Behind the Learning Curve : A Sketch of the Learning Process

Using data from 2 manufacturing departments in an electronic equipment company, a model of productivity improvement as a function of cumulative output and 2 managerial variables - engineering changes and workforce training - is constructed. Two learning models are used: 1. the classic learning curve model, in which productivity is an exponential function of experience, and 2. the learning process model, which is premised on the idea that a significant part of the effect of experience on productivity captured in the learning curve model might be due to the influence of identifiable managerial actions. The standard learning curve model is compared with the learning process models of the 2 departments. Three principal conclusions are generated: 1. The total learning effect is just as strong in the capital-intensive area as in the labor- and materials-intensive area. 2. The learning process is internally complex. 3. The relative roles of explicitly managed, 2nd-order learning and of tacit, first-order learning vary substantially across processes