A multi-case analysis of informal learning and innovation, with Joyce Klein Marodin and Miikka Lehtonen
Highlights
Based on 27 interviews in a large Australian engineering company, our qualitative interpretation shows that innovation can have very different antecedents. We mobilised ANT as our vantage point to explore inanimate entities and their effect on social processes or, more specifically, networks. In this study, we use the actor-network theory (ANT) as a theoretical framework to better understand the process of constructing learning as part of the networking process to produce innovations. Focusing on the antecedents of innovation within three teams in an engineering company, we propose a framework to enhance understanding of the innovative processes. We apply the actor-network theory to examine how informal learning is distributed among human and non-human actors. We propose a framework to better understand innovative processes by exploring the network aspects of non-human actors and their connection to learning. More specifically, findings contribute towards a more granulated understanding of how networks, learning, and non-human actors contribute towards innovations in organizations. Surprisingly, leadership, communication, and motivation did not give the best innovative outcome as we expected. Challenging traditional theorisations, low teamwork spirit, and high individual performance orientation were some of the powerful drivers of highly innovative teams.
Sustainable Development Goals
Cite
Marodin-Klein, J., Wechtler, H., & Lehtonen, M. (2023). Do all roads lead to Rome? A multi-case analysis of informal learning and innovation. Management Decision .
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