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Learning and Schumpeterian Dynamics

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Organization and Strategy in the Evolution of the Enterprise

Abstract

The term ‘learning’ evokes an image of continual renewal, the acquisition of new knowledge. The expression ‘Schumpeterian dynamics’ conveys a different image. An image composed on the one hand of staid, established organizations failing to recognize new opportunities in their environment and new organizations established to exploit these same opportunities. While learning is a powerful instrument of organizational intelligence, it is also associated with some of the difficulties of established firms responding to changing competitive environments. This pathology stems from some basic properties of learning mechanisms.

The research was supported by the Reginald Jones Center and Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center at the Wharton School. University of Pennsylvania.

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Authors
  1. Daniel Levinthal
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universitá La Sapienza, Rome, Italy

    Giovanni Dosi (Professor of Applied Economics) (Professor of Applied Economics)

  2. Bocconi University, Milan, Italy

    Franco Malerba (Associate Professor of Industrial Economics) (Associate Professor of Industrial Economics)

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© 1996 Associazione di Storia e Studi sull’Impressa

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Levinthal, D. (1996). Learning and Schumpeterian Dynamics. In: Dosi, G., Malerba, F. (eds) Organization and Strategy in the Evolution of the Enterprise. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-13389-5_2

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