Under the Hood – Learning and Innovation in the Islamic State’s Suicide Vehicle Industry

This article explores how the Islamic State learned from its suicide bombings, a tactic that in theory undermines the in-group stability associated with organizational learning. Using interviews from Mosul and Baghdad together with internal documents from the Division of Soldiers it provides a case study of the learning and production process underlying innovations in suicide vehicle designs between 2014 and 2017. It examines how the group acquired, distributed, interpreted, implemented, and stored information from suicide vehicle operations in its military-industrial complex, and details how the group learned by maximizing continuity among personnel in support, coordinating, and production roles.