On Organizational Learning Research Articles

Building a community memory in communities of practice of e‐learning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to define a community memory for a virtual communities of practice (CoP) based on organizational learning (OL) concept and ontologies.Design/methodology/approach – The paper focuses on applying the OL concept to virtual CoP and proposes a framework for building the CoP memory by identifying several layers of ontologies such as generic, knowledge, domain, and task ontologies. A CoP of e‐learning is used as an example of semantic learning organization and as an application for the proposed framework.Findings – Applying the proposed framework on the CoP of e‐learning and more specifically in the instructional engineering domain shows that community knowledge can be reified and shared among the members. This framework can be used as a backbone for other CoP in other fields.Originality/value – This present work proposed a general framework for the CoP memory using a knowledge engineering approach and proposing different forms of ontologies as a backbone for the memory. It...

Analyzing ICT adoption and use effects on knowledge creation: An empirical investigation in SMEs

This paper investigates the influence of the adoption and use of information and communication technology (ICT) on organizational learning (OL). The focus is on knowledge, creation, as an articulated construct for the OL concept, and the SECI (Socialization, Externalization, Combination and Internalization) model is used as a reference for knowledge, creation. ICT use is seen here as consisting of three different orientations: informative, communicative and workflow. The results, based on a sample of around 300 Spanish small- and, medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), indicate that ICT has a significant positive influence on the, four processes for creating knowledge. ICT oriented to communication and workflow is found, to produce a significant positive impact on knowledge creation processes, except for, socialization process, while ICT use for information does not influence any of the processes for, creating knowledge and OL.

A study of the impact of organizational learning on information system effectiveness

Past studies on system effectiveness capture the underlying factors (top management support, communication effectiveness, firm size, and user training) as well as different dimensions (system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact, and organizational impact) necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of a system. Although the framework of system effectiveness from DeLone and McLean [1992, 2003] is well established, some recent studies on organizational learning (OL), which is a more intrinsic concept, drive us to revisit the issue of system effectiveness. With a strong learning culture, companies can face the challenges of new things. It is hypothesized that an organization with good learning orientation will facilitate the implementation and use of a new system. A survey was conducted among those firms implementing an electronic document management system (EDMS). It is found that management support is still the most important factor and may improve an organization's performance in different ways. Other than that, organizational learning does impact the performance of employees and their satisfaction with new technology implementation. Its influence on EDMS effectiveness is stronger on employees than on the organization.

Exploring the Relationships between Network Change and Network Learning

This paper relates the concept of network learning - learning by a group of organizations as a group - to change and notions of change management. Derived initially from a review of literature on organizational learning (OL) and inter-organizational networks, and secondary cases of network learning, the concept was evaluated and developed through empirical investigation of five network learning episodes in the group of organizations that comprises the English prosthetics service. We argue that the notion of network learning enables a richer understanding of developments in networks over extended periods of time than can be afforded through more established concepts of change and change management alone.

Methodological and Thematic Prescriptions for Defining and Measuring the Organizational Learning Concept

Despite the long tradition of research on organizational learning (OL), theoretically acceptable definitions and empirically derived measures of the concept have not been developed. This paper introduces theoretical proclamations and a methodological plan that can guide researchers towards the goal of operationalizing OL into a valid and reliable instrument. It includes (1) practical and scientific motivations for advancing and measuring the OL construct, (2) a suggested methodology for operationalization of definitions of OL, (3) theoretical and operational themes found in the literature, and (4) scale and subscale expectations. Organizational researchers are encouraged to use the directions embodied in this research to guide attempts at developing measures of organizational learning, in hopes of advancing the field beyond normal science.

Modes of Organizational Learning

This paper presents the design and results of an empirical study on organizational learning (OL). OL is conceptualized as a communication based process, changing organizationally shared reality constructions. A model is developed, which allows the description of organizations as learning systems. It serves as a frame for collecting and structuring data on reality constructions and communication relations. Gathered by interviews in two municipal administrations, data is further processed into cognitive maps (reality constructions) and networks (communication relations). Their analysis leads to propositions about the nature of OL processes. It is demonstrated that changes of organizationally shared reality constructions (OL) originate in self-organizing communication networks. Furthermore, a structural and a strategic organizational learning mode are distinguished. They differ with respect to the information which is processed in the networks, the outcome they produce and the logic they follow.