The Acquisition, Retention, and Transfer of Knowledge about Quality and Productivity in Manufacturing

这项提议为组织学习和组织内的知识转移提供了重要的新见解。随着制造单位积累生产经验，生产率大幅提高。在许多组织中都观察到了这些学习曲线。这项拟议中的研究将学习的分析扩展到了质量--一个对公司竞争力越来越重要的变量。首席调查员(PI)建议：(1)评估工厂中跨班学习的迁移，以及(2)分析质量和生产经验之间的联系。他们计划调查质量随着经验而提高的速度，质量改进是否会随着时间的推移而持续，以及这种改进是否可以转移。这项拟议的研究将推进关于制造组织中学习曲线的科学知识。这些信息应该使公司能够提高他们的生产率和产品质量，从而更有效地竞争。//

This proposal offers significant new insights into organizational learning and the transfer of knowledge within organizations. Large increases in productivity have been observed as manufacturing units gain experience in production. These learning curves have been observed in many organizations. The proposed research extends the analysis of learning to quality -- a variable that has become increasingly important to a firm's competitiveness. The Principal Investigators (PIs) propose: (1) to evaluate the transfer of learning across shifts in a plant, and (2) to analyze the link between quality and production experience. They plan to investigate the rate at which quality improves with experience, whether quality improvements persist over time, and whether such improvements can be transferred. The proposed research will advance scientific knowledge about learning curves in manufacturing organizations. This information should enable firms to improve their productivity and the quality of their product, and hence to compete more effectively. //