European perspectives on the learning organisationNyhan, B.; Cressey, P.; Tomassini, M.; Kelleher, M.; Poell, R.F. Published in: Journal of European Industrial Training Document version:Peer reviewed version Publication date: 2004 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA):Nyhan, B., Cressey, P., Tomassini, M., Kelleher, M., & Poell, R. F. (2004). European perspectives on the learning organisation. Journal of European Industrial Training, 28(1), 67-92. General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.-Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research -You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain -You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. AbstractThis paper, based on a publication entitled 'Facing up to the learning organisation challenge' published in April 2003, provides an overview of the main questions emerging from recent European research projects related to the topic of the learning organisation. The rationale for focusing on this topic is the belief that the European Union goals related to 'lifelong learning' and the creation of a 'knowledge-based society' can only be attained if the organisations in which people work are also organisations in which they learn. Work organisations must become, at the same time, learning organisations.This paper has four main messages. The first is that, in order to build learning organisations, one has to ensure that a) there is coherence between the 'tangible' (formal/objective) and the 'intangible' (informal/subjective) dimensions of an organisation; and b) that the organisation's learning' goals are reconciled with individuals' learning needs. The complexity involved in ensuring the right balance between these different dimensions, means that in the final analysis one cannot realistically expect more than incomplete or imperfect learning organisations. However, this does not in any way negate the validity of the quest to reconcile these competing but 'real' interests.The second message is that challenging or developmental work is a prerequisite for implementing a learning organisation. One of the keys to promoting learning organisations is to organise work in such a way that it promotes human development. The third message is that the provision of support and guidance is essential to ensure that developmental work does in fact provide opportunities for developmental learning. The fourth message is that to address organisational learning there is a need for boundary...

Competence development is seen as one of the critical strategic factors ensuring companies’ competitiveness. This has given rise to much discussion on how to create organisational and learning environments, such as learning organisations, which foster employees’ skills and sense of initiative and responsibility. This paper examines the experiences of a number of European manufacturing and process companies, which on the surface appear to have similar innovative competence development strategies. However, when analysed more closely, it emerges that these firms have different perspectives on the position competence development holds in the hierarchy of company values and strategies. The kinds of competencies developed in these companies and the learning approaches used are also discussed.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to discuss Ireland's national apprenticeship programme, introduced in 1993, in the context of the country's evolving economic and social policies. Design/methodology/approach -A critical analysis is undertaken of the industrial climate in Ireland, which prevented the introduction of a national apprenticeship programme, until 1993. Findings -The paper argues that the main factor for the successful implementation of this programme in 1993 was the emergence of a new climate of cooperation among the social partners providing the institutional foundations for the programme. This cooperation was a result of the 1991 ground-breaking "social partnership" agreement between employers, trade unions and government, in signing up to a joint national framework programme.Research limitations/implications -The paper only briefly looks at earlier efforts -from the 1960s onwards -to introduce a well-functioning programme, which are seen as a learning period, underpinning the breakthrough of the 1990s. Practical implications -In acknowledging the success of the programme, the paper asks whether this success can be built on further. This could be achieved through increasing the number of apprenticeships, through enlarging the apprenticeship regulatory framework. This could then have a knock-on effect on employment generation and skill development as, for example, has happened in Australia.Originality/value -The paper shows that, despite comments about Ireland being institutionally unsuited for apprenticeship -owing to the lack of an industrial cultural tradition of cooperation, it did, in fact, create an industrial cultural climate to provide the social foundations for a well-functioning programme.

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