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Loek FM Nieuwenhuis, Aimee Hoeve & Karin PJ Truijen
Conceptualisation of routines as a carrier for innovation
17 Seiten · 3,63 EUR
(September 2011)
Introduction:
In this paper we present the results of two PhD-studies that concentrate on the relation between innovation strategies of organisations and learning activities on the shop floor within communities of practice. These studies combine economic theories on innovation and educational theories on learning. Such a multi-disciplinary approach seems fruitful to bridge individual and organisational learning.
We modelled innovation as a learning process at different levels of aggregation. An important finding is that the concept of routines is crucial for understanding the interconnection of learning at different levels in a work organisation. This concept offers a unit of analysis that captures change on a micro level, and allows researchers to "zoom in" and make change and its driving forces more visible.
In the first part of this article, we present a case study on the utility of the routine concept for understanding team learning in working situations. Within S-Consult, a small consultancy unit, we studied the way that quality of services is guaranteed by developing common protocols and learning activities within the team. The routine concept turns out to be helpful for understanding these processes. In the second part of this article, we present some results of a quantitative study focused on the operationalisation of the concept of team routines. More than 1600 teachers in 289 teams in Dutch vocational colleges were questioned on the way they work and learn. This resulted in a set of valid and reliable scales for behavioural and psychological components of team routines, thus offering a solid basis for researching team routines as carriers for innovation.
The future of knowledge-intensive service work
is senior researcher at IVA, the institute for policy research and advice which is linked to the University of Tilburg, the Netherlands. He is part-time professor at the Open University, the Netherlands. He is specialised in research on learning for vocational and professional competence, both on the level of societal systems and on the level of formal and informal learning processes. Together with professor Nijhof, he coordinated the research programme "The Learning Potential of the Workplace". For the Dutch Scientific Board, (NWO), he recently finished a review study on the return on investment in "working and learning combinations" in the context of both education at school age and also lifelong learning trajectories.
is researcher at Ecbo (Experticecentrum Beroepsonderwijs – Centre for Expertise in Vocational Education and Training) in the Netherlands. Her research interests are learning in the workplace, the learning organisation and, in particular, routine change.
is a Ph.D. student at the University of Twente, the Netherlands. Her research interests are teams, team routines and team effectiveness. She studied Human Resource Studies at Tilburg University, the Netherlands.