Goal orientation, critical reflection, and unlearning: An individual‐level study

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21303
• Date: 01 March 2018
• Published date: 01 March 2018

QUANTITATIVE STUDY

Goal orientation, critical reflection,

and unlearning: An individual-level study

Makoto Matsuo

Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan

Correspondence

Makoto Matsuo, Kita9 Nishi7, Kita-ku,

Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan

Email: mmatsuo@econ.hokudai.ac.jp

Funding information

JSPS KAKENHI, Grant/Award number:

26285078

Although individual unlearning is significant for personal growth

and development, few studies have investigated this process quan-

titatively. The main goal of this study was to examine the anteced-

ents of individual unlearning in terms of goal orientations and

reflective activities using survey data from 271 employees of Japa-

nese organizations (including municipal government employees,

human resource development [HRD] trainers from a consulting

firm, and hospital nurses). The results indicated that learning goal

orientation had an indirect effect on unlearning through reflection

and critical reflection as well as through critical reflection only.

Performance goal orientation also had an indirect effect on

unlearning through reflection and, subsequently, through critical

reflection. The findings suggest that critical reflection plays a key

role in linking goal orientations with individual unlearning. The the-

oretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

KEYWORDS

critical reflection, goal orientation, reflection, unlearning

1|INTRODUCTION

Organizations—even those that are performing well—face a constant risk of growing complacent and learning too lit-

tle (Nystrom & Starbuck, 1984). For strategic change to be successfully executed in a turbulent environment, firms

must unlearn or discard old routines to make way for new ones (Hutzschenreuter, Kleindienst, & Greger, 2012;

Tsang, 2008). Becker, Hyland, and Acutt (2006) reported that organizations with a defined HRD function are aware

of the importance of unlearning as an integral part of embedding new learning. In prior research, the concept of

“unlearning”has attracted many researchers from diverse fields, although most studies of unlearning have been case

studies without statistical support and quantitative examination (Akgun, Lynn, & Byrne, 2006; Akgun, Byrne, Lynn, &

Keskin, 2007).

In exploring this topic, attention should be devoted not only to organizational unlearning but also to individual

unlearning, as organizational unlearning is often triggered by individual unlearning (Zhao, Lu, & Wang, 2013). This

idea corresponds to the viewpoint expressed in the organizational learning scholarship that new knowledge is

DOI: 10.1002/hrdq.21303

Human Resource Dev Quarterly. 2018;29:49–66. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrdq © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 49

created by individuals (Nonaka, 1994) and that organizations ultimately learn via their members (Kim, 1993). Addi-

tionally, in a team-learning context, Hagen and Aguilar (2012) stated that team members need to “unlearn”their pre-

vious knowledge, skills, and/or behaviors and look beyond their basic assumptions to find new solutions to

problems. These arguments suggest that unlearning occurs not only at the organizational level but also at the indi-

vidual and group levels (Rebernik & Sirec, 2007).

Despite its importance, much of the research on unlearning addresses the organizational level at the expense of

studying smaller work units or the individual (Akgun et al., 2006; Hislop, Bosley, Coombs, & Holland, 2014). To

understand the individual unlearning process, it is necessary to identify specific factors that impact unlearning

(Becker, 2010). This study examined the effect of goal orientation and reflection on individual unlearning using sur-

vey data. Goal orientation is considered crucial for learning because goals influence how individuals interpret and

respond to achievement (Dragoni, Tesluk, & Oh, 2009; Dweck, 1986). Without goals, a person cannot act because

action is defined as goal-oriented behavior (Frese & Zapf, 1994). It is also hypothesized that reflective activities

involving reviewing objectives or work processes enable the identification of beliefs or routines that should be

stopped (Espedal, 2008).

We should note, however, that there are two types of goal orientation: learning goal orientation and perfor-

mance goal orientation (Dweck, 1986; Dweck & Leggett, 1988). Reflection is also distinguished from critical reflec-

tion, which is a deeper cognitive activity (Cunliffe, 2004; Mezirow, 1991). Learning and performance goal

orientations may affect reflection and critical reflection differently regarding their facilitative effect on individual

unlearning. However, little is known about how goal orientations, reflection, and critical reflection combine to deter-

mine individual unlearning. The main contribution of this study to the existing literature involves identifying the

antecedents of individual unlearning in terms of goal orientation and reflective activities. Specifically, the present

research finds that individual unlearning was closely linked to reflective activities, inspired by individual goal

orientations.

The article is organized as follows. First, the literature on unlearning, reflection, critical reflection, and goal ori-

entation is reviewed, and then hypotheses are proposed based on the literature review. Next, the quantitative

methodology is described. Finally, the results are presented and discussed from theoretical and practical viewpoints.

2|THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This section explores four issues related to the topic of the paper: unlearning, reflection, critical reflection, and goal

orientation.

2.1 |Unlearning

The concept of unlearning has been explored for more than 30 years in the context of organizational learning

(Brook, Pedler, Abbott, & Burgoyne, 2016). Many prior studies on organizational unlearning have assumed that the

term unlearning refers to a process of clearing out old routines and beliefs that no longer meet current challenges

(Cegarra-Navarro, Eldridge, & Wensley, 2014; Tsang & Zahra, 2008). The idea behind unlearning is that the inability

to dispose of outdated knowledge may become a major hindrance to learning or innovation (Easterby-Smith et al.,

2004; Fernandez et al., 2012). That is, discarding obsolete knowledge is critical for gaining new knowledge; thus,

the inefficiency with which many organizations promote unlearning is evidence of a crucial weakness

(Hedberg, 1981).

Zhao et al. (2013) noted that the process of organizational unlearning involves the evolution of individual and

group unlearning, suggesting that unlearning at the individual level promotes unlearning at the group level, which

eventually results in organizational unlearning. Thus, individual unlearning is a major trigger for organizational

unlearning (Leal-Rodríguez, Eldridge, Roldán, Leal-Millán, & Ortega-Gutiérrez, 2015). However, to adapt to changes

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