Learning and Knowledge Depreciation in Professional Services

Tonya Boone (), Ram Ganeshan () and Robert Hicks
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Tonya Boone: Mason School of Business, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187
Ram Ganeshan: Mason School of Business, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187

Management Science, 2008, vol. 54, issue 7, 1231-1236

Abstract: Organizational knowledge is a critical source of competitive advantage for professional service firms. Learning from experience and sustaining past knowledge are critical to the success of such knowledge-driven firms. We use learning curve theory to evaluate learning and depreciation in professional services. Our results, based on seven years of project data collected from an architectural engineering (A/E) firm, show that (a) professional services exhibit learning curves, (b) there is virtually no depreciation of knowledge and, (c) the rate of learning accelerates with experience.

Keywords: learning; depreciation; professional services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

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