Learning Curves : Theory, Models, and Applications

A contributed work covering advances in learning curve research theory and applications, this book draws a learning map to demonstrate where learning is involved within organizations and how it can be sustained, perfected, and accelerated. It reviews developments in research and explores the learning-quality relationship. The text explains how to improve learning curves using the Earned Value Method (EVM) and through the design of thinking systems. It also offers a chapter that reviews the Forgetting Curves.

Written by international contributors, Learning Curves: Theory, Models, and Applications first draws a learning map that shows where learning is involved within organizations, then examines how it can be sustained, perfected, and accelerated. The book reviews empirical findings in the literature in terms of different sources for learning and partial assessments of the steps that make up the actual learning process inside the learning curve.

Traditionally, books on learning curves have focused either on cost accounting or production planning and control. In these books, the learning curve has been treated as a forecasting tool. This book synthesizes current research and presents a clear picture of organizational learning curves. It explores how organizations improve other measures of organizational performance including quality, inventory, and productivity, then looks inside the learning curve to determine the actual processes through which organizations learn.