prof. dr. Miha Škerlavaj

Exploratory study of organizational learning network within a Spanish high-tech company December 15, 2008

My research efforts related to studying organizational learning networks are becoming more and more international. This time we published a paper together with Spanish colleagues from University of Castilla-La Mancha. The paper citation is Sánchez de Pablo González del Campo, Jesús David; Guadamillas Gómez, Fátima; Dimovski, Vlado; Škerlavaj, Miha (2008): Exploratory Study of Organizational Learning Network in a Spanish High-tech Company, Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics – Journal of Economics and Business, 26(2): 257-277.

Here is the abstract:

The paper presents an exploratory study of the intra-organizational learning network in the context of a Spanish high-tech company. It expands the generalization of the network perspective to intra-organizational learning. Based on an exploratory social network analysis, we formulated four propositions that will be developed and contrasted in a later confirmatory study. First, the exploratory analysis demonstrates the importance of industry experience and tenure within the company as a common denominator of most central employees within learning networks. Second, similarity in terms of experiential level breeds mutual learning. Third, complementarity of knowledge is important for the formation of learning ties. Fourth, physical proximity creates opportunities to learn. Future research will need to test these four propositions in a confirmatory study.

Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics – Journal of Economics and Business is a new SSCI ranked journal (indexed since July, 31 2008).