Of course organizations can learn!

Abstract

Purpose

This is a comment for all those writers who claim that organizations cannot learn. The author consistently rejects this notion. Rather the author contends that organizations can learn, in at least two different ways.

Design/methodology/approach

The author reviews some of the common arguments against organizational learning, and tries to answer the opponents.

Findings

The main argument against the critics is that they are too busy to look for evidence that organizations are not like individuals and that organizations therefore cannot learn. Instead, the author argues that it is a question of level of analysis.

Originality/value

The author also suggests that theories as well as knowledge in general are metaphoric, implying that organizations as such of course are able to learn.

Citation

Örtenblad, A. (2005), "Of course organizations can learn!", The Learning Organization, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 213-218. https://doi.org/10.1108/09696470510583566