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Firm Strategies for Costly Engineering Learning

Author

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  • Ashoka Mody

    (The World Bank, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433)

Abstract

The models developed in this paper seek to open up the `black-box' of learning. I suggest that we need to think of learning-by-doing as a process of knowledge creation on the shop-floor by specialized teams of engineers. Learning is to be viewed, therefore, as a conscious decision and not a mere by-product of production. The models in this paper provide the basis for understanding international and inter-firm differences in rates of learning. For example, cheaper engineering resources, longer time horizons, faster output growth rates and superior transferability of knowledge from engineers to production workers are shown to be some possible factors responsible for faster learning in Japanese firms compared to U.S. firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Ashoka Mody, 1989. "Firm Strategies for Costly Engineering Learning," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(4), pages 496-512, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:35:y:1989:i:4:p:496-512
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.35.4.496
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. John W. Boudreau, 2004. "50th Anniversary Article: Organizational Behavior, Strategy, Performance, and Design in Management Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(11), pages 1463-1476, November.
    2. Terwiesch, Christian & E. Bohn, Roger, 2001. "Learning and process improvement during production ramp-up," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Demeester, Lieven L. & Qi, Mei, 2005. "Managing learning resources for consecutive product generations," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 265-283, February.
    4. Matthew S. Goldberg & Thomas P. Frazier, 1994. "Employment and utilization of engineers among defense contractors," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(7), pages 853-874, December.
    5. Gagnon, Roger J. & Sheu, Chwen, 2000. "The impact of learning, forgetting and capacity profiles on the acquisition of advanced technology," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 51-76, February.
    6. Kim, Bowon, 1996. "Learning-induced control model to allocate managerial resources for production technology development," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 267-282, June.
    7. Qin, Ruwen & Nembhard, David A., 2010. "Workforce agility for stochastically diffused conditions--A real options perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 324-334, June.

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