WHY CAN'T THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION LEARN? CREATING A LEARNING CULTURE AT THE FAA

In this paper, the authors use the concept of "learning capability" to integrate several frameworks regarding the changing nature of international competition and industrial organization and relate these concepts to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The primary question they seek to answer is why the FAA does not have the ability to adjust and learn from its past mistakes. They emphasize the primacy of learning and its capability in the post-Fordist (learning-oriented firm) world of competition, with a focus on analyzing various Fordist (production-oriented firm) and post-Fordist forms or learning at various levels and their different impact on the learning capability of firms and government agencies. They first examine the arrangements that promote individual and organizational learning within the firm, with special reference to the Japanese practices of lean production. Second, they introduce the concept of transactional learning to delineate the various forms it takes in the market place. They conclude with an examination of the concept of learning infrastructure as a general construct for reorganizing the Federal Aviation Administration.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Much of this paper is taken from a working paper by Dengjian Jin and Roger Stough, titled "Learning and Learning Capability in the Fordist and Post-Fordist Age: An Integrative Framework".
  • Corporate Authors:

    Aviation Foundation

    3712 Madison Lane
    Falls Church, VA  United States  22041
  • Publication Date: 1996-7-10

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Features: References;
  • Pagination: 92 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00726026
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: Rev. 1:07.26.96
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Sep 27 1996 12:00AM