Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

Let’s innovate! Should Development Projects be Creating
Learning? A Case Study on Employee and Employer
Perceptions Within a City Organization
Annukka Jyrämä 1 , Pia Bäcklund 2 , Heini Väisänen 3 , and Henrikki Tikkanen 1
1 Aalto University School <strong>of</strong> Economics, Marketing, Helsinki, Finland
2 University <strong>of</strong> Tampere / City <strong>of</strong> Helsinki Urban Facts, Finland
3 University <strong>of</strong> Helsinki, Department <strong>of</strong> Social Sciences, Helsinki, Finland
annukka.jyrama@aalto.fi
pia.backlund@uta.fi
heini.vaisanen@Helsinki.fi
henrikki.tikkanen@aalto.fi
Abstract: In this study, we look at development work from <strong>the</strong> perspective <strong>of</strong> learning. We highlight <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong>
development projects and <strong>the</strong> dissemination and sharing <strong>of</strong> learning within <strong>the</strong>m. To be more specific, we focus
on organizational communities and <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir inherent dominant logic as enablers for and barriers to
sharing learning, especially in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> public organizations. The paper reports a large survey conducted
among people employed by <strong>the</strong> city <strong>of</strong> Helsinki. Altoge<strong>the</strong>r 1800 responses were received. The results indicate
that <strong>the</strong> communities and <strong>the</strong>ir inherent dominant logic does play a dominant role in learning and knowledge
dissemination. These communities may act both as enablers and barriers. The role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> community’s dominant
logic is important enabling knowledge sharing at a local level. Yet, it might impede learning from outside peer
communities, and from development projects as <strong>the</strong>y are <strong>of</strong>ten organized as separate microcommunities,
unconnected to everyday practices. The study’s managerial contribution builds from acknowledging <strong>the</strong> need to
understand <strong>the</strong> differences in communities and development projects on <strong>the</strong> one hand and even more importantly
to create means for disseminating <strong>the</strong> development projects work into <strong>the</strong> communities and <strong>the</strong>ir everyday
practices overcoming barriers such as discrepancies in values and languages on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r. The <strong>the</strong>oretical
contribution builds from connecting discussions on dominant logic to communities.
Keywords: community, learning, dominant logic, city organization, development projects
1. Introduction
The number and intensity <strong>of</strong> development work organized as separate projects has increased
considerably during recent years. Organizing development work in project based microcommunties
has also been criticized, as <strong>the</strong>ir role becomes problematic when learning and new knowledge
created within <strong>the</strong>se projects is not applied and used in everyday organizational practices, or if <strong>the</strong>
continuous projects do not seem to be linked with each o<strong>the</strong>r in time. At worst, development work
becomes separated from <strong>the</strong> organization’s everyday activities and does not create any added value
for <strong>the</strong> organization. Thus, development work does not transform into organizational learning. (e.g.
Bäcklund 2007, Rantala and Sulkunen 2006)
In this study, we look at development work from <strong>the</strong> perspective <strong>of</strong> learning. The importance <strong>of</strong>
organizational knowledge creation and continuous development and learning is well acknowledged
(see e.g. von Korgh 2000, Wenger and Snyder 2000). In extant literature on entrepreneurship and
small business management, <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> learning from experience has also been strongly
emphasized (Carson & Gilmore 2000, Cope & Watts 2000, Deakins & Freel 1998).Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, <strong>the</strong>
organizational capabilities to learn, assimilate, and create knowledge as well as <strong>the</strong> structures behind
knowledge creation have received considerable attention (Zollo and Winter 2002, Jones 2006).
Competencies for firms, not only in <strong>the</strong> sense <strong>of</strong> building <strong>the</strong> capabilities <strong>of</strong> individual managers and
employees, but also in relation to creating <strong>the</strong> ability to exploit <strong>the</strong> resources <strong>of</strong> various actors in <strong>the</strong>
business network around <strong>the</strong> firm have been discussed (e.g. Jyrämä and Äyväri, 2007). Yet, <strong>the</strong>
knowledge creation processes, learning and development work especially in public organizations
have received less attention (e.g. Handizc et al 2008, Bäcklund 2007). Consequently, this study aims
to highlight <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> development projects and <strong>the</strong> dissemination and sharing <strong>of</strong> learning within
<strong>the</strong>m. We focus on organizational communities and <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir inherent dominant logic as
enablers to and barriers for sharing learning especially in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> a public organization, <strong>the</strong> capital
city <strong>of</strong> Finland, Helsinki.
The <strong>the</strong>oretical contribution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> paper builds on elaborating learning and knowledge sharing in <strong>the</strong>
context <strong>of</strong> development project work. Thus, our paper contributes to <strong>the</strong> discussion on learning and
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