4-Levitt+&+March

=Levitt and March (1988) =

Key Concepts

· Organizational learning is routine based, history dependent and target oriented · Routines include rules, practices, procedures, and strategies that effect how an organization makes decisions o Routines can survive member turnover o Routines are transmitted in a variety of ways o Routines are dependent on the history of the organization · Believe that organizational memory is how organization preserves important information and ideas · Superstitious learning may occur when members make faulty interpretations · Competency traps may occur when a favorable outcome occurs with a faulty performance, thus having the members believe in their faulty performance and not research any other actions

Example A school finds that enrollment has increased for a current year. They also find that their standardized test scores have increased over the last several years. They may come to believe that the reason their enrollment has increased is that their test scores have increased and more people want to come to their school. Where in reality there was an influx of families to their school community that led to their enrollment increase. This would be an example of superstitious learning. No research has been done, but rather there is a faulty connection between actions and outcomes.

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In order to understand Levitt and March, one must understand the power of routines and how they become part of the culture of the organization. Beyonce Knowles' //All the Single Ladies// video was a huge smash hit because of the choreography and dance that went along with the song. This video, and people mimicking the video might be the best case of a music video going viral in the last decade. The sheer exposure of the videos created by everyday people inspired the writers on //Saturday Night Live// to create a parody of the video. The video became more about the routine than it did about the song. In organizations Levitt and March argue that routines become experiential knowledge. The number of people that took the dance routine and created a personal video shows how powerful routines are and how they can take over an entity and make the routine part as much of the entity's identity as the mission or purpose of the entity.

Similarities and Differences to other Theories

Levitt and March are similar to Fiol and Lyles research in that they believe that past history has a way of forming organizations and their learning.

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