Experiential Learning (Active Learning)

Case Teaching in the Age of Technological Sophistication

by Kirk Plangger

Co-authored with Leyland Pitt, Victoria Critenden, and Wafe Halvorson

Given the technology-based lifestyle of the college student generation, it is imperative that faculty move into the... more Given the technology-based lifestyle of the college student generation, it is imperative that faculty move into the 21st century with teaching style and pedagogy. Unfortunately, while our college students thrive on technology, faculty members are less receptive to changing traditional approaches to teaching via technological adaptations. The teaching technology process innovation described here brings technology to the case classroom. This case teaching technology not only brings excitement to a traditional pedagogy, it also enables remote teaching and learning as well as reduced preparation time for both faculty and students.

Creating the virtual learning enterprise: Lessons from Enterprise MasterWorks

by Peter Mellalieu

Mellalieu, P. J. (1998). Creating the virtual learning enterprise: Lessons from Enterprise MasterWorks. 6th New Zealand Strategic Management Educators Conference. Auckland University: New Zealand Strategic Management Society/Auckland University.

Describes a university-based professional development programme through which the competency of practicing... more Describes a university-based professional development programme through which the competency of practicing entrepreneurs, innovators and creatives is captured and transferred to course participants through the teaching format of a 'live-to-air academic chat show and master class’: Enterprise MasterWorks. Course participants take part in preparing and delivering each episode through their involvement as background researchers, interviewers, host facilitators, workshop participants or courseware designers. The learning environment so created ‘practices what it preaches demonstrating participation, constant challenge, and continuous innovation focussed on the participants’ own learning objectives. Introduces the background behind the creation of the course; key benefits and drawbacks as viewed by the course participants; and prospective future developments.

This is an earlier summary of:

Mellalieu, P. J. (1998). Weaving the threads of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial learning through a university-located reality-TV and master class: Enterprise MasterWorks (EMW)™. International Conference on Higher Education and Small/Medium Enterprise (SMEs). Presented at the International Conference on Higher Education and Small/Medium Enterprise (SMEs), Rennes, France: Centre Études et Recherche EURO PME, Rennes International School of Business. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/emw1998


See also:
Mellalieu, P. J. (1998). Beyond the Case Method: A Master Class for Enterprise Development. Proceedings of the Annual Educators Conference of the New Zealand Strategic Management Society, 6th Annual Conference. The University of Auckland N.Z.: New Zealand Strategic Management Society. Retrieved from http://unitec.academia.edu/PeterMellalieu/Papers/1571134/Beyond_the_Case_Method_A_Master_Class_for_Enterprise_Development

Propositions on innovation, creativity, enterprise and design: Unitec’s new learning adventure for leaders of enterprise and innovation

by Peter Mellalieu

Mellalieu, P. J. (2012, January 13). Propositions on innovation, creativity, enterprise and design: Unitec’s new learning adventure for leaders of enterprise and innovation. Department of Management and Marketing - Unitec. Retrieved January 13, 2012, from http://thedomm.com/2012/01/13/iced/

Peter Mellalieu introduces a new course in February 2012 comprising part of the Unitec Master of Business, MBus.more Peter Mellalieu introduces a new course in February 2012 comprising part of the Unitec Master of Business, MBus.

What is innovation? What do we need innovation? … Is innovation more than inventing an unconventional product, or creating a new service or process?

How do innovations get created? … What are the factors associated with success and failure?

What are the roles of leadership, enterprise, creativity, and design in the process of innovation?

Do you have ‘the right stuff’ to innovate an enterprise? …. Are you motivated to ‘make a difference’?

This short video (3 min) introduces several propositions that begin a journey towards answering these questions.

Greening your business with Enterprise GreenWorks™

by Peter Mellalieu

Mellalieu, P. J. (2011, July 1). Greening your business with Enterprise GreenWorks™. Department of Management and Marketing. Retrieved April 17, 2012, from http://thedomm.com/2011/07/01/greening-your-business-with-enterprise-greenworks%e2%84%a2/

Unitec students and staff have embarked on an innovative programme focussed on helping medium and small enterprise... more Unitec students and staff have embarked on an innovative programme focussed on helping medium and small enterprise owners advance their journey towards ‘greening the business’. Every two weeks from August, business owners from Rosebank Business Association are invited to participate in an Enterprise GreenWorks™  (EGW) session focussed exclusively on developing promising pathways to guide a ‘guest’ business towards environmentally sustainable business processes and products. During the half-day Enterprise GreenWorks session, a new venture project team is established involving staff from the business and members from Unitec. Think of the reality TV show ‘The Apprentice’ adapted so that no one gets fired, but the earth gets saved … and a better profit is made compared with ‘business-as-usual’!

Greening your business with Unitec

by Peter Mellalieu

Mellalieu, P. J. (2011, May). Greening your business with Unitec. Roundabout - Newsletter of the Rosebank Business Association, (61), 7. Retrieved from http://www.rosebankbusiness.co.nz

See also:

Mellalieu, P. J. (2011, July 1). Greening your business with Enterprise GreenWorks™. Department... more See also:

Mellalieu, P. J. (2011, July 1). Greening your business with Enterprise GreenWorks™. Department of Management and Marketing. Retrieved April 17, 2012, from http://thedomm.com/2011/07/01/greening-your-business-with-enterprise-greenworks%e2%84%a2/

An extreme case: Two cases for enterprise development workshops in Botswana

by Peter Mellalieu

Mellalieu, P. J. (2009). An extreme case: Two cases for enterprise development workshops in Botswana (Case and workshop notes). Auckland, NZ: Unitec New Zealand Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NZCIE). Retrieved from http://web.me.com/petermellalieu/Teacher/Examples/Entries/2009/7/31_An_extreme_case%3A_Two_cases_for_enterprise_development_in_Botswana.html

In 2005, I embarked on a programme to design and facilitate a series of ‘capacity building’ workshops in enterprise... more In 2005, I embarked on a programme to design and facilitate a series of ‘capacity building’ workshops in enterprise development with the University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana in southern Africa. The workshops were designed to help faculty members experience the practical foundations for the delivery of effective enterprise development education programmes for world-class entrepreneurs and their supporters: their co-partners, investors, advisors, teachers, trainers - and entrepreneurs-to-be. Part of the task involved advising on how to develop the university’s existing Business Clinic into an Entrepreneurship Development Centre serving prospective entrepreneurs and the supporters described earlier. This blueprint for this development is presented in Mellalieu (2006a) and summarised in Mellalieu (2006b).

In order to demonstrate the value and practice of 'real world learning', I lead four teams to provide advice to entrepreneurs founded on four ‘live’ cases of an entrepreneurial start-up or SME growth opportunity. The workshop teams first updated the ‘live’ cases in conversation with ‘their’ entrepreneurial client. Finally, each team presented their analysis and advice back to the case client in the final plenary session of the workshop. Two of the cases, Heroic Fashion Designers and Brackendene Lodge are presented here.

Related:
Mellalieu, P. J. (2006a). Creating Enterprise in Extreme Environments: Strategic Leadership from an Entrepreneurship Development Centre at the University of Botswana (p. 67). Auckland, NZ: New Zealand Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Unitec Institute of Technology. Retrieved from http://web.me.com/petermellalieu/Teacher/Examples/Entries/2007/10/18_Creating_enterprise_in_extreme_environments__Strategic_leadership_from_an_entrepreneurship_development_centre_at_the_University_of_Botswana.html

Mellalieu, P. J. (2006b). Case study: Capacity building for entrepreneur enabling in Southern Africa. International Indigenous Journal of Entrepreneurship, Advancement, Strategy and Education, 2(1). Retrieved from http://www.indigenousjournal.com/IIJEASVolIIIss1Mellalieu.pdf

Mellalieu, P. J. (2006c). Fitness for purpose - Capacity building for enterprise development and entrepreneurship in southern Africa (Special issue on quality assurance in higher education). Lonaka - Bulletin of the Centre for Academic Development, University of Botswana, Botswana, 67–85. Retrieved from http://web.me.com/petermellalieu/Teacher/Examples/Entries/2006/10/2_Fitness_for_purpose__Capacity-building_for_enterprise_development_and_entrepreneurship_in_southern_Africa.html

Large-scale idea generation, collection, and implementation: Elizabeth Coleman and the IDEA Pipeline at IAG

by Peter Mellalieu

Mellalieu, P. J., & Coleman, E. B. (2009, August 10). Large-scale idea generation, collection, and implementation: Elizabeth Coleman and the IDEA Pipeline at IAG. Retrieved November 18, 2009, from http://web.me.com/petermellalieu/UBSpublications/News/Entries/2009/8/10_Elizabeth_COLEMAN%3A_The_IDEA_Pipeline_at_IAG.html

How do you create a system for orchestrating the generation, collection, evaluation, and implementation of novel ideas... more How do you create a system for orchestrating the generation, collection, evaluation, and implementation of novel ideas in a 2000-person corporate enterprise?


In 2006, Elizabeth COLEMAN was recruited to introduce innovation processes within IAG: the  Insurance Australia Group in New Zealand.

Beth joined IAG following her post-graduate studies in business innovation and entrepreneurship at Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland.


Beth began her career in product innovation at Texas Instruments in California, migrating her skills from her earlier teaching career in Boston. The move into information technology led Beth to develop new customer engagement programs for ComputerLand (US), Microsoft, Texas Instruments, and AutoCAD.


An invitation to join ComputerLand (New Zealand) as a specialist technology expert brought her to New Zealand in the mid-80s.  Later joining Telecom as manager of their Information Technology Support division broadened her knowledge of new business and systems development and advanced her interest in business innovation and intrapreneurship.


Beth has led several consulting teams that assisted businesses to design new systems, processes and structures informed by market research.


YOUR MISSION

Now Beth is charged with massively expanding her IAG IDEA Pipeline from its pilot deployment for a small cluster of passionate users throughout the entire IAG corporation. Beth invites your ideas.

Fitness for purpose - Capacity building for enterprise development and entrepreneurship in southern Africa (Special issue on quality assurance in higher education)

by Peter Mellalieu

Mellalieu, P. J. (2006). Fitness for purpose - Capacity building for enterprise development and entrepreneurship in southern Africa (Special issue on quality assurance in higher education). Lonaka - Bulletin of the Centre for Academic Development, University of Botswana, Botswana, 67–85. Retrieved from http://web.me.com/petermellalieu/Teacher/Examples/Entries/2006/10/2_Fitness_for_purpose__Capacity-building_for_enterprise_development_and_entrepreneurship_in_southern_Africa.html

For an extended version, see:
Mellalieu, P. J. (2006). Creating Enterprise in Extreme Environments: Strategic Leadership from an Entrepreneurship Development Centre at the University of Botswana (p. 67). Auckland, NZ: New Zealand Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Unitec Institute of Technology. Retrieved from http://web.me.com/petermellalieu/Teacher/Examples/Entries/2007/10/18_Creating_enterprise_in_extreme_environments__Strategic_leadership_from_an_entrepreneurship_development_centre_at_the_University_of_Botswana.html

The government of Botswana has set itself the challenge of developing an “innovative and prosper- ous nation”.... more The government of Botswana has set itself the challenge of developing an “innovative and prosper- ous nation”. However, “an over-dependence on diamonds, high unemployment levels, and unac- ceptably high levels of poverty and inequality - both in terms of assets and income - are persistent problems.” (Clover, 2003) One approach to overcoming these problems is to create an abundance of “grass roots” support for enterprising behaviour throughout the nation. Unfortunately, the principal focus of Botswana’s curre nt formal education system appears mainly to educate job-takers for the public sector and larger companies. Botswana’s formal higher education system is no longer 100 per cent “fit for the purpose” of developing the citizens that Botswana needs to create a prosperous future.

This articles introduces the issue of adapting higher education pedagogies, curriculum, and learning environments in order to provide for an abundance of enterprising behaviour in the Botswana and similar modernising contexts. Specifically, it presents a selection of the author’s experience design- ing, prototyping, and executing four capacity-building workshops for prospective entrepreneur- enablers whilst based at the University of Botswana, Gaborone. The workshops drew on several experiential learning methodologies. For example, the participants worked in problem-based learn- ing teams focussed on providing practical advice to operating entrepreneurs for whom the author had prepared backgrounding ‘real life’ case studies. (Mellalieu, 2006a)

Through the workshop process, the participants recognised the value of the problem-based learning approach. For instance, they developed confidence in providing advice beyond their subject special- ity. The experience of running the first three workshops lead to the design of a robust, scaleable programme format for a four-hour networking and knowledge exchange workshop - branded as En- terprise in ActionTM. Subsequently, one pilot for the Enterprise in Action workshop format was tested and received enthusiastic response from the participants to continue with its presentation as a regular event.

Botswana has an urgent need to create an enterprising culture. As a pre-requisite to achieving this outcome, an abundance of competent entrepreneur-enablers must be identified and developed throughout the country. The successful trial of the Enterprise in Action format lays a tested founda- tion for pursuing this initiative. Several other recommendations are made for re-orienting the uni- versity’s resources and pedagogies towards building a successful, enterprising nation through higher education.

Beyond the Case Method: A Master Class for Enterprise Development

by Peter Mellalieu

Mellalieu, P. J. (1998). Beyond the Case Method: A Master Class for Enterprise Development. Proceedings of the Annual Educators Conference of the New Zealand Strategic Management Society, 6th Annual Conference. The University of Auckland N.Z.: New Zealand Strategic Management Society.

See also related:
Mellalieu, P. J. (1998). Weaving the threads of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial learning through a university-located reality-TV and master class: Enterprise MasterWorks (EMW)™. International Conference on Higher Education and Small/Medium Enterprise (SMEs). Presented at the International Conference on Higher Education and Small/Medium Enterprise (SMEs), Rennes, France: Centre Études et Recherche EURO PME, Rennes International School of Business. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/emw1998

Examines the strengths and limitations of the case method as a teaching tool for developing the professional... more Examines the strengths and limitations of the case method as a teaching tool for developing the professional competence of personnel engaged in strategic management and enterprise development projects. Reports on progress towards introducing a new pedagogical genre for educators, trainers and consultants informed by the notion of a ‘master class for entrepreneurs’. The approach, Enterprise MasterWorks (EMW), extends on the traditional case study method of teaching by offering multi-media material that is timely, lively, relevant to the context of small enterprise and new venture development, and augmented with written material comparable to the traditional case format.

Illustrates the EMW approach in detail for one prototype package based on the foundation and growth of the New Zealand ‘born global’ company Pacific Lithium Limited, and its founding entrepreneur, Robin Johannink. Outlines results from trials of the pedagogical ‘package’ in several situations and presents future development intentions. for the production and dissemination of the EMW courseware packages. Argues that the EMW approach provides a cost-effective approach for surfacing the tacit knowledge of a high-performing (‘masterful’) enterprise developer, and passing on that knowledge to selected learning partners.

Service Learning in Engineering and Science for Sustainable Development

by Joshua Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce, "Service Learning in Engineering and Science for Sustainable Development", International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering, Vol. 1(1), 2006.

This short paper in the inaugural issue of the International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering explains how... more This short paper in the inaugural issue of the International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering explains how professors at all of the world’s institutions can capitalize on an opportunity to assist students to learn engineering and science more effectively by offering them a chance to make concrete contributions to the optimization of appropriate technologies for sustainable development.

Training educators to use experiential education using an isomorphically-framed training-products development company

by Peter Mellalieu

Leberman, S., & Mellalieu, P. J. (1996). ALP-DevCo and the Action Learning Programme: A Trojan Horse for Moving from Mystery to Mastery [Training educators to use experiential education using an isomorphically-framed training-products development company]. Presented at the Action Learning, Action Research &  Process Management Professional Conference, (ALARPM), University of Queensland, Brisbane.

How do you teach trainers and educators how to design and deliver safe and impactful experiential education... more How do you teach trainers and educators how to design and deliver safe and impactful experiential education programmes? This report describes an eight-month, part-time, university-level for-credit course that developed participants’ leadership, task management, and team building skills within an experiential learning framework. Furthermore, the participants were coached in the task of designing and delivering experiential training programmes to several client groups such as a bicycle retailer and a conservation trust. The course exposes participants to several types of experiential learning including Revans’ action learning and outdoor adventure learning.

Fenn at 40: How Recent Findings Are Changing Our Approach to Grantmaking for Work-Integrated Learning

by Paul Putman

(2011) Journal of Cooperative Education and Internships 45(2)

Experiential learning

by Paul Bouchard

Opening the black box: Beyond adventure-based management education programmes

by Peter Mellalieu

Mellalieu, P. J., Leberman, S., Bradbury, T., & Chu, M. (1995). Opening the black box: Beyond adventure-based management education programmes. Presented at the International Organisational Behaviour Teachers’ Conference (IOBTC), University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ.

Should outdoor adventure learning be incorporated into business education?

What is outdoor adventure... more Should outdoor adventure learning be incorporated into business education?

What is outdoor adventure learning?

Does outdoor learning have a role to play in university-based business education programmes?

How do you teach educators who wish to use the methods of outdoor experiential education?

The project explored the nature and value of outdoor adventure learning in a university context. The two-day programme aimed to be a challenging, affordable, safe, and fun way to develop participants’ leadership, communication, and team working skills. The participants were university students enrolled in undergraduate business studies and sports programmes. Activities included a cave rescue, mountain biking, orienteering, rock climbing, and dragon boating.

Participants reported that their main aims in attending the programme were to learn new skills, participate in new activities, and meet new people. These aims were strongly met for most participants.

As a basis for designing future programmes, we sought to identify which of the course designers’ learning outcomes were achieved by which activity. We were surprised to find that the participants considered that different objectives were reinforced by a particular activity. Further, each participant noted that many objectives were achieved by a particular activity. From this feedback, we wondered if it was possible to design adventure learning programmes that would achieve specific, targeted learning outcomes. We came to understand this anomalous situation from the writings of educators Boud, Cohen, and Walker (1983). These authors note that “learning always relates ... to what has gone before. There is never a clean slate upon which to begin.... Earlier experiences - which had positive or negative affect - stimulate or suppress new learning.” (p. 8). We realised that in a given activity - such as a cave rescue - each student took different roles - leader, team worker, observer - and that they thereby learned something difference as a consequence of that role.

Follow-up discussions with participants led to the design of a for-credit academic course, the Action Learning Management Practicum. The course provides participants with the knowledge and skills to design, develop, and execute their own experiential-based programmes utilising outdoor adventure, role play, and action learning pedagogies.


The full article covers these topics:

•A new era in management education

•Adventure learning: A role in management education?

•Designing the pilot action learning practicum

•Delivering the pilot programme

Subsequent developments are discussed here:

Leberman, S., & Mellalieu, P. J. (1996). ALP-DevCo and the Action Learning Programme: A Trojan Horse for Moving from Mystery to Mastery [Training educators to use experiential education using an isomorphically-framed training-products development company]. Presented at the Action Learning, Action Research & Process Management Professional Conference, (ALARPM), University of Queensland, Brisbane. Retrieved from http://web.mac.com/petermellalieu/Teacher/Examples/Entries/2007/10/8_Training_educators_to_use_experiential_education_using_an_isomorphically-framed_training-products_development_company.html

Mellalieu, P. J. (1998). Weaving the threads of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial learning through a university-located reality-TV and master class: Enterprise MasterWorks (EMW)™. International Conference on Higher Education and Small/Medium Enterprise (SMEs). Presented at the International Conference on Higher Education and Small/Medium Enterprise (SMEs), Rennes, France: Centre Études et Recherche EURO PME, Rennes International School of Business. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/emw1998

Mellalieu, P. J. (1998). Beyond the Case Method: A Master Class for Enterprise Development. Proceedings of the Annual Educators Conference of the New Zealand Strategic Management Society, 6th Annual Conference. The University of Auckland N.Z.: New Zealand Strategic Management Society. Retrieved from http://unitec.academia.edu/PeterMellalieu/Papers/1571134/Beyond_the_Case_Method_A_Master_Class_for_Enterprise_Development






•Learning form the pilot action learning practicum

•The action learning management practicum: A for-credit academic course

•Conclusions and future directions.

White privilege and experiential education: A critical reflection

by Jeff Rose

Rose & Paisley (2012)

Through narrative and critique, this critical analysis addresses the role and reification of privilege in the... more Through narrative and critique, this critical analysis addresses the role and reification of privilege in the pedagogical processes of experiential education. Using whiteness as a critical and theoretical lens, we argue experiential education is a privileged pedagogy, aimed at maintaining the status quo and reproducing dominant power relations between racialized social groups. Participants, instructors, spaces, and activities often reflect the
embeddedwhiteness of experiential education.We critically examine the use of challenge in experiential education and offer a language of possibility for future trajectories for experiential education which facilitates more just and equitable teaching and learning processes.

Haigh, M. 2008. Coloring in the emotional language of place. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice 14, 1, pp 25-40. [ISSN-1060-6041].

by Martin Haigh

Available from: http://www.invitationaleducation.net/journal/JITP%20V%2014%202008.pdf. And also retrieved in August 2009 from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6946/is_14/ai_n31004200/?tag=content;col1  and in August 2010 from: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ839524&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ839524.
and in Feb 2012 from: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Journal-Invitational-Theory-Practice/188739575.html.

Making educational places more inviting to learners is a key aspect of Invitational Theory. This paper introduces a... more Making educational places more inviting to learners is a key aspect of Invitational Theory. This paper introduces a simple technique for sensitizing learners and instructors to how their environment affects their feelings and ability to learn. It describes a learning exercise that may be used to assess, evaluate and transform places, to promote either calm reflection or creative energy as well as some experience based on three years of application in a college-level Geography course. The approach, founded in the S!mkhya–Yoga conception of the three modes of material nature, asks learners detect the roles of Sattva (peace, harmony, tranquility, awareness), Rajas
(energy, action, creativity, destructiveness) and Tamas (inert, veiled, ignorance) working together in their habitat and to think about how this balance may be adjusted to positive effect.
Learners found the approach novel but many welcomed this new way of envisioning their world.

Haigh, M. 2010. Exploring sustainability in the context of Land Reclamation: an exercise for Environmental Management trainees. International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development 9, 1-3, pp 255-268. ISSN (Online): 1478-7466 - ISSN (Print): 1474-6778. DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2010.029975. (This article belongs to the special issue: “Sustainable Development and Environmental Education”).

by Martin Haigh

Haigh, M.J. & Gold, J.R. 1993. The problems with fieldwork: a group-based approach towards integrating fieldwork into the undergraduate geography curriculum. Journal of Geography in Higher Education 17, 1, pp 21-32. [ISSN 0309-8256

by Martin Haigh

Field study, widely regarded as an essential part of geographical higher education, is under severe pressure due to... more Field study, widely regarded as an essential part of geographical higher education, is under severe pressure due to its high cost, resource demands and a legacy of poor educational practices that have left it on the fringes of the curriculum. This paper outlines a case study of an undergraduate module, framed around a field course, which seeks to integrate fieldwork into the curriculum by combining training in field study with training in research and presentation skills. The module employs group‐based project work throughout, with no items assessed individually. The paper concludes by pointing to the pedagogic and tactical advantages of the approach adopted, but warns against the overuse of group work.

2007 Creating a new Post Graduate Certificate

by Hilaire Graham

Presented at Session A3, ELIA Teachers Academy, University of Brighton, 11-13 July 2007

This paper considers the development of a new academic development course in teaching and learning in the creative... more This paper considers the development of a new academic development course in teaching and learning in the creative arts; it describes the context for such a course; requirements for accreditation; its impact on professional development; and the nature of the curriculum of such a course in the creative arts

An Organizational Learning Perspective on the Contracting Process

by Fabrice Lumineau

Lumineau F., Fréchet M., & Puthod D. 2011. “An Organizational Learning Perspective on Contract Design.” Strategic Organization, 9(1): 8-32.

The contracting process is a crucial step in alliance development and its success. However, the existing literature... more The contracting process is a crucial step in alliance development and its success. However, the existing literature reveals surprisingly little investigation into how organizational learning relates to the process of contract making. We therefore conducted an in-depth longitudinal study of the alliance contracting process in the animated film industry. First, our findings suggest that during the contracting process, firms can learn about the way to deal with the contracting process, about themselves and their partner, and about the transaction features. Second, the case analysis indicates a combination of experiential, vicarious, and inferential learning mechanisms. Combining these insights into the objects and the mechanisms of learning during the contracting process, we discuss how contracting and learning processes are related and analyze the role of the contracting process in supporting organizational learning. The findings show that the drafting of contractual clauses fosters learning and, in turn, this learning triggers new contractual negotiations. Hence we suggest that the alignment between transaction features and the choice of contractual governance results from learning during the contracting process. We then propose avenues for future research.