengespräche in 13 Unternehmen aus unterschiedlichen Branchen in vier westeuropäischen Ländern (vorrangig in Deutschland) durchgeführt. Die Auswertung der Interviews mit Führungskräften zeigt, daß in Europa die Erfahrungen der USA bisher so gut wie nicht wahrgenommen worden sind. Dieser Beitrag stellt die Lernstrategien der untersuchten Firmen dar und zeigt die Lücken auf, die sowohl für die Praxis wie auch für die Theoriebildung im Bereich Organisationslernen entstehen.

The centrality of 'between' in intellectual entrepreneurship

A great deal of intellectual entrepreneurship happens between institutions. Between institutions in the dual sense of the term: institutions as organizations and institutions as conventions. Ideas and the energy to take them forward are often born when people from different organizations come together, ideas that might not fit within one institution alone. And the introduction of new ideas often involves pushing institutions as conventions aside, creating new space BETWEEN existing institutions for the different idea to emerge. The article explores the example of a business- and-research venture, CHOICE mobilitätsproviding GmbH, to illustrate the importance of multiple types of BETWEEN and their significance for organizational learning. -- In der modernen Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft ist Wissen die wichtigste erneuerbare Ressource. Welche Rolle spielen Institutionen bei der Generierung von Wissen und dessen Umsetzung in Innovationen? Findet wissensbasiertes unternehmerisches Denken und Handeln innerhalb von Institutionen oder eher außerhalb von Institutionen statt? In diesem Beitrag wird die Bedeutung von Räumen und Zeiten zwischen Institutionen hervorgehoben und zwar im doppelten Sinn: Institutionen als Organisationen und Institutionen als Konventionen. Anhand des Beispiels der CHOICE mobilitätsproviding GmbH, einem Unternehmen zwischen Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft, werden einige Zwischen-Institutionen dargestellt und ihre Bedeutung für das Organisationslernen erläutert.

The studio in the firm: a study of four artistic intervention residencies

Submitted version (preprint) / Eingereichte Fassung (preprint

Artistic interventions in organizations: beyond the fad

Did the 2011 announcement by The Economist that ‘business has much to learn from the arts’ signal another short-lived management fad? Or might it mean that artistic interventions have entered the mainstream so that working with people, products and practices from the world of the arts can help employees to generate meaningful improvements in organizations and society? This chapter draws on multi-stakeholder research to frame the potential for organizational learning with artists, highlighting how they can complement consultants in contextualizing such processes. Three cases illustrate how artistic interventions can offer an aesthetically-aware approach to contextualizing organizational learning. The chapter identifies essential preconditions, namely (a) that managers conceive of artists as partners rather than as suppliers, and of themselves as co-learners with the employees and artists rather than as paymasters and controllers, and (b) that they communicate the value they attach to the process in both word and deed.Submitted version (preprint

Organizational learning in China: the role of returners

The Chinese authorities have launched a range of policies and incentives at the national and regional level to attract citizens who have studied and worked abroad to return in order to contribute to upgrading the competitiveness of the Chinese economy, particularly in light of China's entrance to the World Trade Organization. In other words, the returners are expected to stimulate organizational learning in existing organizations and in new companies. This article provides an overview over what has been done to date and points out that simply increasing the number of returners is not enough to achieve organizational learning. Drawing on research findings about the dynamics of organizational learning from returned expatriate managers in international companies, the article develops recommendations for government policies, corporate strategies and Chinese returners. -- In den letzten Jahren hat die chinesische Regierung vielfältige Maßnahmen eingeleitet, um chinesische Bürger, die im Ausland studiert und gearbeitet haben, zur Rückkehr zu bewegen, um mit deren Wissen die Konkurrenzfähigkeit der Wirtschaft des Landes zu stärken. Diese Transformationsaufgabe, die durch den WTO Beitritt Chinas als dringend angesehen wird, erfordert umfangreiche Organisationslernprozesse. Der vorliegende Beitrag bietet einen Überblick über die Palette der bisherigen Maßnahmen und weist darauf hin, dass eine rein quantitativ ausgerichtete Politik kein Garant für den nötigen Grad an Organisationslernen ist. Aufbauend auf Forschungsergebnissen über Organisationslernen durch Expatriates in multinationalen Unternehmen, werden Empfehlungen für die staatliche Politik, für Unternehmen und für die Rückkehrer ausgearbeitet.

The centrality of 'Between' in intellectual entrepreneurship

"A great deal of intellectual entrepreneurship happens between institutions. Between institutions in the dual sense of the term: institutions as organizations and institutions as conventions. Ideas and the energy to take them forward are often born when people from different organizations come together, ideas that might not fit within one institution alone. And the introduction of new ideas often involves pushing institutions as conventions aside, creating new space BETWEEN existing institutions for the different idea to emerge. The article explores the example of a business-and-research venture, CHOICE mobilitätsproviding GmbH, to illustrate the importance of multiple types of 'BETWEEN' and their significance for organizational learning." (author's abstract)"In der modernen Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft ist Wissen die wichtigste erneuerbare Ressource. Welche Rolle spielen Institutionen bei der Generierung von Wissen und dessen Umsetzung in Innovationen? Findet wissensbasiertes unternehmerisches Denken und Handeln innerhalb von Institutionen oder eher außerhalb von Institutionen statt? In diesem Beitrag wird die Bedeutung von Räumen und Zeiten zwischen Institutionen hervorgehoben und zwar im doppelten Sinn: Institutionen als Organisationen und Institutionen als Konventionen. Anhand des Beispiels der CHOICE mobilitätsproviding GmbH, einem Unternehmen zwischen Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft, werden einige 'Zwischen-Institutionen' dargestellt und ihre Bedeutung für das Organisationslernen erläutert." (Autorenreferat

Managing artistic interventions in organisations: a comparative study of programmes in Europe

This report documents how organizations and artists are learning to learn together in new ways. It draws on experiences in France, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Traditionally interactions between the world of the arts and other worlds, especially business, have been arm's length relationships, taking the form of philanthropy and corporate social responsibility. Over the past few decades more instrumental relationships have emerged in the form of sponsoring and corporate identity activities. In addition, there has recently been a growth of short-term artistic interventions embedded in corporate training or organisational change programmes, often organised by consultants. Only recently has a qualitatively new possibility been conceived: medium-term projects lasting several months, in which people from the world of the arts and the world of organisations seek to learn from each other and create new knowledge together. This report describes and compares six such artistic intervention programmes in five European countries. On the basis of interviews with the multiple stakeholders involved as well as site visits, the report shows that bridging between the two worlds requires numerous functions and processes that are often complex and time-consuming. They require persistence, flexibility and vision in order to create new kinds of "values-added" in organisations and for the arts. The need for bridge-building has engendered the emergence of intermediary organisations. The review documents that these new actors come in various organisational forms, and they have each developed their own approaches to initiating and enabling potential learning relationships between artists and organisations in other spheres. This comparative study therefore offers diverse models that can instruct and inspire other actors seeking to engage in artistic interventions

When arts enter organizational spaces : implications for organizational learning

This chapter addresses a new approach to organizational learning, namely, artistic interventions, which encompass a variety of ways that people, products, and practices from the world of the arts enter the world of organizations. Although the field has grown rapidly, little empirical research has been conducted on what actually happens inside organizations during and after artistic interventions. The author argues that, to close gaps and correct for biases in existing work, future research will need to engage multiple stakeholders (employees, artists, managers, intermediaries, and policy-makers), address multiple ways of knowing, especially the neglected bodily senses, and draw on concepts and methods from diverse disciplines.Eingereichte Fassung (preprint) / Submitted version (preprint