Organizational Learning from Performance Feedback: A Behavioral Perspective on Innovation and Change

Description

Revisiting Cyert and March's classic 1963 'Behavioral Theory of the Firm', Henrich Greve offers an intriguing analysis of how firms evolve in response to feedback about their own performance. Based on ideas from organizational theory, social psychology, and economics, he explains how managers set goals, evaluate performance, and determine strategic changes. Drawing on a range of recent studies, including the author's own analysis of the Japanese shipbuilding industry, he reports on how theory fits current evidence on organizational change of risk-taking, research and development expenses, innovativeness, investment in assets, and in market strategy. The findings suggest that high-performing organizations quickly reduce their rates of change, but low-performing organizations only slowly increase those rates. Analysis of performance feedback is an important new direction for research and this book provides valuable insights in how organizational learning interacts with other influences on organizational behaviour such as competitive rivalry and institutional influences.

Henrich R. Greve is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD. He holds a PhD in organizational behavior from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, along with an MA in Sociology. Henrich's main research interest is the causes and consequences of strategic change in organizations, but he also studies organizational innovations, and organizational founding and growth in young industries.

'... an extraordinarily impressive achievement and a must-read for all serious students of organizational learning, innovation, decision-making, and performance ...No one can afford to overlook this remarkable volume.' Christine Oliver, Henry J. Knowles Chair and Professor of Organizational Strategy, Schulich School of Business, York University 'A feast for thought that every serious student of strategy and organization will consume with pleasure.' Joel Baum, Canadian National Chair in Strategic Management, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto '... this book is going to become a standard reference for scholars interested in studying how organizations learn, innovate and change.' Zur Shapira, William Berkley Professor of Management Stern School of Business, New York University '... an outstanding review of both the theoretical and empirical literatures that address the influence of performance on corporate behavior.' Philip Bromiley, Curtis L. Carlson Chair in Strategic Management Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota '... a remarkably engaging and innovative accomplishment.' Hayagreeva Rao, Richard L. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Leadership and Change, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University