Experience as a source of knowledge in divestiture decisions: emerging issues and knowledge management implications

Abstract

Abstract\ud Purpose – This paper analyses the idea that experience acts as an antecedent in\ud divestiture and triggers an organisational learning process that enables the divesting firm to\ud convert experience into knowledge, increasing the probability that a firm will undertake\ud subsequent divestitures.\ud Design/methodology/approach – The approach is quantitative. The research project\ud utilised the case control design, with a sample consisting of 274 divesting and non-divesting\ud firms. Given the dichotomous nature of the dependent variable, the relations of the research\ud model are tested using logistic regression.\ud Findings – The likelihood of a divestiture increases when firms have already had past\ud experience of divestitures. Firm performance and firm size act as moderating variables: that\ud is, the learning effects are weaker in firms with better past performance and in larger firms.\ud Research implications/limitations – The study contributes to the literature on\ud organisational learning and divestiture. In particular, the knowledge obtained from previous\ud divestitures is positively related to subsequent ones. The results on firm size and performance\ud as contingency factors make it possible to distinguish between the different learning\ud mechanisms in proactive and reactive divestitures, as well as in larger and smaller firms.\ud Accordingly, a two-level framework of experience and knowledge is proposed.\ud Practical implications – The results are of interest for practitioners who need a better\ud understanding of the antecedents of their strategic actions in terms of past experience and\ud knowledge. The study also offers insights into the knowledge management practices that fit\ud the proposed two-level framework of knowledge accumulation.\ud Originality/value – The originality of the study consists in the strong evidence of\ud learning effects in divestitures that it finds. This study augments a promising line of research\ud on the effect of experience in rare strategic decisions, enriching our understanding of the\ud learning mechanisms associated with complex experiences

Parents’ awareness and perception of children’s eye diseases in Arar City

“…Elder participants with more life experience and educated persons showed higher scores in comparison to others, which is in accordance with data reported in 2017 in Jordan by Haddad et al [13]. In addition, parents whose children had a history of eye diseases showed higher scores in comparison to others, which reveals the importance of experience as a source of knowledge and this is in line with the study conducted by Peruffo et al (2018) [14]. Participants showed the highest awareness score of 69% for RE, while the lowest score was for strabismus.…”

Elementary school teachers knowledge and attitude towards attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder in Gondar, Ethiopia: a multi-institutional study

“…This supported finding is in line with a study conducted in Saudi Arabia [ 28 ]. This could be explained by Having experience might be the most common source of knowing the problem to some extent and knowledge is found upon the accumulation of information through either experience or education [ 47 , 56 ].…”

Knowledge translation in project portfolio decision-making: the role of organizational alignment and information support system in selecting innovative ideas

“…Moreover, our results highlight how it is relevant to integrate not only a bottom-up and top-down perspective in the decision-making process, but also the horizontal one, so that all the different levels take part to the translation process of knowledge, by leveraging on their breadth of experience and expertise (Peruffo et al , 2018). These considerations make the PPM a virtuous system from which it is possible to gain alignment among different domains.…”