Towards increased relevance: context-adapted models of the learning organization

Abstract

Purpose

The purposes of this paper are to take a closer look at the relevance of the idea of the learning organization for organizations in different generalized organizational contexts; to open up for the existence of multiple, context-adapted models of the learning organization; and to suggest a number of such models.

Design/methodology/approach

The suggested context-adapted models are deduced from works arguing that not all aspects of the idea of the learning organization should be adopted by organizations in some certain generalized organizational contexts.

Findings

The idea of the learning organization needs to be reformulated, to some extent, to become fully relevant for public organizations, safety organizations, human service organizations and knowledge-intensive organizations.

Research limitations/implications

To achieve a more inclusive contingency model than presented in this article, there is a need for further research examining the (full) relevance of the original learning organizational model for organizations in various certain generalized organizational contexts.

Practical implications

Organizational actors could use one of the suggested context-adapted models fitting their particular organizational context as a starting point when considering adopting the learning organization.

Social implications

Several adaptations suggested originate in social concerns.

Originality/value

In contrast to most previous works on the learning organization, this paper adds to the existing literature by proposing several context-adapted models of the learning organization.

Citation

Örtenblad, A. (2015), "Towards increased relevance: context-adapted models of the learning organization", The Learning Organization, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 163-181. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-06-2014-0027