| Harnessing an individual's idea to drive organizational learning is a powerful process; one that can cause organizations to reach new levels of competency, integration and innovation. But for the individual's idea to have relevance for the company, decisions must be made to support which ideas will become part of organizational learning. Delay or mistakes in this decision making process can mean missing a business opportunity or innovation. "Organizations must learn faster and adapt to the rapid change in the environment or they simply will not survive." (Schwandt & Marquardt, 2000, pp.2) Rational, fact-based models, the staple in business for years, are making way for intuitive-based models. Understanding these types of decision-making processes within the context of organizational learning is an emergent field.; This single case describes how one person's idea became institutionalized in a large information technology company. Interviews, company documents and journal entries reveal the decision processes executives used in the context of organizational learning.; The study found that throughout the organizational learning process: (1) Major decisions occurred at four different levels: individual, group, organization, and beyond the organization. (2) As the idea moved through the process, there were periods of divergence and convergence of ideas. (3) A "fabric" of decisions occurred continuously across multiple levels. (4) Both intuitive and rational decision making activities were required. (5) There was congruence between individual decision making and group decision making. (6) There existed a 'safe place' for the open exchange of ideas at the group level.; The conclusions are: (1) The model proposed by Crossan et al. (1999) for organizational learning was supported by this study and can be extended beyond the organizational boundaries. (2) Stated usage of intuitive or rational decision making may be driven by an interviewee's point of view or critical reflection. (3) Major decisions occurred at four different points in the organizational learning process but were supported by a 'fabric' of decisions throughout. (4) A combination of intuitive and rational decision making methods are used at each decision point in the organizational learning process as well as in both feed forward and the feed backward processes. |
