Author: Örtenblad, Anders

Source: The Learning Organization: An International Journal, Volume 12, Number 2, 2005 , pp. 213-218(6)

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract:

<B>Purpose</B> - This is a comment for all those writers who claim that organizations cannot learn. The author consistently rejects this notion. Rather the author contends that organizations can learn, in at least two different ways. <B>Design/methodology/approach</B> - The author reviews some of the common arguments against organizational learning, and tries to answer the opponents. <B>Findings</B> - The main argument against the critics is that they are too busy to look for evidence that organizations are not like individuals and that organizations therefore cannot learn. Instead, the author argues that it is a question of level of analysis. <B>Originality/value</B> - The author also suggests that theories as well as knowledge in general are metaphoric, implying that organizations as such of course are able to learn.

Keywords: Individual development; Learning; Learning organizations; Metaphors

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09696470510583566

Publication date: 2005-04-01

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