Learning‐by‐doing in transnational operations networks : Insights from economic geography

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how insights from economic geography, which are typically explanatory or directed at policy prescription, might be utilized to provide managerial insight at firm level into the processes of and conditions for tacit knowledge transfer. Design/methodology/approach – This is a theoretical paper. The approach used is to take insights from economic geography, in particular a spatial analysis of tacit knowledge transfer by Gertler, and to infer their implications for operations strategy, using a well‐known framework by Slack and Lewis. Findings – The review section finds that the learning organization and operations management literatures are at present poorly connected and in turn, that neither adequately take account of the spatiality of organizations, particularly important when tacit knowledge and organizational routines are emphasized. The synthesis provides an initial suggestion as to operations strategy options, given this spatial perspective. Research limitations/implications – The review is interdisciplinary: this is its strength, but also its weakness, in that it is necessarily selective in each of the fields it draws on. It provokes further reflection and, hopefully, empirical work to test out aspects of the framework suggested. Originality/value – The paper reminds managers that “knowledge” and “learning” do not exist in the ether, but are grounded to a large extent in what organizations do in and around their operations. Also suggests that the micro‐spatiality of operations in transnational organizations cannot be sidelined in strategic abstractions but are, in fact, central to how organizations work and learn, and why they exist.