Barriers to organizational learning: results from the application of an instrument for its characterization

Based on an extensive literature review, this paper reveals several gaps in organizational learning (OL) research that need filling before we can really talk about a theory of organizational learning or verify the traits and very existence of learning organizations (LO) as a phenomenon. The critique, however, is not targeted at any single model or theory of organizational learning, but at theory building, which constantly drifts away with new definitions and approaches that break up rather than construct a theory. Despite the fact that numerous consultation tools for turning organizations into learning models have been developed and applied, the concept of organizational learning itself still remains vague and there is an urgent need for a holistic model of OL. Too much emphasis is put on studying the learning of individuals instead of concentrating on the learning of organizations. Since the theory is highly dispersed and does not really build on earlier findings, rich empirical studies are needed in order to validate measures of organizational learning. Modelling of the organizational learning process and clarification of how learning of individuals is turned into learning of organizations is needed. This paper introduces one set of OL measures developed to study whether organizational learning occurred during the operational and business culture change process of a single case company. Suggestions for further OL research are made on the basis of experiences gained when empirically testing this model.

Organizational learning theory is motivated by the observation that organizations learn by encoding inferences from experience into their behavior. It seeks to answer the questions of what kinds of experiences influence behaviors, how and under what circumstances behaviors change, and how new behaviors are stabilized and have consequences for organizations’ adaptation to their environment. Organizational learning research has as key mechanisms innovations and other triggering events that lead to major behavioral change, knowledge accumulation and experimentation that encourage incremental change, and interpretations that guide each of these processes. Organizational learning research has gained a central position in organizational theory because it has implications for organizational behaviors that also affect other theoretical perspectives such as institutional theory, organizational ecology, and resource dependence. Key research topics in organizational learning and adaptation are (a) organizational routines and their stability and change, (b) performance feedback and its consequences for organizational search and change, (c) managerial goal formation and coalition building, (d) managerial attention to goals and organizational activities, and (e) adaptive consequences of learning procedures. Each of these topics has seen significant research, but they are far from completing their empirical agenda. Recently, organizational learning research has been very active, especially on the topics of routines, performance feedback, and attention, resulting in a strong increase in learning and adaptation research in management journals.

To understand the role of organizational learning in the organization’s endeavor to overcome challenges, organizational learning research need to be spread out to the field of adaptation and change. This paper is the first part of a bigger empirical research, a literature review that examines the link between these topics and search for gaps in prior literature. However, these phenomena are closely related in the prior literature, the thinking about organizational learning is rather idealistic than reflective and there are still research gaps regarding the following questions: (1) Is there a need to examine internal organizational challenges from the organizational learning perspective? (2) How can the earlier organizational adaptation be characterized using the constructs of organizational learning? (3) Is the earlier adaptation process or organizational learning process always good and useful for the organization? Based on reviewing prior literature the author formulated an own organizational learning definition and identified future research directions in order to fill these gaps.

PurposeThis article aims to examine international studies of knowledge management (KM) and organizational learning (OL).Design/methodology/approachThe approach takes the form of a literature review of KM and OL research that focuses on a business or businesses located outside traditional Western economies.FindingsThere is a need to increase research that examines KM and OL existing in different and multiple countries. Additionally, cultural factors should be included in KM and OL research analysis.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation is that the only practical empirical evidence is supplied through the highlighted articles in the literature review.Originality/valueThe article shows that, in order to increase the application of KM and OL research world‐wide, national culture and other geopolitical influences need to be represented in KM and OL models and measurement instruments.

This article offers two contributions to the literature of organizational learning (OL): (a) a multifaceted case study of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and (b) a framework for future research in OL. The NYPD case is analyzed using two of the four alternative definitions of OL that are highlighted here. One is sharply focused on bottom line results; the other is more inclusive and more suitable for assessing an organization’s capacity for renewal and hence for sustainable success. Nine examples from the case illustrate nine different forms of OL, which are mapped onto the four alternative definitions. This article has major implications for how OL should be defined.

This chapter discusses about application of social capital and network approach to organizational learning research and practice. The shift of organizational learning perspective from a technical or system-structural perspective to a social or interpretative perspective highlights that organizational learning process is socially embedded and is based on social interaction/relationships. Social capital and network theories provides a conceptual framework to explain how organizational learning takes place as well as identifies social and network factors influencing organizational learning. Thus, the chapter provides implications for establishing a conceptual and methodological framework to describe and evaluate an organizational learning process by extensively reviewing the recent organizational learning research adopting social capital and network approach.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper – PART II – is to present the lived experiences of Sensuous Organisational Learning drawn from the educational practices and learning culture of the Norwegian Defence University College, Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy’s (RNoAFA) approach to growing (Military) leaders.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reflects the co-creation of actionable knowledge between military officers, academics at the RNoAFA and international scholars engaged as research collaborators. The objective is to present the benefits of “practising knowing through dialogical exchange” (MacIntosh et al., 2012) as an approach to co-creating knowledge for responsible action. In this case, the authors present the conceptualisation and illustration of the idea of the New Learning Organisation they advance.FindingsThe Sensuous Organisational Learning – 8As framework explains how Attentiveness, Alertness, Awareness, Appreciation, Anticipation, Alignment, Activation and Agility form an integral part of the educational strategy that enables the RNoAFA to respond to the wider Educational Reforms and Modernisation programme of Norwegian Defence. The RNoAFA is presented as an illustration of how the New Learning Organisation serves the common good if Institutional Reflexivity and High Agility Organising were key aspects of the Learning Leadership it fosters.Research limitations/implicationsConsistent with MacIntosh et al.’s (2012) dialogical exchanges the authors present the relational and intersubjective nature of meaningful dialogue between the co-authors that provides scope for integrative stories of practice. The resulting illustrative example of the New Learning Organisation, is an account of the learning experienced. Hence, this paper is presented neither as a traditional empirical paper nor as a self-disclosing or even auto-ethnographic account. Instead, it is one of a series of research outputs from innovative research collaboration between the authors all committed to “practising knowing”.Practical implicationsThe New Learning Organisation promoted here focuses on responsible action to serve the common good. Investing in Institutional Reflexivity becomes critical in continuing to broaden the ways of being and becoming. As individuals, communities and organisations, that comprise the institution (in this case Norwegian Defence) grow and elevate their practical judgements to serve the common good the capacity to engage in reflexive critique heightens organisational agility and leadership.Social implicationsEmbedding care as the essence of learning not only enables accepting mistakes and owning up to these mistakes, but reinforcing the strength of character in doing so demonstrating what it means to be resilient, flexible and ready to respond to the VUCA. This is what permits High Agility Organising to foster learning on an ongoing basis driving the commitment to continually renew operational and professional practices. By focussing on how the common good can be better served, the New Learning Organisation cares to pursue the higher purpose that social actions must serve.Originality/valueAdvancing leadership as a personal, relational and organisational quality supported by an orientation towards practising goes beyond single, double and triple loop learning. In doing so, the Learning Leadership that drives the New Learning Organisation energises Attentiveness, Alertness, Awareness, Appreciation, Anticipation, Alignment, Activation and Agility. This paper marks a new chapter in Organisational Learning research and practice by demonstrating the value of sensuousness as a foundation for improving the practical judgements across professional practices.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore the notion of organizational learning as a way of collective knowledge construction to achieve long‐term competitive advantage. It proposes a theoretical framework based on action systems and process leadership perspective, integrating five key themes: systems, interaction and relationship, teambuilding, change, and renewal.Design/methodology/approachLiterature review was adopted to determine the main streams of theoretical contribution on organizational learning and knowledge acquisition. Five distinct yet interrelated themes have been identified as contributing to the theoretical framework proposed.FindingsIt has been found that leaders play a crucial role in facilitating systems dynamics, influencing the rate and degree at which organizational members learn. Two such intervening factors as dialogue and reflection have been found to be the leitmotif of learning and knowledge co‐construction in the workplace.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides a number of pointers for further theoretical development, motivating both exploratory and explanatory empirical research in organizational learning and knowledge sharing. Of importance is the linking mechanism between different levels of learning and people involved in the learning.Practical implicationsA list of strategies has been suggested to help leaders manage and develop organizational learning. These views have arisen according to theoretical insights drawn from the literature review and the author's practical experience.Originality/valueThe paper offers both researchers and practitioners a useful perspective on the various aspects of organizational learning and knowledge building. Of practical value is the paper's attempt at making simple the complex process of learning and knowledge generation in ever‐changing organizational contexts.

Purpose This paper aims to revive the old idea of the Learning Organisation by providing a fresh conceptualisation and illustration. The New Learning Organisation is conceptualised, focussing on the common good through responsible action. It is positioned as responding to the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity, Bennett and Lemoine, 2014) conditions with a VUCA approach to Learning Leadership fostering Institutional Reflexivity and High Agility Organising . Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a new organisational learning framework – the 8As – Sensuous Organisational Learning framework. It illustrates the operationalisation of this framework in PART II through the educational practices and learning culture of the Norwegian Defence University College, Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy’s (RNoAFA) approach to growing (Military) leaders. Findings The Sensuous Organisational Learning – 8As – framework illustrates how attentiveness, alertness, awareness, appreciation, anticipation, alignment, activation and agility form an integral part of the New Learning Organisation. Their unique contribution as aspect of a Sensuous Organisational Learning framework is that they explicate how the three principles of Institutional Reflexivity, High Agility Organising and Learning Leadership can be operationalised to serve the common good. Research limitations/implications The paper presents a novel way of reviving the Learning Organisation beyond an ideology as a practical approach to responding to VUCA conditions. It introduces a new learning theory and injects a fresh perspective in our understanding of the role and impact of learning in the workplace. Practical implications By focussing on Learning Leadership practices that extend previous Organisational Learning frameworks, The New Learning Organisation promoted here focuses on responsible action to serve the common good through Institutional Reflexivity and High Agility Organising. Social implications By focussing on how the common good can be better served, the New Learning Organisation becomes a mantra for social change to identify the higher purpose that social actions must serve. Originality/value The need for fresh contributions in the Organisational Learning debate is long overdue. This paper marks a new chapter in Organisational Learning research and practice by demonstrating the value of sensousness as a foundation for improving the practical judgements across professional practices.

Using field data from an American financial services organization, we examined the effects of three important variables in Cyert and March's (1963) initial conceptualization of the aspiration-level adaptation process: The previous aspiration level, performance feedback, and social comparison. Past findings obtained in controlled contexts (Glynn et al. 1991; Lant 1992) have provided empirical support for the attainment discrepancy model (Lewin et al. 1944), which includes variables of the previous aspiration level and attainment discrepancy (i.e., performance feedback). We replicated these findings in the field: The effects of the previous aspiration level and attainment discrepancy on the current aspiration levels were significant and positive. In addition, we investigated the effect of social comparison using a variable based on the difference between the performance of the focal unit and the performance of comparable others (Greve 1998). Based on the assumption that decision makers in organizations will expect to observe similar performance levels among those in the same comparison group (Wood 1989), we posited that the effect of social comparison would be negative, refiecting managerial efforts to reduce performance discrepancies among similar units. The empirical results supported the prediction from this reasoning. We conclude by discussing implications of our findings for theory and research in organizational learning and the behavioral theory of the firm.

Abstract. Financial sector organizations with Human Resources division face with change. Competition, globalization, constantly evolves consumer preferences, these factors are challenges for most of financial organizations in Human Resources Management. Combination with traditional business risks and economy lifecycles are the main reason why financial sector institutions are forced to use Lean and Agile Methods. Customer satisfaction and efficiency play an important role in this tough competition in modern business sector. Lean, Agile or Lean Agile strategy aims to achieve long-term objectives such as Human Resources process efficiency and customer satisfaction. The process of worker selection, continuous skill development, improvement, mistake proofing, reconfiguration for new products are discussed from a human-centric factor perspective. Human factor starts to play the main role. It is important to state that correct form of chosen strategy with customer satisfaction achievement have a significant positive influence on Human Resources division in financial sector profitability. Also, it can be considered as an indicator for future profitability and satisfaction index in financial performance. These outcomes are important for both Human Resources managers and decision makers in financial organization. It can be strongly pointed that Human Resources managers and decision makers can take financial institutions e.g. banks level and trend in customer satisfaction to make assumptions on its future efficiency, productivity and marker performance. Companies that adopt Lean and Agile into Human Resources Management give many thoughts to how employees experience the workplace. In some cases, employees are treated as customers. No innovation provides limitation of growth opportunities in financial institutions sector. It is also stated that there is a relationship between customer satisfaction and efficiency in Human Resources in financial organizational with the help of Lean and Agile Methodology.

This study investigates the impact of organizational learning on employee job satisfaction in Nepal's banking sector, aiming to fill a critical research gap in this context. Specifically, it explores how workplace learning environments influence job satisfaction and examines the moderating roles of demographic factors such as gender, age, and educational qualifications. Adopting a causal research design, the study utilized a non-probability judgmental sampling method, collecting 425 valid responses. The survey instrument, divided into demographic details, job satisfaction, and organizational learning components, was developed from established studies and validated through pilot testing. Statistical tools were employed for data evaluation, including reliability analysis, regression, and principal component analysis. The results confirmed the survey's reliability, with Cronbach's Alpha values of 0.713 for job satisfaction and organizational learning. Two principal components explained 79.32% of the total variance. Findings revealed a positive impact of organizational learning on job satisfaction, with minor gender-based differences, except in perceptions of teamwork. Employees with over 20 years of experience reported higher satisfaction with learning culture and collaboration. The study's novelty is identifying organizational learning as a critical factor in enhancing job satisfaction, emphasizing the importance of fostering knowledge sharing and a supportive workplace culture. Its implications suggest that management strategies promoting learning opportunities can significantly improve employee morale, performance, and organizational competitiveness.

Purpose To understand how innovation strategy measure by organizational methods and technology equipment, affects to organizational learning measure by improvement in production, distribution and logistics systems. MethodologyThis is an empirical analysis of the innovation strategy and organizational learning, concentrating on 8835 manufacturing companies in 33 subsectors with innovative processes, investment in research and development, better organizational methods and technology equipment, using databases from the National Department of Statistics-DANE. Multiple Regression. Software SPSS. Findings: An industry with an innovation strategy tends to get better and improved processes, and this learning allows firms to achieve value creation for the customer, turning into better types of products offered with unique characteristics to compete in the challenging markets. Where the greatest improvement in methods of production, distribution, delivery and logistics will be the result of a very well manage innovation, to more innovation strategy more organizational learning. Research Limitations:The type of innovations in process were heterogeneous and the data do not allow to clarify specific improvement and innovation type. Practical Implications:This empirical study establishes, two special practical implications, first identify special characteristics in innovation in one of the most representative sectors of the Colombian economy that even though address incremental innovations, especially through processes, and the second element is to recognize that the innovative strategy becomes a differentiating factor for companies in this sector, beyond technological barriers and culture of innovation that may appear. Originality:The research was made for the most innovative sectors in the manufacturing Colombian industry, this particular context was not studied enough before in the particular constructs of innovation strategy and organizational learning. Key Words: Innovation, manufacturing industry, strategy, organizational learning, processes.JEL: M1, M10

Organizational learning in exporting: A bibliometric analysis and critical review of the empirical research

Contemporary research into socio-cognitive foundations of organizational learning tends to disregard the distinction between declarative and non-declarative knowledge. By reviewing the literature from organizational learning research and cognitive psychology we explain that this distinction is crucial. We describe the foundations of organizational learning by referring to models that consider the interplay between individual and collective knowledge-related processes in organizations. We highlight the existence of a research gap resulting from the finding that these approaches have widely neglected the existence of different types of knowledge. We then elaborate on characteristics of declarative and non-declarative knowledge in general, consider organizations as structures of distributed cognition, and discuss the relationship between organizational knowledge and practice. Subsequently, we examine the role of declarative and non-declarative knowledge in the context of organizational learning. Here, we analyze (1) the cognitive and social mechanisms underlying the development of declarative and non-declarative knowledge within structures of distributed cognition; and (2) the relationship between alterations in declarative and non-declarative types of knowledge on the one hand and changes in organizational practice on the other. Concluding, we discuss implications of our analysis for organizational learning research. We explain how our integrative perspective may offer starting points for a refined understanding of the sub-processes involved in organizational learning and unlearning and may support a better understanding of practical problems related to organizational learning and change.