Investigation and validation of technological learning versus market performance

This paper details a journey of discovery for conceptualizing, identifying, documenting and validating instances of higher-order learning, its nature, as well as its content, process, context and impact. The authors are engag ed in a multi-industry, longitudinal, empirical study to investigate the re lationship between technological learning activities and firm market perfor mance. This relationship is postulated to vary under specific firm, market and industry conditions, so that the effects of learning can enhance or lim it market performance, emerge over different periods of time, and require V arying levels of investment. For this paper, we conduct a pilot study using a preliminary sample of 19 f irms from four industries over a period of twelve years as a pilot study fo r a broader analysis of approximately 100 firms in these industries coverin g 25 years. The empirical analysis in this pilot study shows little evidenc e of a relationship between technological learning and market performance; however, the lack of evidence is due to the crude nature of the measures us ed and the limitations of available data. A more comprehensive research des ign is proposed which will provide a better test of the relationship. (C) 2 000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.