ORGANISATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL UNLEARNING IN IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF TECHNOLOGIES

Christian W. Scheiner (), Christian V. Baccarella (), Nina Feller (), Kai-Ingo Voigt () and John Bessant ()
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Christian W. Scheiner: Universität zu Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
Christian V. Baccarella: School of Business and Economics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lange Gasse 20, 90403 Nürnberg, Germany
Nina Feller: School of Business and Economics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lange Gasse 20, 90403 Nürnberg, Germany
Kai-Ingo Voigt: School of Business and Economics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lange Gasse 20, 90403 Nürnberg, Germany
John Bessant: University of Exeter Business School, Exeter EX4 4ST, United Kingdom

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), 2016, vol. 20, issue 02, 1-27

Abstract: The ability of an organisation to recognise and evaluate technologically relevant information can be impeded by outdated processes, structures and knowledge. Organisations need therefore a capacity for “intended memory loss”, which has been labelled as unlearning. Although a number of scholars have examined unlearning, research is still only beginning to understand unlearning especially in the area of technology identification and evaluation. The goal of this study is therefore to examine unlearning on an organisational and individual level in this context. Unlearning on an organisational level comprises team composition strategies and directives as well as the implementation of unlearning mechanisms. On an individual level, unlearning highlights cognitive prototypes which exert an influence on the perception of technologies and their evaluation. A qualitative approach has been chosen to examine those aspects, in which technological gatekeepers serve as sample subjects. Technological gatekeepers take a crucial role in the technology identification and evaluation as decision makers and due to their influence on organisational structures and processes. The results of this study suggest that unlearning plays currently only a minor role on an organisational and individual level, which is mainly caused by existing rigidities and in the missing understanding of the necessity to unlearn.

Keywords: Individual unlearning; organisational unlearning; technology identification; technology evaluation; technological gatekeeper; cognitive prototypes; automotive industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1142/S1363919616500171

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