Collective (Team) Learning Process Models: A Conceptual Review

Abstract

Teams have become a key resource for learning and accomplishing work in organizations. The development of collective learning in specific contexts is not well understood, yet has become critical to organizational success. The purpose of this conceptual review is to inform human resource development (HRD) practice about specific team behaviors and processes affecting team learning and to stimulate further research about team learning in specific contexts. This article is conceptually structured around a guiding theory of learning as a sociocognitive process explored by four competing theoretical models at the mezzo-level of collective learning, teams. Constructs common to each of the proposed models are discussed to determine if a common language for collective learning is feasible. A synthesis of existing ideas is developed in the hopes of creating a new formulation on the topic of team learning, resulting in a new theoretical model.