Facilitating unlearning during implementation of new technology

Secular discernment: A process of individual unlearning and collective relearning

Through a process of action research with a non-religious organization, this article provides a foundation for the characteristics of a secular discernment process. Importantly, we argue that discernment can be conceptualized as a process of entwined individual unlearning and collective relearning. Our action research study contributes to both the discernment and the unlearning literatures by unpacking how discernment encourages a process of individual unlearning – which our study suggests entails a process of ‘setting aside’ and reflexive-distancing from a priori individual knowledge – to be more open and receptive to new ways of emergent collective re-learning. The process of unlearning – and the behavioural norms and routines that are central to discernment – underscores the collective relearning process. The article concludes with future pathways for research.

The role of absorptive capacity and organizational unlearning in the link between social media and service dominant orientation

Purpose

This paper aims to study the relationship between the knowledge obtained in social networks by firms together with the firms’ knowledge absorptive capacity and organizational unlearning as influencers of service-dominant (S-D) orientation, as well as the mediating role of absorption capacity and organizational unlearning in this process.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample amounts to 101 responding companies, obtained from the SABI database. The companies belong to the service sector in Spain and have at least 50 employees and 5 years or more of existence in the market. The model was estimated through partial least squares structural equation modeling with smartPLS software 3.2.6.

Findings

The results show that the use of social media is very important for firms to acquire knowledge and capabilities that help them to become S-D oriented. In addition, absorptive capacity and unlearning processes are dynamic capabilities necessary to transform the knowledge acquired in social media and to become S-D oriented.

Research limitations/implications

Companies’ managers draw conclusions that can generate great value, while better meeting the needs and desires of the market, the more knowledge is obtained. In addition, the use of the knowledge generated in this process will reduce the risk of sudden changes in the market.

Practical implications

The more knowledge is gained using social networks, the better the companies’ managers will be able to draw conclusions that can generate great value, while at the same time better satisfying the needs and desires of the market, and thus create capacities that allow the company to be service-oriented. In addition, the use of these knowledge platforms strengthens the strategic advantage of companies through the promotion of innovation and by relating dynamic capabilities with the orientation toward sustainable development. As mentioned above, a process will be generated that will reduce the risk of sudden changes in the market.

Originality/value

This is one of the few studies trying to study the antecedents of S-D orientation and the first to study the direct effect of social media use, and the direct and indirect effect of absorptive capacity and organizational unlearning on S-D orientation as dynamic capabilities.

Forgetting to learn and learning to forget: the call for organizational unlearning

Purpose

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to provide a foundation for human resource development (HRD) scholars in attempts to devise mechanisms for establishing and facilitating actionable pathways through which unlearning can be acknowledged and serve as a contributing agent for HRD interventions. This paper concludes with a call to action for our HRD colleagues to join us in further examination of unlearning interventions within the organizational context.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper narratively details the literature associated with the myriad social science domains that have investigated the unlearning process. Additionally, a cross-disciplinary literature review provides the basis for an operational definition of unlearning provided herein.

Findings

The field of HRD is devoted to creating learning organizations as well as utilizing change initiatives to develop organizations. However, unlearning has been largely ignored within the field of HRD.

Originality/value

The first contribution is by answering the call of scholars across varied disciplines to further investigate unlearning within the organizational context (Bettis and Prahalad, 1995; Hedberg, 1981; Nystrom and Starbuck, 1984). Additionally, this paper seeks to specifically address the role that unlearning holds within the field of HRD as it builds upon the definition provided by Wang et al. (2017) and offers its own operational definition. Finally, this paper provides the only known review of cross-disciplinary research pertaining to unlearning.

Mindful unlearning in unprecedented times: Implications for management and organizations

Crises trigger both learning and unlearning at both intra-organizational and inter-organizational levels. This article stresses the need to facilitate unlearning for effective crisis management and shows how we could use mindfulness practice to enhance unlearning and transformative learning in a crisis. This study proposes the conceptualization of mindful unlearning in crisis with different mechanisms to foster unlearning in three stages of crisis (pre-crisis, during-crisis, and post-crisis). These mechanisms include mindful awareness of impermanence and sensual processing (pre-crisis stage), mindful awareness of interdependence and right intention (crisis management stage), and mindful awareness of transiency and past experiences (post-crisis stage).

The relationship between nursing groups’ organizational socialization and nurses’ perception of organizational learning subprocesses: a cross-sectional study in hospital wards

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the relationship between a nursing group’s organizational socialization (OS) and the organizational learning (OL) subprocesses of information acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation, information integration and organizational memory.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional study, with an anonymous self-report questionnaire, was conducted at two university hospitals in Japan. OL was measured using the scale for OL subprocesses, while OS was measured using the scale for learning about the external environment. The questionnaire was administered from August to October 2018. Among the 1,077 nurses recruited from 34 wards, data from 466 nurses from 24 wards were analyzed. To verify the influence of the group’s OS on each OL subprocess, two-level hierarchical linear modeling with fixed effects was performed. Individual nurses’ OS was analyzed using centering within clusters and the group’s OS was analyzed using each ward’s average OS score by performing grand mean centering.

Findings

Nursing groups’ OS was positively and significantly associated with information interpretation and information integration, but not with information acquisition, information distribution and organizational memory.

Originality/value

This study expands OS and OL research by focusing on the relationship between the degree of OS of an entire group and the OL subprocess. When the degree of homophily of value, rule, knowledge and behavior of the entire group increases, the information understanding and the formation of new explicit knowledge may also increase in the group.

Understanding Generation Z expectations for effective onboarding

Purpose

Organizations have long recognized that focusing on the onboarding experience is vital to the success of the employee and the organization. Organizations are confronted with inter-generational issues as they prepare to accommodate Generation Z in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the expectations of Generation Z from the onboarding program so that the organizations are better equipped to welcome the new cohort.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts the interpretive approach to understand the subjective opinions, thoughts and conversations of the respondents. The study adopted an interpretive research approach for two main reasons. First, in the absence of empirical evidence, such a type of approach is helpful when the study aims to understand the subjective experience of individuals, and often can help in theory construction. Second, the approach helps uncover unknown facts and relevant research questions for further research.

Findings

The results from the study can help organizations to fine-tune the onboarding program that meets the needs of Generation Z. The study identified six essential variables that could be addressed in the onboarding enabling the new hires to quickly onboard the organization.

Research limitations/implications

Data were collected from the students who are pursuing final year of masters in business administration. Since the respondents are business students findings cannot be generalized to the rest of the cohort as these respondents had a fair idea of what to expect from the organizations.

Practical implications

The study presents six important themes for designing and managing an effective onboarding program for Generation Z. It is important to note that the inter-generational differences are natural, and organizations have to live with it. HR professionals have to bear in mind that this is also an opportunity to revisit, redesign and readjust their onboarding programs to suit the new employees.

Originality/value

The literature on Generation Z is at a nascent stage. Empirical studies on Generation Z were conducted to understand their expectation, beliefs and attitude. However, studies related to their expectations during the new hire orientation programs are absent. The present study could be one of the first studies in helping both managers and the HR function in understanding the expectations of Generation Z.

Two forms of organizational unlearning: Insights from engaged scholarship research with change consultants

Following recent calls to extend our understanding of organizational unlearning, we gain empirical insights into how the process unfolds in practice. Based on the findings of a study with change consultants in Europe, we conceptualize two forms of organizational unlearning. First, open-ended unlearning refers to instances where organizational knowledge is intentionally discarded, but the outcomes of the change process are not known. Second, goal-directed unlearning refers to situations where organizations implement specified knowledge structures that are incompatible with established ones. We also find that both forms of organizational unlearning necessitate preparatory work and interventions that increase their likelihood to succeed. Outlining the implications of the organizational unlearning concept in organizational practice contributes to a better understanding of existing research. We further discuss implications for theory and outline avenues for future research.

Organizational forgetting Part I: a review of the literature and future research directions

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review and synthesize the literature on organizational forgetting.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review approach was used to synthesize current theoretical and empirical studies on organizational forgetting.

Findings

The review and synthesis of the literature revealed that the organizational forgetting literature is fragmented, with studies conducted across disparate fields and using different methodologies; two primary modes (i.e. accidental and purposeful) and three foci (i.e. knowledge depreciation, knowledge loss and unlearning) define current organizational forgetting literature; and the factors that influence organizational forgetting can be grouped into four clusters related to individuals, processes, tools and organizational context.

Research limitations/implications

This literature review has limitations related to time span coverage and journal article accessibility.

Originality/value

This paper offers an integrative view of organizational forgetting that proposes a holistic and multilevel research approach and systematic synthesis of organizational forgetting research.

Organizational unlearning and knowledge transfer in cross-border M&As: the mediating role of knowledge integration from a routine-based view

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationships between organizational unlearning and knowledge transfer in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) from a routine-based view. The study also stresses the mediating role that knowledge integration capability plays in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

In all, 178 samples were collected from Chinese multinational corporations that experienced cross-border M&As. In addition, the bootstrap method was used to test the mediating role of knowledge integration capability.

Findings

The empirical results indicate that knowledge integration capability is the crucial link between organizational unlearning and knowledge transfer. Specifically, this capability goes beyond the direct effect of organizational unlearning on knowledge transfer and points to the importance of enhancing knowledge integration capability. In turn, knowledge integration capability has a significant influence on knowledge transfer. The study finds that knowledge integration capability mediates the relationship between organizational unlearning and knowledge transfer.

Originality/value

This study adopts a routine-based view to develop a theoretical model for examining the relationship between organizational unlearning, knowledge integration capability and knowledge transfer in the context of cross-border M&As. This model provides new insights for a routine-based understanding of the important mediating role of knowledge integration capability for knowledge transfer and the effects of this role on the specific knowledge transfer, i.e. technological, marketing and managerial knowledge.

Investigating unlearning and forgetting in organizations

Purpose

Insight has grown that for an organization to learn and change successfully, forgetting and unlearning are required. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the relevant existing body of empirical research on forgetting and unlearning, to encourage research using a greater variety of methods and to contribute to a more complementary body of empirical work by using designs and instruments with a stronger reference to previous studies.

Design/methodology/approach

As the number of theoretical papers clearly exceeds the number of empirical papers, the present paper deals with the main insights based on the empirical state of research on unlearning and forgetting. So far, these empirical results have shown relationships between unlearning and other organizational outcomes such as innovation on an organizational level, but many of the other proposed relationships have not been investigated. The authors presents suggestion to apply a larger variety of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods in organizational research.

Findings

Unlearning and forgetting research can benefit both from more diverse theoretical questions addressed in research and from a more complementary body of empirical work that applies methods, designs and instruments that refer to previous research designs and results. To understand and manage unlearning and forgetting, empirical work should relate to and expand upon previous empirical work to form a more coherent understanding of empirical results.

Originality/value

The paper presents a variety of research designs and methods that can be applied within the research context of understanding the nature of organizational forgetting and unlearning. Additionally, it illustrates the potential for different methods, such as experience sampling methods, which capture the temporal aspects of forgetting and unlearning.

Unlearning and forgetting in organizations: a systematic review of literature

Purpose

Although still under-researched and characterized by a fragmented understanding, unlearning and forgetting have recently received increased scholarly attention. The purpose of this systematic literature review is to survey and evaluate key works in the field of organizational unlearning and forgetting. Through analyzing and synthesizing common themes, this paper aims to highlight research gaps and avenues for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper follows a systematic approach of identifying, analyzing and synthesizing pertinent literature in the field of organizational unlearning and forgetting. In total, 63 works were thoroughly reviewed.

Findings

This paper highlights different levels and scopes, as well as antecedents and consequences of organizational unlearning and forgetting. Even though unlearning and forgetting has gained increased attention, researchers still need to provide robust conceptual and empirical evidence to advance the field.

Originality/value

By structuring the analysis and synthesis around various constructs, theories, typologies and related themes, this paper outlines several research gaps and proposes avenues for further research. Additionally, this systematic literature review resulted in the development of a framework based on the intentionality and depth of knowledge loss, which allows future researchers to position their research and differentiate themselves from other literature in the field.

The unlearning process of senior clinical nurses in rehabilitation wards

Aims

The aim of this study was to create a model and verify its fitness for focusing on unlearning of senior clinical nurses who transferred from acute to rehabilitation wards.

Background

The processes by which nurses with experience in acute wards acquire expertise in rehabilitation wards, the ‘process of unlearning’, have not yet been clarified.

Design

This research used a cross‐sectional study.

Methods

Content analysis of interview data of 23 senior clinical nurses was used to reveal factors constituting nurses’ unlearning and a base model was created. Data were collected between May ‐ September 2016. For its verification, categories extracted through content analysis were used as latent variables and subcategories as observation variables. The model's fit was confirmed through a survey of 5,435 senior clinical nurses from July to September 2017.

Results

We extracted six categories—‘awareness’, ‘conflict’, ‘discard’, ‘acquisition’, ‘acceptance’ and ‘establishment’—and 22 subcategories of the factors constituting unlearning and created a base model. The effective response rate in the survey for verifying the fitness of the base model was 20.2%. The base model generally fulfilled the fitness, but we further studied the model fit with the data and modified it to comprise five categories, excluding ‘acceptance’, with 16 subcategories. The fitness of the modified model further improved. Through revalidation, we confirmed that the modified model satisfies the goodness of fit.

Conclusion

Our findings add to the development of rehabilitation nursing skills of nurses transferred from acute to rehabilitation wards in a Japanese community‐based integrated care system.

Impact

This study revealed the unlearning process of senior clinical nurses. The unlearning process identified in this study contributes to knowledge and skills acquisition specific to nurses specializing in rehabilitation. It will be used for developing a re‐education programme for rehabilitation nurses in the future.

Liquefied Natural Gas as a New Hazard; Learning Processes in Norwegian Fire Brigades

The innovation and utilization of new products leads to technological changes in contemporary societies and a need for the Fire Brigades (FBs) to update their expertise regarding the challenges these new products may represent. The present study examines learning processes for nine fire brigades in Norway, selected where Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities are in their jurisdiction and/or because they have handled LNG road accidents. The process of acquiring the necessary new knowledge and skills is researched inductively, and each FB is viewed as a unit in the Norwegian fire and rescue community, i.e., a multi-unit learning organization. Kolb’s learning cycle is used to discuss the findings. Large variations in learning processes were used in the different FBs, varying from short classroom courses held by external consultants to a series of learning episodes planned and directed by FB personnel. It was found that each FB focused locally and independently from other FBs when acquiring new knowledge. There was very limited knowledge transfer from FBs experienced with LNG facilities to “newcomers”. There is no established national knowledge-sharing network on LNG. There are, however, regional partner groups, mainly involving the FB and a distribution company, mentioned by all studied FBs to be the most important partner for learning. The inter-municipal committee against acute pollution (IUA) was the second most important learning cooperation partner. It was, however, discovered that LNG test releases gave rise to observations regarding the extension of the flammable cloud versus the visible cloud that was interpreted wrongly due to the lack of theoretical understanding of the influence of the air relative humidity. This was explained to one regional partner group that invited, and therefore asked, an academic about this issue during a training session. This partner group arranged demonstrations for all FBs involved along the path of LNG transport from the production site to their end-users. Surprisingly, there was very limited knowledge exchange between partner groups in different geographical regions, though one of these was certainly more knowledgeable. The present study revealed that knowledge sharing must be improved, at least when it comes to potential LNG incidents.

Promoting intentional unlearning through an unlearning cycle

Purpose

Although there is widespread agreement about the importance of and need for unlearning particularly in an organizational context, concerns have been expressed by some researchers with respect to the coherence of the concept. The purpose of this paper is to complement organizational theories of unlearning with a clearer definition of intentional unlearning and develops an “unlearning cycle” comprising of the steps that influence unlearning focused on the need to update knowledge obtained in the past.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors review both the current state of conceptual development and the empirical underpinning of the concept of unlearning and relate it to emerging literature on the links between levels of learning to then propose a conceptual framework which includes employees and managers as key actors in enabling intentional unlearning.

Findings

Unlearning critics have argued that unlearning has no explanatory value and is unnecessary because clear alternatives and less problematic concepts better frame the research gap that has been identified in the unlearning research literature. By addressing these concerns, this study proposes three key structures to facilitate intentional unlearning, namely, those represented by the unlearning cycle.

Originality/value

This study sheds light on the relationship across different unlearning levels. In addition, this study attempts to indicate how greater rigor may be brought to the development of research in the fields of intentional unlearning.

Individual unlearning, organizational unlearning and strategic flexibility

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between unlearning and strategic flexibility from the down-up change perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the routine-updating process, this study builds a theoretical model and examines it using survey data from 233 firms in China.

Findings

Unlearning is the enabler to strategic flexibility. Specifically, individual unlearning and organizational unlearning both have positive effects on strategic flexibility. Organizational unlearning exerts a partly mediating effect on the relationship between individual unlearning and strategic flexibility.

Originality/value

The paper examines the different mechanisms of individual and organizational unlearning on strategic flexibility and suggests that unlearning is a useful method or approach for strategic flexibility. In addition, this study is useful to help managers or practitioners determine how to embrace strategic flexibility by unlearning.

Managers and organizational forgetting: a synthesis

Purpose

This paper aims to evaluate how managers influence accidental and intentional organizational forgetting, i.e. knowledge depreciation, knowledge loss and unlearning.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature was reviewed based on predetermined search terms to identify peer-reviewed articles published in English and available in full-text format from the EBSCOhost and Google Scholar databases. Empirical and theoretical contributions were included. Additional articles, books and book chapters were manually selected and included based on recent reviews and syntheses of organizational forgetting work.

Findings

Findings revealed that managers contributed to preventing accidental knowledge depreciation and loss and preserving organizational memory. With respect to intentional forgetting, findings revealed contradictory positions: on the one hand, managers contributed to the disbandment of existing beliefs and frames of reference, but on the other hand, they preserved existing knowledge and power structures.

Research limitations/implications

The study was limited by the accessibility of subscribed journals and databases, research scope and time span.

Practical implications

This paper provides useful guidelines to managers who need to reduce the disruptive effects of accidental forgetting or plan intentional forgetting, i.e. managed unlearning.

Originality/value

This paper represents a first attempt to review and define the influence of managers on organizational forgetting.

Organizational unlearning and knowledge transfer in cross-border M&A: the roles of routine and knowledge compatibility

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to adopt the perspective of congruence to explore how organizational unlearning facilitates knowledge transfer in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the congruence theory, this study built a theoretical model and examined it with survey data from 212 firms in China.

Findings

Organizational unlearning has no direct influence on knowledge transfer. In contrast, it promotes knowledge and routine compatibility that facilitate knowledge transfer. Routine and knowledge compatibility have different mechanisms on knowledge transfer. Specifically, the higher routine compatibility, the more effective is knowledge transfer. When knowledge compatibility is at a medium level, the effectiveness of knowledge transfer is optimal.

Practical implications

Firms should regard organizational unlearning as a crucial facilitator to knowledge and routine compatibility that promote knowledge transfer.

Originality/value

This study provides a specific understanding of the relationships between organizational unlearning and knowledge transfer by focusing on knowledge and routine compatibility as the crucial links, and enriches existing literature regarding knowledge transfer.

Fatores Determinantes da Aprendizagem Organizacional para a Inovação Ambiental: Um Estudo Multicaso

Resumo Conforme as questões ambientais orientam as ações das empresas por meio de sua agenda de inovação, a aprendizagem organizacional surge como importante elemento de análise. Sugere-se que as noções de aprendizagem organizacional e aprendizagem para a sustentabilidade devam convergir, estabelecendo-se como antecedentes do próprio processo de inovação ambiental e denotando, a partir deste ponto, um novo campo de análise - o da Aprendizagem Organizacional para a Inovação Ambiental. Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar os indutores que determinam a aprendizagem organizacional para a inovação ambiental. Para tanto, foi elaborado um modelo conceitual de análise que foi aplicado por meio de um estudo multicaso em três empresas. Das diversas variáveis analisadas, a regulação, o papel do empreendedor, o trabalho de Pesquisa & Desenvolvimento (P&D) em redes e a existência de um processo de gestão ambiental se mostraram influentes para a consolidação do processo de aprendizagem. Infere-se que as influências das variáveis do processo de aprendizagem organizacional para a inovação ambiental diferem quanto à intensidade em função do modelo de negócio adotado, do grau de autonomia dos gerentes, do tipo de educação ambiental recebido pelos funcionários, do ambiente cultural e do perfil do empreendedor.

Identifying and overcoming barriers to deployment of information technology projects in hotels

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate potential barriers to deployment of information technology (IT) projects and evaluate strategies to overcome them in hotel companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data were collected through a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews from IT managers, chief information officers, and hotel general managers.

Findings

The research findings demonstrate that barriers to IT implementation occur in three different stages. They are pre-implementation (cost and return on investment, resistance by owners/executives); during the implementation (integration, time delays, vendor communication problems, and resistance by employees); and post-implementation (inadequate training and resistance from customers).

Research limitations/implications

The research findings suggest a contingency approach where organizations should employ various specific strategies depending on the situation to overcome these barriers. Multiple theoretical perspectives should be utilized to evaluate potential barriers to IT projects and utilize specific strategies to overcome them.

Originality/value

This is one of the first empirical studies which provide specific theoretical and practical implications on barriers when implementing IT projects in hotels.

The physician's experience of changing clinical practice: a struggle to unlearn

BACKGROUND

Changing clinical practice is a difficult process, best illustrated by the time lag between evidence and use in practice and the extensive use of low-value care. Existing models mostly focus on the barriers to learning and implementing new knowledge. Changing clinical practice, however, includes not only the learning of new practices but also unlearning old and outmoded knowledge. There exists sparse literature regarding the unlearning that takes place at a physician level. Our research objective was to elucidate the experience of trying to abandon an outmoded clinical practice and its relation to learning a new one.

METHODS

We used a grounded theory-based qualitative approach to conduct our study. We conducted 30-min in-person interviews with 15 primary care physicians at the Cleveland VA Medical Center and its clinics. We used a semi-structured interview guide to standardize the interviews.

RESULTS

Our two findings include (1) practice change disturbs the status quo equilibrium. Establishing a new equilibrium that incorporates the change may be a struggle; and (2) part of the struggle to establish a new equilibrium incorporating a practice change involves both the "evidence" itself and tensions between evidence and context.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings provide evidence-based support for many of the empirical unlearning models that have been adapted to healthcare. Our findings differ from these empirical models in that they refute the static and unidirectional nature of change that previous models imply. Rather, our findings suggest that clinical practice is in a constant flux of change; each instance of unlearning and learning is merely a punctuation mark in this spectrum of change. We suggest that physician unlearning models be modified to reflect the constantly changing nature of clinical practice and demonstrate that change is a multi-directional process.

Unlearning established organizational routines – Part I

Purpose

The purpose of this two-part paper is to develop a process model of unlearning established organizational routines. The model traces the interactions among three unlearning sub-processes: ostensive aspects of initial destabilization of an established routine; performative aspects of ongoing discarding-from-use of old behaviors and experimenting with new ones; and ostensive aspects of eventual release of prior understandings and development of new ones.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on evidence from psychology and cognitive science to explain the mechanisms underlying organizational processes of unlearning embedded routines.

Findings

The proposed model contributes to enriching current understanding of unlearning organizational routines without contradicting it. Consistent with prior understanding, destabilizing an old routine may lead to discarding it, and further discarding-from-use is likely required for continued destabilization of embedded routines. Again, consistent with prior understanding, experimenting with new behaviors may be a desired outcome of unlearning an old routine, and ongoing experimentation is likely required to sustain unlearning embedded routines.

Originality/value

The organizational unlearning literature provides many examples of organizational members relinquishing old routines to then make new learning possible and also provides little insight into the processes by which this occurs. The paper addresses this gap by modeling the mutually reinforcing nature of three unlearning sub-processes.

Forget unlearning? How an empirically unwarranted concept from psychology was imported to flourish in management and organisation studies

We provide a critique of the development in organisation studies of the idea of ‘unlearning’ as allegedly imported from the psychology literature by Hedberg and understood to mean the manageable discard of knowledge precedent to and aiding later learning. We re-review the psychology literature and in contrast to Hedberg, find that this definition of unlearning is not empirically warranted. We re-examine a selection of highly cited articles in the organisational literature that claim to have conducted empirical research into the Hedberg model of unlearning. We find none provide evidence of its existence. Typically, under the label ‘unlearning’ evidence is provided of a conventional process of theory-change, the setting aside (not deletion) of an established understanding in favour of new understanding when presented with perceived new facts. In all cases that we examine, clear alternative and less problematic concepts should provide a better conceptual framework for the research, such as learning, theory-change, discard of practice and extinction. It follows that the unlearning literature is not in fact the independent, scholarly and scientific literature that many of its adherents believe it to be. We recommend that for concepts allegedly imported from other disciplines more frequent commissioning of cross-disciplinary reviews may encourage the critical works so obviously lacking in the unlearning literature.

Should HIV and AIDS workplace programmes still be advocated in the automotive industry?

Orientation: In light of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic, and in order to improve competitiveness in the South African private sector, many structures have implemented subsidised workplace programmes.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to collect baseline data regarding the knowledge, attitudes, practices and belief (KAPB) of employees in the automotive industry in relation to HIV and AIDS, in order to assess the need for HIV and AIDS workplace programmes.Motivation for the study: Given the abundance of HIV and AIDS information, the question is whether these workplace programmes’ efforts are still relevant.Research design, approach and method: A quantitative descriptive study design was used using a self-administered questionnaire covering questions about KAPB with regard to HIV and AIDS. The data collection took place in seven automotive supplier companies in South Africa (n = 733) who were going to implement HIV and AIDS workplace programmes with the support of the Automotive Industry Development Centre in the Eastern Cape.Main findings: High-risk behaviour, as indicated by sexual relations with more than one partner in the last 12 months, occurred in between 12% (management) and 42% (cleaners) of employees. All risk behaviour indicators showed significant differences (p < 0.05) between management and administrative staff on the one hand and technicians, operators and cleaners on the other. Despite being aware of an HIV policy, more than 50% of employees indicated that they would not be willing to disclose their status.Practical/managerial implications: As HIV and AIDS risk behaviour and stigma remain a problem, HIV infection with associated health problems may threaten productivity in the automotive industry if no measures are taken to address the impact on employees and the company.Contribution: This study strongly supports the conclusion that KAPB studies can still provide important information to tailor HIV workplace programmes according to employee needs.

Exploring types of individual unlearning by local health-care managers: an original empirical approach

Background

The ability of health-care managers or organisations to adapt and respond to change is vital if they are to succeed in the contemporary health-care environment. Change involves the learning of new behaviours and giving up, or abandoning, some established ones – more formally defined as unlearning. However, research on unlearning is lacking. This original exploratory study investigates UK NHS health-care managers' engagement with behavioural unlearning and cognitive unlearning, and also considers the related concept of fading. The study also investigates the impact of individual unlearning on participating health-care managers' decision-making.

Research questions

(1) To what extent do health-care managers engage with the process of unlearning and what impact does the engagement with this process have on health-care managers' decision-making? (2) What are the barriers and enablers that influence the engagement of health-care managers with the process of unlearning? (3) To what extent does the health-care setting affect the level of engagement with the process of unlearning by health-care managers?

Methods

The study investigated these questions through an examination of the academic literature. Several management (Business Source Complete, Emerald), psychological (PsycINFO), health (MEDLINE) and education [Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)] electronic databases were searched for English-language articles that were published between January 2000 and March 2012. The literature provided the basis for original exploratory research that investigated local health-care managers' experiences of unlearning. A case study approach was adopted for empirical data collection, using qualitative interviews to investigate experiences of unlearning in two secondary care NHS trusts (an acute trust and a mental health trust). A total of 85 episodes of unlearning were identified from a purposive sample of 29 health-care managers. The sample participants varied in terms of clinical/non-clinical background, type of department/unit and length of time as a manager.

Results

The findings show that the health-care managers who participated in this study engaged with unlearning and fading. The engagement is triggered through either an individual experience or a change event. There was little evidence to indicate that health-care setting or professional background had a strong influence over health-care managers' engagement with unlearning, although this finding is limited by the exploratory nature of the study, sample size and range of settings examined. Participants identified a variety of barriers to individual unlearning including personal behaviour and staff resistance to change. Enablers such as personal skills, attitudes and relationships were more commonly cited than organisational enablers such as policies, procedures and work circumstances. The findings also suggest that unlearning does influence the decision-making of health-care managers, encouraging a more discovery-orientated approach.

Limitations

This study has a number of limitations. It is an exploratory study involving a small number of participants drawn from two NHS trusts, which limits the depth of insight that it can provide regarding specific aspects of unlearning processes. Further, because of the relatively low numbers of participants in our study, the findings provide limited insights regarding theextentto which managers engage with processes of unlearning across different health-care settings and theimpacton their decision-making. Finally, the study is able to provide only a limited interpretation of the nature of fading, although the empirical data do provide evidence that fading should not be conceptualised as a type of individual unlearning.

Conclusions

The study has enhanced the theory of individual unlearning by reconceptualising existing unlearning models and developing a new typology that distinguishes between four separate types of individual unlearning. The findings demonstrate that health-care managers who participated in this study engaged with unlearning processes and that this engagement impacted on their decision-making processes. After engaging with individual unlearning, several managers moved away from idea imposition approaches to decision-making in favour of more discovery-focused approaches, which have been reported in academic literature to be more successful. Future work that investigates a greater number of health-care managers' experiences of unlearning in a wider range of settings is necessary to establish the significance of health-care setting to individual unlearning experiences and provide greater generalisability to the findings of this study.

Funding

The National Institute for Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

The process of individual unlearning: A neglected topic in an under-researched field

In a contemporary business environment where change is often regarded as continuous, the ability of people or organizations to be able to successfully adapt and respond to change is key. Change often involves not only the learning of new behaviours, ideas, or practices but also giving up or abandoning some established ones. Despite both these elements generally being important to change, academic focus on processes of abandoning or giving up established knowledge and practices, that is, unlearning, is lacking. This conceptual article draws on a range of literature to suggest that the process of individual unlearning may have particular features. The review defines the concept of unlearning, differentiates between two different types of individual unlearning, and suggests that each type of individual unlearning may have its own distinctive features and dynamics. This article builds from this insight through developing a typology, which distinguishes between four types of individual unlearning. It concludes with an agenda for future empirical research to examine and validate the concepts presented.