This proposal offers significant new insights into organizational learning and the transfer of knowledge within organizations. Large increases in productivity have been observed as manufacturing units gain experience in production. These learning curves have been observed in many organizations. The proposed research extends the analysis of learning to quality -- a variable that has become increasingly important to a firm's competitiveness. The Principal Investigators (PIs) propose: (1) to evaluate the transfer of learning across shifts in a plant, and (2) to analyze the link between quality and production experience. They plan to investigate the rate at which quality improves with experience, whether quality improvements persist over time, and whether such improvements can be transferred. The proposed research will advance scientific knowledge about learning curves in manufacturing organizations. This information should enable firms to improve their productivity and the quality of their product, and hence to compete more effectively. //
