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1 – 10 of over 9000Marlieke Van Grinsven and Max Visser
Research on antecedents of organizational learning generally ignores the fact that organizational learning is at least a two‐dimensional construct and that its dimensions may be…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on antecedents of organizational learning generally ignores the fact that organizational learning is at least a two‐dimensional construct and that its dimensions may be conflicting. This research often fails to investigate the simultaneous effects of antecedents on these dimensions. To address this gap in the literature, this paper aims to discuss the effects of empowerment and knowledge conversion, two factors often considered to be important antecedents of organizational learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach adopted involves a review of and reflection on the pertinent literature on learning organizations, organizational learning, empowerment and knowledge conversion.
Findings
It is found that both antecedents have contradictory effects on two dimensions of organizational learning. Empowerment affects second‐order learning in a positive sense, but first‐order learning in a negative sense. Knowledge conversion is positively related to first‐order learning, but negatively to second‐order learning. Thus, it appears that efforts to improve organizational learning on one dimension may have (unintended) effects on the other, unmeasured dimension.
Originality/value
The paper connects disjointed streams of theory and research in a novel way that is of interest and importance to both the academic literature and to organizational practitioners.
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Ray Ison, Chris Blackmore, Kevin Collins and Pam Furniss
This paper was written for a special issue of Kybernetes devoted to cybernetics and design. It aims to focus on case studies that are both informed by cybernetic and systems…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper was written for a special issue of Kybernetes devoted to cybernetics and design. It aims to focus on case studies that are both informed by cybernetic and systems thinking and constitute a form of second‐order design praxis.
Design/methodology/approach
The case studies exemplify reflective practice as well as reporting outcomes, in terms of new understandings, from an action research process.
Findings
The paper describes what was involved in course design, from a cybernetic perspective, to effect systemic environmental decision making as well as developing and enacting a model for doing systemic inquiry (SI), which enabled situation‐improving actions to be realised in a complex, organisational setting. The paper lays out the theoretical and ethical case for understanding first‐and second‐order designing as a duality rather than a dualism.
Research limitations/implications
There is a danger that readers from an alternative epistemological position will judge the paper in terms of knowledge claims relevant only to their own epistemological position.
Practical implications
The main outcomes suggested by this paper concern the possibility of transforming the current mainstream identity of educators, project managers and researchers to a position that offers more choices through both epistemological awareness (and pluralism) and the design of learning systems, including SI, as second‐order devices.
Originality/value
The case studies are based on both novel settings and theories in action; the concept of the learning systems as both a design and systemic practice as well as an epistemological device is novel. The paper is potentially of relevance to any practitioner wishing to use systems or cybernetic thinking. It is likely to be of particular relevance to education policy makers and public sector governance.
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Organizational learning and unlearning are often viewed as different and distinct concepts in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the unlearning concept and…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizational learning and unlearning are often viewed as different and distinct concepts in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the unlearning concept and reassess its position vis-à-vis learning, in particular second-order and double-loop learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper entails a conceptual analysis.
Findings
It is found that there are two conceptual problems with unlearning, and that it is best embedded in the dynamics of the learning process, where it appears to fit well in the “interruption” phase.
Research limitations/implications
The research scope of the paper is limited to a theoretical analysis of organizational learning and unlearning. Implications for theory reside in the importance of unlearning and its relation to learning in current organizations.
Practical implications
The paper has practical implications for organizations wishing to become more adept at learning and unlearning.
Originality/value
The paper is among the first organizational papers to analyze unlearning in direct relation to different phases in the learning dynamics.
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Marjolein Berings, Rob Poell and John Gelissen
The purpose of this paper is to gain more insight into employees' on‐the‐job learning. Its specific purpose is to develop and validate a classification of on‐the‐job learning…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to gain more insight into employees' on‐the‐job learning. Its specific purpose is to develop and validate a classification of on‐the‐job learning activities and learning themes, focusing on the nursing profession in particular.
Design/methodology/approach
Two successive studies were conducted for this purpose. In the first study in‐depth interviews with 20 Dutch nurses were analysed using a grounded theory approach. The content validity of the categories found in the first study was investigated in the second study by interviewing 17 supervisors and eight educators from different hospitals in The Netherlands.
Findings
The paper finds that the main categories of learning activities are: learning by doing one's regular job, learning by applying something new in the job, learning by social interaction with colleagues, learning by theory or supervision, and learning by reflection. First‐order learning activities and second‐order learning activities can be distinguished. The main categories of on‐the‐job learning themes are: the technical‐practical domain, the socio‐emotional domain, the organisational domain, the developmental domain, and a pro‐active attitude to work.
Research limitations/implications
The validation study was conducted by the same researchers as the first study. The findings are based on one profession (nursing) in one country (The Netherlands).
Practical implications
The categories can be used by nurse educators and health sector managers/trainers to develop comprehensive and structured intervention methods for the improvement of on‐the‐job learning which do justice to the complexity and diversity of on‐the‐job learning by nurses. HR (development) professionals can use the classification as part of a competence management and development system.
Originality/value
The study provides a detailed, complete and multi‐dimensional explication of nurses' on‐the‐job learning activities and learning themes, grounding the classification and framework in empirical data and using multiple data sources.
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Virginia Andres and Dongcheol Heo
Complex crises affect tightly coupled systems making them highly unpredictable. This paper aims to determine how organizations learn from their crisis experience shaping their…
Abstract
Purpose
Complex crises affect tightly coupled systems making them highly unpredictable. This paper aims to determine how organizations learn from their crisis experience shaping their knowledge and transformation trajectory toward and beyond survival. A theoretical framework integrating organizational learning (OL) and knowledge management in organizational transformation (OT) in complex crises is presented.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper presents a systematic literature review on OT in crisis from 2000 to 2021. To achieve integration, the authors searched for studies on OT, knowledge management and OL, each paired with a crisis.
Findings
Crises highlight the emergent and decentered nature of knowing and organizing. This study suggests that OT is achieved through various changes in organizational knowledge. Different learning modes enable the transformation of knowledge in a crisis: contextual or situated learning, strategic and collective integration.
Research limitations/implications
The authors' pandemic experience may have influenced the analysis. This paper does not account for new types of learning emerging due to the influence of digital technologies.
Practical implications
Organizations may hasten renewal through distributed crisis management facilitated by contextual and strategic learning and collective integration.
Originality/value
This study categorizes learning, based on its function in crisis management, into three types: contextual learning for creative problem-solving, strategic learning for leadership and direction and collective integration to evaluate their crisis journey. Through this classification, this study sheds light on the types of knowledge needed to manage crises effectively, showing that organizations can leverage their crises by transforming and innovating themselves in this turbulent period.
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This paper aims to initiate a timely discussion about the epistemological advantages of Web 2.0 as a non‐foundational network‐centric learning space in higher education.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to initiate a timely discussion about the epistemological advantages of Web 2.0 as a non‐foundational network‐centric learning space in higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
A philosophical analysis of the underpinning design principles of Web 2.0 social media and of conventional “foundational” and emergent “non‐foundational” learning and which uses Wikipedia as a case study.
Findings
For academics in higher education to take a more informed approach to the use of Web 2.0 in formal learning settings and begin to consider integrating Web 2.0's architecture of participation with a non‐foundational architecture of learning, focused on acculturation into networks of practice.
Practical implications
The paper argues that the continuing dominance and therefore likely application of conventional old paradigm foundational learning theory will work against the grain of, if not undermine, the powerful affordances Web 2.0 social media provides for learning focused on social interaction and collaborative knowledge construction. The paper puts the case for non‐foundational learning and draws attention to the importance of aligning Web 2.0's architecture of participation with a non‐foundational architecture of acculturation as the latter is better epistemologically placed to more fully realise the potential of Web 2.0 to position students on trajectories of acculturation into their new networks of practice.
Originality/value
This paper exposes the epistemological dilemma Web 2.0's participatory culture poses for academics wedded to conventional ideas about the nature of knowledge and learning as is, for instance, clearly evidenced by their sceptical disposition towards or outright rejection of, Wikipedia.
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Bernard Scott and Abhinav Bansal
The purpose of this paper is to explain some phenomena observed in the acquisition of motor skills: the loss of conscious access to knowledge of the structure of a skill and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain some phenomena observed in the acquisition of motor skills: the loss of conscious access to knowledge of the structure of a skill and the awareness that an error has been made prior to the receipt of knowledge of results. Although there are rich descriptive accounts of skill acquisition in the literature, there are no satisfactory explanatory models of the cognitive processes involved. The paper provides such a model.
Design/methodology/approach
In the 1970s, the first author implemented a computer program model of the cognitive processes involved in learning and skill acquisition, based on a series of empirical investigations. Recently, with assistance from the second author, the model has been reviewed, updated and re-implemented. The paper sets this work in the broader context of a theory of learning and teaching, conversation theory.
Findings
The model provides a constructivist account of skill acquisition and associated phenomena. The model provides theoretical foundations for conversation theory.
Practical implications
The model adds to the understanding of motor skill acquisition and to the understanding of processes of learning and teaching in general.
Originality/value
The model and its interpretation are an original contribution to the skills acquisition literature.
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Based on a typology of contextualized multiple thinking, this paper aims to elaborate how the levels of thinking (data, information, knowledge, and intelligence), and the types of…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on a typology of contextualized multiple thinking, this paper aims to elaborate how the levels of thinking (data, information, knowledge, and intelligence), and the types of thinking as a whole, can be used to profile the characteristics of multiple thinking in organizational learning, re‐conceptualize the nature of creativity in organizational action and thinking, and provide a new systematic framework to broaden the possibilities and approaches to developing multiple thinking and creativity in organizational action and learning in education and other sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a theoretical framework of multiple thinking and creativity in organizational learning.
Findings
Based on the typology of contextualized multiple thinking, a new theoretical framework can be proposed to facilitate understanding and development of multiple thinking and creativity in organizational learning and to enhance the effectiveness of action of individuals and organizations in education and other sectors in a complicated context.
Originality/value
The theoretical framework provides a new direction and new strategies for conceptualizing research, development and practice, designed to promote thinking, creativity and effectiveness in organizational action and learning in education and other sectors in a new era of globalization and great transformation.
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Organizations learn semi-automatically through experience or consciously through deliberate learning efforts. As there seems to be a “black-box” in the possible linkages between…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizations learn semi-automatically through experience or consciously through deliberate learning efforts. As there seems to be a “black-box” in the possible linkages between deliberate learning and new practice implementation, this paper aims to develop and test a process model, linking deliberate learning and new practice implementation through complementary competencies of task and environmental flexibility.
Design/methodology/approach
As part of a field study, health-care improvement program (to transfer the improvement training program for new practice implementation) of 186 HCUs was used for testing our hypothesis. In addition to descriptive statistics, multiple hierarchical regressions and bootstrapping were used to test the study hypotheses.
Findings
Findings suggest that deliberate learning is positively and significantly related with new practice implementation, and dynamic capabilities in the form of task and environmental flexibility mediates this relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The present study makes theoretical and practical contributions by linking literature from new practice, organizational learning and dynamic capabilities; and by delving into the deliberate learning activities undertaken by health-care units.
Originality/value
Organizational learning in health care has almost become inevitable today due to the ever-changing dynamics of the industry. Barring handful of studies, the current state of literature is almost entirely tilted towards experience-based learning and deliberate learning is not well studied. To address this gap, the study aims to develop and test a process model linking development of dynamic capabilities with deliberate learning and new practice implementation. Further, findings of this study will help organizations and managers to understand and thereby effectively manage new practice implementation process through the use of deliberate activities.
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