Purpose: Asking whether we should regard the learning organization as a tautology and, thus, of questionable utility, the purpose of this paper is to assess the ur-definition of the concept furnished by Senge. It seeks to demonstrate, particularly to those unaware of a textual-analytic approach, how claims that have academic authority can have…

Purpose: Emphasizing the increasing role of talent management (TM) as a global phenomenon and a source of sustainable competitive advantage for organizations, this study aims to present a scoping review of empirical literature on TM, examining the transition of TM from a phenomenon-driven to a theory-driven field. Design/methodology/approach:…

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an overview of the history, the present and the future or the learning organization as a concept and a practical approach, from the perspective of Professor John Burgoyne. Design/methodology/approach: This conversation piece follows the development of the concept from its early days into the current debates and…

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an overview of the development of learning organization concepts from the perspectives of Dr. Victoria Marsick and Dr. Karen Watkins and presents an interesting evolution of their work together spanning over three decades. Design/methodology/approach: Through a conversation with thought-leading scholars Dr.…

Purpose: This paper aims to attempt to provide an overview of the valuable scientific contribution on learning organization in social science from the perspectives of Professor Silvia Gherardi and discusses the evolution of Silvia's work over her long career. Design/methodology/approach: With the collaboration of this leading scholar, Professor…

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an overview of the development of learning organization concepts from the perspective of Dr. Michael Marquardt and presents an interesting evolution of his work spanning three decades in the learning organization field. Design/methodology/approach: Through a conversation with a thought-leading scholar, Dr.…

Purpose: The purposes of this paper are to take a closer look at the relevance of the idea of the learning organization for organizations in different generalized organizational contexts; to open up for the existence of multiple, context-adapted models of the learning organization; and to suggest a number of such models.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated framework to indicate which antecedents of absorptive capacity (AC) influence its learning processes, and to propose testing of this model in future work. Design/methodology/approach Relevant literature into the antecedents of AC was critically reviewed and analysed with the objective…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to perform integrative literature review of the learning organisation (LO) concept, on the basis of the results of the literature review to assess the concept on the principles of "good" theory, and provide future avenues for LO concept clarification and development. Design/methodology/approach: The…

Purpose: The concept of a mental model has been described by theorists from diverse disciplines. The purpose of this paper is to offer a robust definition of an individual mental model for use in organisational management. Design/methodology/approach: The approach adopted involves an interdisciplinary literature review of disciplines, including…

Describes organizational learning as existing activities or processes of learning in organizations and the learning organization as an ideal form of organization. Further distinguishes the two concepts on the dimensions of amount of normativity, entities of learning, and location of knowledge. (Contains 56 references.) (SK)

Based on classic and emerging international literature, action learning is defined as learning form concrete experience and critical reflection on experience, focused on problem solving and change. Facilitators of action learning do not impose solutions but guide action learning teams through the process. (Contains 44 references.) (SK)

Explains why definition of action research is problematic and presents working definitions developed internationally that indicate its nature, philosophy, and methodology. Suggests that pragmatic approaches to definition serve communication purposes without narrowly confining the concept. (SK)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe fundamental concepts and theoretical challenges with regard to systems, and to build on these in proposing new theoretical frameworks relevant to learning, for example in so-called learning organizations. Design/methodology/approach: The paper focuses on some crucial fundamental aspects introduced…

Purpose: Through a conversation with a practitioner, aims to understand the definitions given to the learning organization and how they relate to a model of organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach: Provides a brief overview of a conversation concerning organizational learning vs the learning organization. Findings: Organizational…