Organizational learning in rare events: the case of learning to litigate intellectual property (IP)

TY - CONF

T1 - Organizational learning in rare events

T2 - Strategic Management Society Conference

AU - Andersen, Kristina Vaarst

AU - Beukel, Karin

AU - Tyler, Beverly

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - In this paper we build a theoretical framework for understanding whether and how firms learn from the rare event of litigating intellectual property cases. We draw on literature on organizational learning from rare events and examine the conditions under which firms can learn from rare events. We find that, when plaintiffs in IP litigation receive quick and clear positive feedback, this helps focus their attention on litigation feedback and motivates them to allocate resources that enhance learning. We explore the moderating effect of case type, finding that organizational learning is most applicable in cases without contractual constraints. In the setting studied, the learning effect of previous successes is contingent on case type, being less useful when firms litigate based on breach ofcontract.

AB - In this paper we build a theoretical framework for understanding whether and how firms learn from the rare event of litigating intellectual property cases. We draw on literature on organizational learning from rare events and examine the conditions under which firms can learn from rare events. We find that, when plaintiffs in IP litigation receive quick and clear positive feedback, this helps focus their attention on litigation feedback and motivates them to allocate resources that enhance learning. We explore the moderating effect of case type, finding that organizational learning is most applicable in cases without contractual constraints. In the setting studied, the learning effect of previous successes is contingent on case type, being less useful when firms litigate based on breach ofcontract.

M3 - Paper

Y2 - 17 September 2016 through 20 September 2016

ER -