Competence trap
As a competence trap ( Engl. : Competency trap ., See Lee & Van den Steen 2006) refers to the unauthorized belief that a behavior that occurred in the past success has led, is necessarily also take into future success for themselves. The term was first introduced in management literature, but has also found application in military science , error research , organizational theory, and human resources . Professional action (e.g. by doctors) is always threatened by competence traps.
The classic definition of the term competency trap can be found in Marcus Becker, based on a thought by Levitt and March: The competence trap is a state in which an organization with suboptimal processes achieves a result that is still just satisfactory (e.g. on the market) and consequently their handling of the suboptimal processes is becoming more routine, but no optimal processes have been learned and implemented.
causes
In addition to a lack of competition, important causes of competence traps include a. Excessive specialization or increasing path dependency as a result of an increasingly solidified development path or specialization strategy, as well as adherence to standardized, well-mastered but possibly inefficient routines in all possible situations, as is typical for many small businesses or family businesses, which seal off from outside knowledge. Further causes are an excessive simplification of rules and routines in relation to the complex reality or, on the contrary: an extreme differentiation of rules that are then ignored by experienced practitioners. This can e.g. B. lead to situations not being recognized in which one has to react with non-routine actions. Experienced doctors underestimate B. the incidence of rare diseases and complications, while younger doctors overestimate them. This can lead to ignorance of preventive measures against relatively rare complications. "The more experience, the more likely guidelines are to be ignored."
Another cause is the early codification of seemingly proven rules or the new definition of best practice by management, which excludes experimentation with new problem solutions .
With regard to companies, the cause of a competence trap can also be the holding on to and too great a commitment to one's own core competencies. These then become core rigidities that inhibit growth . One example of this is General Motors , which stuck to the habit of styling cars as status symbols for too long in the 1980s and 1990s. Even strengths that have been proven over many years in the form of innovation and competence lead over the competition can narrow the search field for problem solutions and hide potential substitution processes by competing products.
literature
- Marcus C. Becker: Organizational routines: a review of the literature , in: Industrial and Corporate Change, vol. 13, no. 4 (August 2004), pp. 643-677
- Deishin Lee, Eric van den Steen: Managing Know-how , Paper, MIT, Cambridge MA Dec. 2006, http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/07-039.pdf
- B. Levitt, J. March: Organizational learning , in: Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 14: 319-340 (1988).
- Daniel A. Levinthal, James G. March: The Myopia of Learning , Strategic Management Journal Vol 14, 95-112 (1993)
- From innovation lead to competence trap , ed. from the Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz Foundation, 2008, http://www.daimler-benz-stiftung.de/cms/uploads/images/service/downloads/pfadforschung_essays.pdf