The ‘How’ of Multilevel Learning Dynamics: A Systematic Literature Review Exploring How Mechanisms Bridge Learning Between Individuals, Teams/Projects and the Organization

• Published date: 01 March 2019
• Date: 01 March 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12179

The ‘How’of Multilevel Learning Dynamics:

A Systematic Literature Review Exploring

How Mechanisms Bridge Learning Between

Individuals, Teams/Projects and

the Organization

ANNA WIEWIORA,MICHELLE SMIDT and ARTEMIS CHANG

School of Management, QUTBusiness School, Queensland Universityof Technology, Brisbane, Australia

The organizational learningliterature recognizesthat learning is a multilevel phenomenonthat occurs between the

individual,team and organizationallevels. Existing literature has begun to identify linkingmechanisms between these

levels, butthe research explaininghow these mechanisms operateremains scarce.There is a limited understanding of

the learning paths and connections between the individual, team and organizational levels. Using a systematic

literature review, this paper synthesizes the research on multilevel learning to: (1) classify primary and less

researched mechanisms enabling multilevel learning, and (2) explain how and in what direction these mechanisms

operate to link thelevels. We then propose a framework to summarize our findings. We investigate this phenomenon

in both organizational and project-based contexts due to the unique temporal and structural learning challenges of

the latter. Future research directions are proposed for scholars who wish to further contribute to this important

and growing field.

Keywords: multilevel learning; project organization; bridging mechanisms

Introduction

The notion of organizational learning has gained

increasing attention in the literature (e.g., March and

Simon, 1958;Argyris and Schön, 1978; Levittand March,

1988; Senge, 1990; Huber, 1991; Crossan et al., 2011;

Brusoni and Rosenkranz, 2014). Early discussions

about organizational learning were mostly abstract and

did not provide concrete prescriptions regarding what

organizations can do to engage in learning (Garvin et al.,

2008). Since the influential work of Crossan et al.

(1999), researchhas begun to acknowledge organizational

learning as a multilevel phenomenon, providing a more

complete pictureof how learning occurs and flows within

organizations (e.g., Lawrence et al., 2005; Engeström

et al., 2007; Campbell and Armstrong, 2013; Brusoni

and Rosenkranz, 2014). From a review of the general

management and project-based learning literature we

understand that: (1) learning is a dynamic and multilevel

process (Crossanet al., 2011); (2) learning flows between

individual, team/project and organizational levels in feed-

forward andfeedback directions, but notalways in a linear

fashion (Berends and Lammers, 2010); (3) there is still

limited researchon multilevel project-based learning, with

research to date primarily concentrating on explaining

project-to-organization linkages (Grabher, 2004); and (4)

the broader management literature has begun to identify

linking mechanisms between the levels (e.g., Vera and

Crossan, 2004; Hannah and Lester, 2009).

In spite of the progress on this topic, studies

investigating learning dynamics and interactions between

differentorganizational levels remainscarce (Anderson Jr.

and Lewis, 2014; Brusoni and Rosenkranz, 2014).

Subsequently, a vital gap exists with regard to explaining

‘how’these mechanisms operate to influence multilevel

learning. Consequently, there is limited understanding

of the learning paths and interactions between the

individual, team/project and organizational levels

Correspondence: Anna Wiewiora,School of Management,QUT Business

School,Queensland Universityof Technology,Brisbane, Australia.E-mail

a.wiewiora@qut.edu.au

European Management Review, Vol. 16, 93–115, (2019)

DOI: 10.1111/emre.12179

©2018 European Academy of Management

(Crossan et al., 2011; Swart and Harcup, 2012).

Extending this line of inquiry is of value because it will

help solve the puzzle of ‘how’learning moves between

levels. This in turn will enable theory development, and

will ultimately benefit organizations and projects in their

quest to advance learning and thereby improve overall

performance.

Aiming to further knowledge on how learning moves

between levels, this paper consolidates the current

management and project management literature,

providing an integrated overview of the mechanisms

connecting learning across levels. As a result, we address

the following research questions:

1. What are the bridging mechanisms that facilitate

learning between levels in: (a) general management;

and (b) project-based contexts?

2. How do the bridging mechanisms connect various

levels in the learning process?

3. What are the future research directions that could

further expand this field of enquiry?

This systematic literature review consolidates existing

understanding of multilevel learning and provides the

foundation for three sets of contributions. First, this study

distils 11 bridging mechanisms and explains how these

mechanisms trigger multilevel learning flows in general

and unique to theproject-based context. Second, the study

builds on the multilevel learning theory by explaining

‘how’,‘where’and ‘in which direction’each identified

mechanism functions to facilitate learning flows. For

example we found that some mechanisms—culture,

leaders, organizational structure and politics –are active

across all three levels, while others connect only two

levels. We also found thatall of the mechanisms facilitate

feed-forward learning flows, but only three –leaders,

shared mental models and organizational initiatives –

trigger the feedback learning. Third, using structuration

theory and systems approach this study demonstrates

how bridging mechanisms work in conjunction and

reinforce one another to facilitate multilevel learning.

Lastly, the paper offers numerous avenues for future

research.

The following theory section examines learning as a

multilevel learning phenomenon and provides an

argument for the view we adopt. We also investigate

multilevel learning in the project-based context and

explainourreasonforseparatingthisfromthegeneral

management literature. Next, we provide an account of

the methodology used in this paper, followed by an

overview of the review findings. We then examine the

identified mechanisms in order of their prevalence in the

literature in the ‘bridging mechanisms for multilevel

learning’section. Finally, we conclude this paper and

suggest future research avenues.

Theory

Learning as a multilevel phenomenon

There is growingconsensus in the literature that thetheory

of organizational learning should consider individual,

team and organizational lev els (Fiol and Lyles, 1985;

Crossan et al., 1999; Edmondson, 2002). Learning

originates within an individual’s development of new

insights and innovative ideas. Individual learning points

to individuals’behavior (Argyris and Schön, 1978)

and involves devel oping interpretations and new

understanding based on new and existing information

(Fiol and Lyles, 1985). A person learns through

developing and refining different interpretations of new

or existing information (Crossanet al., 1999). At the other

end of the spectrum,organizational learning isthe process

of improving organizational actions. It begins when

individual ideas are shared and common meanings –

developed by individuals and groups –are

institutionalized as organizationalartifacts. Organizational

learning ther efore involves developing c ommon

understanding and beliefs that are often institutionalized

and legitimated (Fiol and Lyles, 1985). Connecting

micro-level individual learning and macro-level

organizational learning is meso-level learning –also

known as team learning, which has been defined as a

process in which a team takes action, obtains and reflects

upon feedback, and makes changes to adapt or improve

(Edmondson, 1999; Argote et al., 2001). Team learning

emerged in the literaturefollowing an argument thatteams

carry out significant work in organizations (Senge, 1990)

and are important for sharing individual-level cognition

and behavior (Hackman, 1992).

Most research argues that learning begins with an

individual and is then embedded at the collective level

(Argyris, 1992; Kim, 1993; Yew-Jin and Wolff-Michael,

2007). There is some debate regarding where group

learning ends and organizational learning begins.

Some consider the collective knowledge of top

management teams as the manifestation of organizational

learning (Campbell and Armstrong, 2013). Others, like

Edmondson (2002), support the view that learning flows

to groups or teams through the interactions between

individuals situated within smaller units, and that only at

these meso-level, independent learning outcomes jointly

impact organizational learning. We adopt a view of

organizational learning as a multilevel process of change

in the cognition and actions of individuals and teams,

embeddedin and affected by the organization’sinstitutions

(Berends and Lammers,2010; Crossan et al., 1999).

It is argued that most management problems involve

multilevel processes, yet most management research uses

a single level o f analysis (Hitt et al., 2007). This is also the

case for the research on learning, whereonly a few studies

94 A. Wiewiora et al.

©2018 European Academy of Management