Learning in Temporally Complex Problems: The Role of External Knowledge

Christina Fang (), Ji-hyun (Jason) Kim () and Hisan Yang ()
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Christina Fang: Department of Management and Organization, Stern School of Business, New York University, New York 10002
Ji-hyun (Jason) Kim: Department of Management, School of Business Yonsei University, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, South Korea
Hisan Yang: Rucks Department of Management, E. J. Ourso College of Business, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803; and Department of Management and Marketing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China

Organization Science, 2025, vol. 36, issue 5, 1861-1880

Abstract: We explore how decision makers utilize external and internal knowledge in problems characterized by temporal complexity where there is a separation between action and outcome. Many strategic and organizational decisions have longer-term consequences, yet behavioral models of learning have underexplored this class of problems. Consequently, we do not know much about the role of external knowledge in tackling temporally complex problems, let alone how it interacts with internal knowledge from experiential learning processes. Our computational analyses show that, although having a greater level of external knowledge is generally advantageous, its positive impact diminishes notably or can even become negative when external knowledge is limited. Surprisingly, decision makers operating with limited external knowledge can perform worse than those without any external guidance at all. In a temporally complex problem, knowing what to do at any given point is not sufficient as one still needs to undertake a long sequence of actions before reaching the goal. In other words, external knowledge does not guarantee that optimal actions will be chosen in subsequent decision-making situations. This dynamic may lead the decision makers to overvalue actions that serve as stepping stones to the available external knowledge and undervalue alternative actions that may provide more desirable paths toward the goal.

Keywords: organizational learning; external knowledge; temporal complexity; credit assignment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:36:y:2025:i:5:p:1861-1880

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