Toward a learning-based view of innovation

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify learning- based management innovation that is essential to the firm's competitive advantage, and to develop a conceptual model of learning- enabled innovation and research propositions for future research. Design/methodology/approach - This paper examines how four business firms develop their enterprise learning- based innovation as a solution for a business crisis they face. The research methodology employs a fact- based principle that combines quantitative and qualitative methods. Data were collected and analyzed at the corporate level of the subject organizations. Findings - The cases in this study exemplify that in business crises a firm can be successful by developing a learning- based innovation that is different from the classical paradigm of technology-enabled innovation. Research limitations/implications - The cases in this study are successful stories from the best practice in organizational learning. Even if learning-enabled innovation successes were repeated in large numbers of cases, they would still be tentative research propositions for scientific exploration in the future. Practical implications - The conceptual model of learning-enabled innovation developed by this study would be practical and useful for business firms that seek a competitive solution for succeeding in a business crisis. A business or organizational transformation through learning-based innovation would be much less painful than an ordinary organizational changing process and would more likely be successful. Originality/value - This paper has tentatively developed a conceptual framework and a research proposition for future research in the learning-based view of innovation.