Shared Learning

Abstract

The evolution of productivity performance at an international electronics equipment manufacturer is analyzed in order to elucidate the cognitive and behavioral processes that are the root of the differences in the total productivity learning curve. Research was based on a field investigation into the cognitive and behavioral determinants of the considerable variation in learning curve parameters across departments. Research results reveal that improvement in manufacturing productivity is dependent on three kinds of shared learning: sharing characterizing the development/manufacturing interface; sharing between the primary plant and plants that come online at a later time; and the continuous sharing that goes on among plants after the start-up.