The learning organization

Abstract

The essence of LOs is effective organizational learning, but relevant academic disciplines, such as economics, anthropology, and social psychology, all entail different assumptions about what this might mean. Assorted analytical approaches such as population ecology and sociotechnical systems theory offer distinctly different vocabularies for describing what the LO might be or what it might do. The learning organization (LO) is an idealized vision of an organization where the structures, routines, and working practices are open to continuous adaptation and improvement, where the individuals and teams engage in continuous learning, where the norms and values are supportive of continuous learning, and where strategic decision making is informed by and responsive to relevant data analysis and feedback.