The process of individual unlearning: A neglected topic in an under-researched field

作者：Donald Hislop, Sara Bosley, Crispin Coombs, Julie Holland · 发表于：Management Learning · 年份：2013 · DOI：10.1177/1350507613486423 · 被引用次数：175 · 研究领域：Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior、Organizational Learning and Leadership、Management and Organizational Studies

In a contemporary business environment where change is often regarded as continuous, the ability of people or organizations to be able to successfully adapt and respond to change is key. Change often involves not only the learning of new behaviours, ideas, or practices but also giving up or abandoning some established ones. Despite both these elements generally being important to change, academic focus on processes of abandoning or giving up established knowledge and practices, that is, unlearning, is lacking. This conceptual article draws on a range of literature to suggest that the process of individual unlearning may have particular features. The review defines the concept of unlearning, differentiates between two different types of individual unlearning, and suggests that each type of individual unlearning may have its own distinctive features and dynamics. This article builds from this insight through developing a typology, which distinguishes between four types of individual unlearning. It concludes with an agenda for future empirical research to examine and validate the concepts presented.