The organisational learning agenda for sustainable automobilisation in China

Abstract

This contribution explores the topic of the sustainable automobilisation of China from an organisational learning perspective. The development of new automobiles, new infrastructures, and new policies will entail learning on the part of many types of organisations, especially if China decides to pursue a leapfrogging strategy to bypass the problems of other industrialised countries. Government authorities at different levels, state-owned enterprises, international joint ventures and research centres, to name but a few, will need to master various learning forms in order to generate and apply new knowledge. The kinds of situations for which single-loop learning, double-loop learning, and unlearning, for example, may be appropriate are discussed, so that policy-makers, administrators and managers can choose the appropriate learning form for their organisation's needs. Previous research on organisational learning in China is introduced as background for future learning possibilities. The contribution also identifies factors that impede and those that stimulate organisational learning and discusses their possible implications for the learning processes relating to a leapfrogging strategy. The contribution as a whole is designed to help key actors involved in the process of China's motorisation identify which key issues to attend to and which important questions to pose in order to maximise their ability to acquire generate and apply the necessary knowledge to achieve their goals.