Dynamic organizational learning : a conceptual framework

Abstract

Purpose: Organizational learning (OL) has been considered to be an effective developmental initiative in organizations that have a mission to develop, to sustain and to advance. There is a wide range of beliefs of thinking about what organizational learning is, how it occurs, and how it is applied and how it influences organizational development. Different perspectives are used to study OL by researchers from different disciplines. There is no clear and widely accepted depiction of the linkage between OL and its enabling factors. Such a comprehensive concept covering many aspects, such as organization science, organizational knowledge and learning, is difficult to achieve. The purpose of this paper is to determine the applicability of a conceptual model to describe OL as a continuous process. Design/methodology/approach: This paper proposes a conceptual approach describing OL as a continuous process. Selected literature on various OL theories is reviewed. Findings: The model not only describes OL as a continuous goal-driven process, but also allows the understanding of the relationships with various influencing factors and facilitating the effectiveness of an OL framework. Originality/value: The authors introduce a variant of a classic approach to analyze the OL process by describing OL as a continuous process. A model for successful OL by placing emphasis on the facilitative learning framework (FIF) is proposed.

Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering