Strategic change and organizational learning in two 'Swedish' construction firms

Abstract

The two largest construction companies in Sweden, NCC and Skanska, previously have acted according to what here is called a multi-domestic strategy. Such a strategy implies that each market is treated essentially in isolation. Due to perceived pressures for local responsiveness, the firms have focused on utilizing local knowledge and experience, while failing to obtain economies of scale and to learn from the different localities. A combination of changing perceptions of being local and a growing number of home markets makes possible a strategic approach that is inter-domestic in nature. This approach stresses the importance of learning and of coordinating the experience a construction firm achieves in many different localities. Therefore learning is seen not only as a process of adaptation to the environment, but also as an evolutionary process built on an organization's identity, which is created by both structural and individual factors. The identity of an organization helps us to understand its ability to learn.

Keywords:

• Organizational Learning Evolutionary Process Industrial Wisdom Strategic Change