Repetition of interaction and learning
Subtitle: an experimental analysis
By: Bradley R. Staats, Francesca Gino, Gary P. Pisano
Contributors: Pisano, Gary P.; Gino, Francesca; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 10-016; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 10-016.
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2009
Place of publication: [Boston]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 32
Description: The learning curve is used to investigate how increasing cumulative experience yields improved performance. Experience, however, can take many forms. Building on recent studies on learning in operations, we distinguish between repetition of task (i.e., prior experience with the task) and repetition of interaction (i.e., prior experience with team members). Repetition of interaction may improve learning, since experience working together aids in the identification, transfer, and application of knowledge among members within a group. Additionally, experience need not be constrained to one task. Prior work examining the relationship of multiple tasks (i.e., varied experience) and learning by groups finds inconsistent results. We hypothesize that repetition of interaction may help explain this difference, as familiar teams may be able to use the knowledge gained from the concurrent completion of multiple tasks while unfamiliar teams may not. Using an experimental study we find that while repetition of interaction has no effect on initial performance, it has a persistent effect on learning. By separately examining the repetition of interaction and repetition of task our work offers new insights and direction for the study of learning in operations.
Notes: "August 2009"--Publisher's website.

"August 17, 2009"--added t.p.

Includes bibliographical references.