Behind the Learning Curve: A Sketch of the Learning Process

Management Science, Vol. 37, No. 3, p. 267, 1991

Posted: 10 Apr 2007

See all articles by Paul S. Adler

Paul S. Adler

University of Southern California - Management and Organization Department

Kim B. Clark

Harvard Business School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Brigham Young University Idaho

Abstract

Using data from 2 manufacturing departments in an electronic equipment company, a model of productivity improvement as a function of cumulative output and 2 managerial variables - engineering changes and workforce training - is constructed. Two learning models are used: 1. the classic learning curve model, in which productivity is an exponential function of experience, and 2. the learning process model, which is premised on the idea that a significant part of the effect of experience on productivity captured in the learning curve model might be due to the influence of identifiable managerial actions. The standard learning curve model is compared with the learning process models of the 2 departments. Three principal conclusions are generated: 1. The total learning effect is just as strong in the capital-intensive area as in the labor- and materials-intensive area. 2. The learning process is internally complex. 3. The relative roles of explicitly managed, 2nd-order learning and of tacit, first-order learning vary substantially across processes.

Suggested Citation

Adler, Paul S. and Clark, Kim, Behind the Learning Curve: A Sketch of the Learning Process. Management Science, Vol. 37, No. 3, p. 267, 1991 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=979437

Paul S. Adler (Contact Author)

University of Southern California - Management and Organization Department ( email )

Los Angeles, CA 90089
United States
213-740-0728 (Phone)
213-740-3582 (Fax)

Kim Clark

Harvard Business School ( email )

Soldiers Field
Morgan Hall 125
Boston, MA 02163
United States
617-495-6550 (Phone)
617-495-0316 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Brigham Young University Idaho

525 S Center St
Rexburg, ID 83440
United States

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