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Learning to learn from failures: the impact of operating experience on railroad accident responses

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  • Vinit Desai

Abstract

Failures are difficult to learn from, and organizations unable to learn may continue to fail. This study reconciles conflicting theoretical predictions regarding whether organizations are able to learn from failure, by examining the moderating role of knowledge gained through an organization’s operating experience. The study also forwards the possibility that generalist and specialist organizations systematically differ at this process. Hypotheses are tested on a panel of railroad companies. These tests provide strong support for the role of operating experience, and partial support for differences across generalists and specialists. Contributions to organizational learning theory and related literatures are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Vinit Desai, 2016. "Learning to learn from failures: the impact of operating experience on railroad accident responses," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(2), pages 199-226.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:25:y:2016:i:2:p:199-226.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/icc/dtq019
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    Cited by:

    1. Ayamga, Matthew & Annosi, Maria Carmela & Kassahun, Ayalew & Dolfsma, Wilfred & Tekinerdogan, Bedir, 2024. "Adaptive organizational responses to varied types of failures: Empirical insights from technology providers in Ghana," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Jeffrey E. Harris, 2021. "The Repeated Setbacks of HIV Vaccine Development Laid the Groundwork for SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines," NBER Working Papers 28587, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Kim, Euisin & Rhee, Mooweon, 2017. "How airlines learn from airline accidents: An empirical study of how attributed errors and performance feedback affect learning from failure," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 135-143.
    4. Simon Pek & Chang Hoon Oh & Jorge Rivera, 2018. "MNC foreign investment and industrial disasters: The moderating role of technological, safety management, and philanthropic capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 502-526, February.
    5. Kristina Vaarst Andersen & Karin Beukel & Beverly B. Tyler, 2021. "Learning to Litigate: the Relationship Between Past Litigation Experience and Litigation Outcomes in the Chinese Intellectual Property System," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 479-500, December.
    6. Dahlin, Kristina & Chuang, You-Ta & Roulet, Thomas J, 2018. "Opportunity, Motivation, and Ability to Learn from Failures and Errors: Review, Synthesis, and Ways to Move Forward," SocArXiv 4qwzh, Center for Open Science.
    7. Victor Manuel Bennett & Jason Snyder, 2017. "The Empirics of Learning from Failure," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 1-12, March.

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