How does self‐direction within learning operate to affect idea generation in small‐medium enterprise contexts?

• Author: Graham Perkins
• Date: 01 December 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21326
• Published date: 01 December 2018

QUALITATIVE STUDY

How does self-direction within learning operate to

affect idea generation in small-medium enterprise

contexts?

Graham Perkins

University of Exeter Business School,

Exeter, UK

Correspondence

Graham Perkins, University of Exeter Business

School, Streatham Court, Rennes Drive,

Exeter, EX4 4PU, UK.

Email: g.perkins@exeter.ac.uk

Extant literature draws numerous links between aspects of human

resource development (HRD) activity and organizational creativity/

innovation, noting that investments in learning positively impact

creative output. Within this research base, studies suggest that the

ability to self-direct learning activity can influence creative perfor-

mance, but we do not yet understand how such processes operate,

particularly in small-medium enterprise (SME) contexts. Given the

positive economic and social impacts generated by SMEs, them-

selves often being sources of breakthrough product or service inno-

vation, this is an important research problem that requires our

collective attention. This article argues that while the ability to self-

direct learning activity does contribute to the generation of ideas in

SME contexts, the presence of multiple stakeholder voices in the

learning conversation suggests that learning is better conceptual-

ized as codirected rather than self-directed. This study finds that

codirected approaches to learning operate through a mechanism

termed “participative dialogue,”whereby both employees and man-

agers contribute to learning conversations. It also highlights the role

of employee critical self-appraisal in driving self-directedness and

contributing to the generation of ideas. Findings ultimately suggest

that codirection of learning benefits idea generation because such

approaches facilitate the emergence of unexpected patterns of

thinking, which drive the divergence that creativity depends upon.

KEYWORDS

codirected learning, creativity, exploratory, HRD, idea generation,

qualitative, self-directed learning

1|INTRODUCTION

Creativity, innovation, and learning are central to organizational success (Allocca & Kessler, 2006; Chien, Lin, & Ya-

Hui Lien, 2015; Herrera, 2015; van Rooij & Merkebu, 2015). In a world increasingly dominated by knowledge work

DOI: 10.1002/hrdq.21326

Human Resource Development Quarterly. 2018;29:307–328. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrdq © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 307

(Lund, Manyika, & Ramaswamy, 2012; McIver, Lengnick-Hall, Lengnick-Hall, & Ramachandran, 2013) and information

flows, the management of these, often intangible, attributes takes on increasing importance (Jimenéz-Jimenéz &

Sanz-Valle, 2005; Shipton, West, Dawson, Birdi, & Patterson, 2006). Creativity is often defined as the production or

development of novel, and organizationally useful ideas (Amabile, Conti, Coon, Lazenby, & Herron, 1996; Shalley,

Zhou, & Oldham, 2004; Woodman, Sawyer, & Griffin, 1993). Built from lateral (De Bono, 1970) or divergent (Klijn &

Tomic, 2010; Penaluna, Coates, & Penaluna, 2010) thinking, creativity is by its very nature an elusive, enigmatic, and

disruptive concept. In an organizational context, creative ideas may arise in connection with numerous issues, these

include the introduction of new products or services, marketing or branding, operational processes or efficiencies, or

the decision to target particular markets, among others. Without a flow of new ideas, the creative process flounders

as there can be no idea development or elaboration (Perry-Smith & Mannucci, 2017). This article, therefore, places

its focus on idea “generation”(Kijkuit & van den Ende, 2007).

Small-medium enterprises (SMEs) are of significant economic importance and face increasing pressures to create

(Hotho & Champion, 2011; Vinck, 2014). Constrained by available resources (Hessels & Parker, 2013; Woschke,

Haase, & Kratzer, 2017), and facing increasingly competitive contexts, creativity often links directly to the develop-

ment of competitive advantage in these firms (McAdam, Moffett, Hazlett, & Shevlin, 2010). Studies link a variety of

factors to an organization’s capacity to create, and this body of work extends into the human resource management

(HRM) field (Binyamin & Carmeli, 2010; De Saá-Pérez & Díaz-Díaz, 2010; Gupta & Singhal, 1993; Jimenéz-Jimenéz &

Sanz-Valle, 2005; Shipton et al., 2006). Within this territory, scholars have begun to investigate human resource

development (HRD) practices, arguing for linkages between learning activity and success within the creative process

(Saunders, Gray, & Goregaokar, 2014). Further examples of such studies variously explore learning at both an individ-

ual and organizational level (see, for example, Cirella, Canterino, Guerci, & Shani, 2016; Huber, 1998; Kim & Wilemon,

2007; McLean, 2005; Saunders et al., 2014; Waight, 2005), with Hirst, Van Knippenberg, and Zhou (2009) and De

Clercq, Rahman, and Belausteguigoitia (2017) both linking learning orientations to improved creative outcomes.

Interestingly, debates concerning HRD suggest a positive linkage between self-directed learning activity (SDL)

and organizational creativity (Abbot & Dahmus, 1992; Guglielmino, Guglielmino, & Long, 1987; Karakas & Manisaligil,

2012; Mitlacher, Beitler, & Faller, 2005). Commonly understood as a process in which individuals take initiative

throughout the learning process (Brookfield, 2009; Ellinger, 2004; Hashim, 2008; Knowles, 1975), the notion that

providing a significant role for employees within learning to foster creativity is intriguing. However, as SMEs are typi-

cally subject to significant resource constraints (Hessels & Parker, 2013; Valentim, Lisboa, & Franco, 2016; Woschke

et al., 2017), how may they facilitate employee-directed development, if, by its very nature, SDL necessitates

employee-led exploration that may be construed as a suboptimal use of the SME’s resource? Exploring how SMEs

may facilitate self-directedness in resource-constrained contexts motivates this present article. The aim of this study

is to explore how self-directedness within learning may influence idea generation in the somewhat paradoxical situa-

tion where SMEs need to carefully manage limited resources, while also, if contemporaneous theories are proved

correct, permitting employees the freedom to direct their own learning activity.

2|THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 |Human resource development in small-medium enterprises

Our present literature base indicates that there are similarities between the conceptualizations of HRM and HRD

practices in SME settings. HRM in smaller organizational settings is typically characterized as informal and ad hoc in

nature (Altinay, Altinay, & Gannon, 2008; Harney & Dundon, 2006; Marlow, 2006; Mayson & Barrett, 2006),

although it is still believed that it is positively linked to performance and innovation in these contexts (Sheehan,

2014). While recognizing that HRD differs from HRM (Werner, 2014), HRD in SME contexts is nevertheless also

characterized as informal and ad hoc (Gray, 2006; Tam & Gray, 2016a). It is typically seen as unplanned and reactive

308 PERKINS