Groups and organizations vary dramatically in their ability to learn. Some acquire substantial knowledge as a function of experience, while others do not. In groups, learning can occur at the level of the individual member and/or the group as a whole. In organizations, learning can occur at both of these levels as well as that of the wider collective. Besides varying in the amount and kind of information they acquire, groups and organizations also vary regarding their success in retaining knowledge and transferring it to other units. In general, groups and organizations that are proficient in acquiring, retaining, and transfering knowledge are more productive and more enduring than their less able counterparts.
The goal of this handbook is to bring together cutting-edge theoretical and empirical work on group and organizational learning by leading scholars from several disciplines. Because many of the same processes influence learning in groups and organizations, including both kinds of learning in the same volume has the potential to facilitate the integration of knowledge and the cross-fertilization of ideas. These benefits are reciprocal, in that research at the group level can shed light on how organizations learn whereas research at the organizational level can illuminate how groups learn. By clarifying similarities and differences in the processes that underlie learning in groups and organizations, the handbook advances understanding of the causes and consequences of learning in collectives of varying size and complexity.
Linda Argote is the David M. and Barbara A. Kirr Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory in the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, where she directs the Center for Organizational Learning, Innovation and Knowledge. Her research focuses on organizational learning, knowledge transfer, transactive memory, and group processes and performance. Her book, Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge was a finalist for the Terry Book Award of the Academy of Management. Dr. Argote served as Editor-in-Chief of Organization Science and Departmental Editor of Management Science. She was chosen as Distinguished Scholar by the Organization and Management Theory division of the Academy of Management. The International Network for Groups Research recognized her with the Joseph E. McGrath Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Study of Groups. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Management, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences.
John M. Levine is Professor of Psychology and Senior Scientist, Learning Research and Development Center, at the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on small group processes, including newcomer innovation in work teams, reaction to deviance and disloyalty, and the impact of disagreement/argumentation on learning. He has served as Editor of the
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology and Chair of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. Dr. Levine was co-recipient of the Joseph E. McGrath Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Study of Groups from the Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He is currently an Honorary Professor of Psychology at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
