The Competitive Learning Organization: A Quest for the Holy Grail

Abstract

Draws attention to the growing importance of learning as a major competitive base, which has given rise to the notion of the learning organization. Some commentators believe that the only source of sustainable competitive advantage is likely to be the ability of companies to learn faster than their competitors. Reviews the literature of strategic change and competition and supports the process view of the impermanence of a firm′s strategic position and the fragility of the bases of competition. Explores the relationships between the learning processes and strategic change, and develops a conceptual framework of a “competitive learning organization” which highlights the current lack of emphasis on the competitive dimension in many models of the learning organization. Proposes a model which promotes learning at different levels in the organization and a learning focus which encompasses the need to understand the dynamics of competitive forces, the satisfaction of change customer needs and the importance of systems thinking.

Examining the relationship between learning organization characteristics and change adaptation, innovation, and organizational performance

“…Since the term learning organization was popularized by Peter Senge in 1990, definitions have proliferated in the literature (Calvert, Mobley, & Marshall, 1994;Campbell & Cairns, 1994;Coopey, 1995;Daft & Marcic, 1998;Jashapara, 1993;Loermans, 2002;McGill, Slocum, & Lei, 1993;Sankar, 2003). Three definitions that stress the power of learning to transform vision into action are repeatedly cited: [A learning organization] facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself [Pedler, Burgoyne, & Boydell, 1991, p. 1].…”

Coopetition with Frenemies: Towards Modeling of Simultaneous Cooperation and Competition Among Enterprises

“…The ability to learn faster than a partner is advantageous for a firm because it allows that firm to achieve a higher return from the sharing of its knowledge. Indeed, [75] argues that superior organizational learning leads to improved organizational performance and that "the only source of sustainable competitive advantage for a company may lie in its ability to learn faster than its competitors" [76].…”

İş Memnuniyeti ve Öğrenme Kapasitesinin Örgütsel Performans Üzerindeki Etkisi: Bankacılık Sektöründe Bir Uygulama

“…Ayrıca birçok çalışmada örgütsel öğrenme ve performans arasında pozitif doğrusal ilişki tespit edilmiştir (Jashapara, 1993; Power ve Waddell, 2004; Khandekar ve Sharma, 2006). Öğrenme, eğitim ve gelişim faaliyetlerini öncelik edinen organizasyonlar karşılığını yükselen karlılık ve artan çalışan memnuniyeti olarak elde etmiştir (Leslie vd., 1998).…”