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Power and the production of knowledge: Collective team learning in work organizations
Author(s) -
Brooks Ann K.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
human resource development quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.756
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1532-1096
pISSN - 1044-8004
DOI - 10.1002/hrdq.3920050303
Subject(s) - knowledge management , organizational learning , work (physics) , power (physics) , team learning , organizational culture , product (mathematics) , psychology , cooperative learning , computer science , public relations , engineering , political science , mathematics education , open learning , teaching method , mechanical engineering , physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Extended and complex work environments have made it difficult for individuals to single‐handedly conceptualize and solve organizational problems. Recognizing the limited information and knowledge available to a single person and the potential creative power of teams, organizations have increasingly used teams to take on learning tasks such as product development, improvement of work processes, and strategic planning. In spite of the extensive research on groups and teams, little research has been conducted on how teams learn. This article draws on a qualitative multiple case study to identify team‐learning tasks, and then to examine how organizational structures make it difficult for low‐power members to carry out those learning tasks. It proposes that unequal formal power among employees is a “critical level” influencing the success or failure of learning teams and links the difficulties teams encounter to the culture and history of the United States.