I agree with Michael that 'learning to do things better' is desirable and
productive. However even better is to 'learn to do better things'. I do
not agree that the concept of the learning curve says nothing about
innovation and creativity.
I cannot do more on this than quote Eileen Applebaum and Rosemary Batt
who, in 'The New American Workplace' wrote:
" According to Abernathy and Wayne (1974), the risks associated with a
strategy of achieving competitive advantage by moving down the learning
curve come from the fact that the 'conditions stimulating innovation are
different from those favouring efficient, high-volume, established
operations.' The risks are greatest for firms that are most successful in
reducing price and capturing market share. The successful company must
capture a larger and larger market share to continue to double cumulative
output. As the market expands, it becomes easier for competitors to
segment it and, by employing more flexible production process structures,
to win over the top end of the market with a product which offers superior
performance or customized features. The company on the learning curve
becomes increasingly vulnerable to competition on the basis of quality and
diversity. At the same time, the changes it has undergone in perfecting
the production of a standardized product at ever-lower costs reduce the
ability to respond to the competition on this basis." (Applebaum and Batt,
1994).
This last point is, I think, a key one overlooked by Michael. The learning
curve approach is not just about people learning, it is also about
installing production technologies based on this learning. In a workplace
most learning is incrementally based on the existing context. A company is
steered down a particular capital investment strategy by its conceptual
model. Once stuck with that technology it is very difficult to switch
tracks. And it takes a lot of INTELLECTUAL as well as CAPITAL INVESTMENT
to listen to the paradigm breaking thinker.
Applebaum and Batt's point is also highly apposite when we consider the
recent discussion thread on whether or not it is necessary to grow in a
capitalist system. The lesson here is that it is not the capitalist model
which compels growth, but the adoption of the learning curve as a
fundamental strategic concept.
-- Phillip Capper Centre for Research on Work, Education and Business PO Box 2855 Wellington New ZealandPh: 64+ 4 4998140 Fx: 64+ 4 4733087
EMail: pcapper@actrix.gen.nz