Approaches for Organizational Learning: A Literature Review

Abstract

Organizational learning (OL) enables organizations to transform individual knowledge into organizational knowledge. Organizations struggle to implement practical approaches due to the lack of concrete prescriptions. We performed a literature review to identify OL approaches and linked these approaches to OL theories. We synthesized 18 OL approaches across three domains: people (seven approaches), processes (nine), and technologies (two). Furthermore, we suggest two directions for future research: referring to the evaluation of our results and addressing the contingencies of OL effectiveness. Our mapping guides organizations in the design of learning processes to improve long-term performance. Although relying on a single approach is unlikely to comprehensively enable OL, our mapping facilitates the combination of several approaches aligned with organizational culture and processes.

COVID-19 and team-based healthcare: The essentiality of theory-driven research

“…Organizational Learning (OL) theories are often utilized to explore how knowledge is created, maintained, and transferred between organizations (Basten & Haamann, 2018). Fundamentally, over time and through various organizationally based experiences, an organization gains knowledge, which is used to enhance efficiency, productivity, and reliability, and improve the connectivity of those within and surrounding the organization.…”

“…individual, group, (inter)organizational) and that different organizations learn at different rates, which are influenced by various aspects of the organization such as workers' abilities, available technology, policies, etc. (Basten & Haamann, 2018). Within the context of healthcare delivery systems and COVID-19, OL theories can be used to better understand how hospitals, clinics, and even departments within hospitals have learned and are learning from other healthcare institutions (nationally and internationally), as well as through their own collaborative care delivery practices to attack the virus and promote more efficient and effective comprehensive care for each COVID-19-positive patient.…”

Transforming Scientists’ Understanding of Science–Society Relations. Stimulating Double-Loop Learning when Teaching RRI

“…Since then, more has been written on the features and the importance of reflection, for example Kolb's (1984) experimental learning theory and cycle, Argyris' and Schön's (1974) theory of action/ espoused theory/theory-in-use and double-loop learning, and Schön's work on the reflective practitioner (1983,1987). These concepts remain central in the field of organizational learning (e.g., Basten and Haaman 2018).…”

Below the Waterline: Developing a Transformational Learning Collaborative for Foundation Program Officers

“…Scholars in the past several decades have developed a variety of models for effective organizational learning, all aimed at the development and management of new knowledge in order to improve performance. According to Basten and Haamann (2018), organizational learning includes the strategic creation, capture, internalization, and management of knowledge with the goal of improving performance.…”

“…Systems thinking is the "framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than a static snapshot" (p. 68). Since then, many theories of organizational learning have been developed, including single-loop and double-loop learning, organizational knowledge creation theory, and the five building blocks (Basten and Haamann, 2018).…”