Guest editorial

Abstract

was the generation of a great deal of scholarly work dealing with organizational learning. A second important outcome was the creation of two new journals focused on organizational learning, Knowledge Management Research and Practice and The Learning Organization. There is now a huge literature on the subject, driven partly by the importance of organizational learning to the welfare of society. As it is commonly understood, organizational learning occurs when an organization's members revise their beliefs in ways that, when the beliefs are acted upon, improve the organization's performance (Argyris and Schon, 1978, p. 323; Fiol and Lyles, 1985, p. 803; Huber, 2004, p. 118). This definition is useful for everyday use, but it is narrower than one might think; individuals can learn and yet not exhibit changes in their behavior or performance. For example, at the individual or organizational level: [.. .] learning may result in new and significant insights and awareness that dictate no behavioral change [.. .] The choice may not be to reconstruct behavior but, rather, to change one's cognitive map or understandings (Friedlander, 1983, p. 193).

Organizational learning and bureaucracy: an alternative view

“…Organizational learning “occurs when an organization’s members revise their beliefs in ways that, when the beliefs are acted upon, improve the organization’s performance” (Huber, 2019, p. 2). On the one hand, organizational learning is an emergent, on-going phenomenon driven by employees’ practical experience, reflections on unanticipated events and socialization of new members (Gherardi, 2009).…”