The journey of team learning since “The Fifth Discipline”

Abstract

Purpose

This paper is focused on team learning, the fourth discipline proposed by Senge (1990) in his seminal book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. This paper aims to provide a reflection upon the journey that this construct has made since this book’s publication, in terms of conceptualization, research and its link to organizational learning and learning organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on a review of Senge’s (1990) conceptualization of team learning and on a literature review of team learning research that has been produced since then.

Findings

Since the first edition of Senge’s book in 1990, team learning has been growing as an autonomous research topic with numerous papers centered on learning at this level of analysis. Senge’s proposals concerning team learning remain present in the way team learning is now conceptualized, but this research stream has led to advancements in its conceptualization and on the understanding of its antecedents and consequences. Nevertheless, the authors observed a lack of research centered on the link between team learning and organizational learning, as well as between team learning and the concept of the learning organization.

Originality/value

This paper offers a review of research on team learning, suggesting some avenues for further research on this topic and its contribution to learning organizations. As teams are nowadays the building blocks of most organizational structures, and learning is a key process for effectiveness, research on learning at this level of analysis will remain valuable.

Citation

Rebelo, T., Lourenço, P.R. and Dimas, I.D. (2019), "The journey of team learning since “The Fifth Discipline”", The Learning Organization, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 42-53. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-10-2019-0144