Learning From Errors:Staff Behavior And Its Aggregation Effect

Errors are part of human behaviors and difficult to be avoided. Everyorganization is troubled by errors. Errors provide learning opportunities fororganizations, and learning from errors is one of the main ways oforganizational learning. Organizations are composed of staffs. Organizationallearning from errors is a process of two-level learning of individual andorganizational. The learning process is realized by staff behaviors. Behavioraleffect of staff individual on the organizational level accumulated will haveeffects on the whole organization, namely the “aggregation effect”.This thesis contains following studies and results:①Concludes the influencing factors and consequences of organizationallearning from errors and establishes the process model of organizationallearning from errors by combing the related literatures. Research shows thatthe process of organizational learning from errors includes error detection,error reporting, error explanation, error handling, error extension, errorfeedback and knowledge management and so on. Error reporting andknowledge management are the important links of organizational learningfrom errors. Error reporting provides important error learning resources fororganizations which promote organizational learning from errors.Organizational learning from errors can control the negative consequences oferrors, and further reduce organizational accident probability. Knowledgemanagement is conducive to organizations accumulation, transformation,sharing and protection of knowledge acquired from learning from errors, andfurther improves organizational knowledge level. Therefore, future study isdivided into two parts that staff error reporting behavior and its impact onorganizational accident probability, and staff error learning behavior and itsimpact on organizational knowledge level.②Researches staff error reporting behavior, the correspondingorganizational accident probability. Under the condition of synergistic effectand incomplete information, the Bayesian game model is applied. The uniqueBayesian Nash equilibrium obtained through this model. It describes that partof the organizational staff choose to report errors, and others not, when all adopting rational principles (instead of random principles). Research showsthat the expected benefits of error reporting, the division level, theinterdependent level of tasks and individual differences among staffs willaffect staff error reporting behavior and organizational accident probability.③Analyzes staff error learning behaviors, the correspondingorganizational knowledge level, in the perspective of two-level KnowledgeSources of staff error learning (staff learn from staff and staff learn fromorganization). Under the influence of external environment and errormanagement climate, the computer simulation model is applied. Researchshows that the relationship of error management climate betweenorganizational knowledge level is an inverted U-shaped, and exploitativelearning of communication and exchange errors among staffs and exploratorylearning of staffs to knowledge of the organizations are all conducive toimprove organizational knowledge level.