VICARIOUS LEARNING AND INFERENTIAL ACCURACY IN ADOPTION PROCESSES

• 成果类型: Review
• 署名作者: Terlaak, Ann; Gong, Yan
• 署名单位: University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison; University of California System; University of California Irvine
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0363-7425
• 发表日期: 2008
• 页码: 846-868
• 关键词: TOTAL QUALITY; ILLUSORY CORRELATION; FORMAL-STRUCTURE; management; FIRMS; diffusion; fads; ORGANIZATIONS; PERSPECTIVES; covariation

摘要

We develop a model of inferential vicarious learning that explicates how firms can learn whether to adopt a practice whose value varies across organizations. We first theorize how firms can infer this variation from samples of adopters, nonadopters, abandoners, and nonabandoners. Surprisingly, incomplete samples may allow more accurate inferences than complete ones. We then propose how firms, equipped with an understanding of the variation, can select referent organizations that differ from those identified in previous research.