Organizational learning capability and battlefield performance: The British Army in World War II
International Journal of Organizational Analysis
ISSN: 1934-8835
Article publication date: 5 September 2016
Abstract
Purpose
While intended as a bridge between the concepts of learning organization and organizational learning, current conceptualizations of organizational learning capability still predominantly lean toward the learning organization side, specifically directed at profit firms. The purpose of this paper is to propose a four-dimensional model of organization learning capability that leans more toward the organizational learning side, specifically directed at nonprofit and government organizations in general, and army organizations in particular. This model is applied to the British Army in the Second World War.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper entails a secondary analysis of historical and military sources and data.
Findings
It is found that the British Army possessed only a moderate learning capability, which can be plausibly, but not exclusively, related to differences in battlefield performance between the British and the German Army in the Second World War.
Research limitations/implications
The research scope of the paper is limited to the analysis of one particular army in the Second World War. Implications for theory reside in the importance of organizational learning capability and its dimensions to the effectiveness of “lessons learned” processes inside organizations.
Practical implications
The paper has clear practical implications for armies and organizations that resemble armies in one or more aspects, like prisons, correctional facilities, police forces, hospitals, mental institutions and fire departments.
Originality/value
The paper ranks among the first organizational papers to analyze army operations and functioning from the perspective of organizational learning capability.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Parts of this paper were presented earlier at a guest seminar at the Wissenschafszentrum Berlin fűr Sozialforschung (October 2010), at a research colloquium at the University of Chester (June 2011) and at the 12th EURAM Annual Conference (Rotterdam, June 2012). The author thanks Peter Stokes, Arndt Sorge, the other participants at these occasions and the reviewers of International Journal of Organizational Analysis for their constructive and inspiring comments.
Citation
Visser, M. (2016), "Organizational learning capability and battlefield performance: The British Army in World War II", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 573-590. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-09-2014-0802
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited