SMO Research Seminar - Mark Zbaracki

Mark Zbaracki of the Richard Ivey School of Business will present “Risk, Rare Events, and the Politics of Organizational Learning.”

Date:11/16/2012
Time:10:15 AM - 11:45 AM
Location:2-215 Carlson School of Management
Cost:Free
Description:
Mark Zbaracki of the Richard Ivey School of Business will present “Risk, Rare Events, and the Politics of Organizational Learning” on Friday, November 16, from 10:15 to 11:45 a.m. in 2-215 Carlson School.

Social systems can learn from experience, but in rare events and disasters history may be too generous with experience. In such instances, actors convert their heterogeneous interpretations of the event into a political battle over the meaning of history. In a 15-year, longitudinal study, Zbaracki explored the politics of organizational learning in one such instance, the 1994 Estonia ferry disaster. He shows how the salience of the accident stimulated political behaviors as the various organizations involved produced accounts and counter-accounts. While in principle, the multiple accounts could produce rich learning, in practice the range of alternative causes made learning challenging. His findings therefore differ from traditional models of reinforcement learning where clear cause-effect relationships exists.

This event is sponsored by the Department of Strategic Management and Organization.
Contact Information:Sharon Hansen
skh@umn.edu
Sponsored by:Carlson School of Management
Disability Options:
To request disability accommodations, please contact Sharon Hansen at skh@umn.edu.