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One of the major challenges an organization faces is to manage its knowledge assets. Increasingly, the use of knowledge is seen as a basis for competitive advantage. This paper explores the key factors that have been cited as significant influences on the ability to transfer knowledge, an important area of knowledge management. Each of these factors is discussed separately and then integrated into a conceptual framework to explain how effective knowledge transfer can be managed in an organization. A set of managerial implications, or a qualitative assessment approach, is also discussed. It is framed as organizational characteristics and managerial practices required to establish an effective knowledge transfer process in an organization. Conclusions are drawn about the complexity of managing knowledge transfer and the need to take a balanced approach to the process.

This paper proposes a framework for understanding the concept of a learning organization from a normative perspective. A questionnaire was developed to operationally measure the described management practice attributes of a learning organization. Using a sample of four organizations and 612 subjects, support was found for three a priori predictive hypotheses derived from a conceptual framework. Implications of the results and further empirical research are discussed, especially for linking learning organization attributes to performance using larger samples and multiple measures.

A growing body of literature on organizational learning suggests that companies or organizations with a learning capability can gain a competitive advantage. The argument is that learning organizations are better at knowledge transfer and generating new knowledge to solve problems. The objective of this study is to examine empirically if learning companies are more competitive and better performers than their competitors.

This study examines a portfolio of learning companies and a set of their competitors, looking at their financial performance over a significant period. Learning companies were selected based on content analysis of the published literature. Competitors were selected from an existing top 500 companies listing matched to the learning company's business domain. This study compares their performance using both market and accounting financial data.

The data show that learning companies demonstrate strong performance in financial markets over time, beating the traditional market indexes in both bull and bear markets. The accounting data show similar results. On a majority of the financial measures, the long‐term financial performance of learning companies is significantly superior to that of their closest competitors.

This study discusses and explores the implications of these results in studying the link between learning companies and organizational performance. A limitation of the study is the small sample size of learning companies in the study. Also some potential alternative explanations for their performance cannot be completely ruled out due to the longitudinal nature of the study.

This study shows that there is a positive link between learning capability and competitive advantage, as measured by long‐term market financial performance of a group of learning companies.

The purpose of this paper is to present a meta‐analysis of a subset of published empirical research papers that measure learning capability and link it to organizational performance. It also seeks to examine both financial and non‐financial performance.

In a search of published research on learning capability and organizational performance, the authors identified 33 articles that met criteria for inclusion in the meta‐analysis. Both objective and perceptual measures of organizational performance were considered to be acceptable. The data were analyzed using the Hunter and Schmidt meta‐analysis software.

The findings support a positive relationship between learning capability and organizational performance, with stronger results for non‐financial than financial performance. This has significant implications for justifying the investment in building a learning capability in organizations. Recommendations for managers are provided, such as the use of learning capability measures and the need to measure performance.

The paper discusses the implications of these results for further theory building and development to advance knowledge in the field. This includes addressing the need for new research designs, the issue of causality, potential mediating effects and the impact of context in better understanding this complex relationship. It suggests that research is also needed to increase our understanding of how to effectively build this learning capability.

This meta‐analysis provides empirical evidence to support the value of building a learning capability in organizations.

This article aims to encourage healthcare administrators to consider the learning organization concept and foster collaborative learning among teams in their attempt to improve patient safety.

Relevant healthcare, organizational behavior and human resource management literature was reviewed.

A patient safety culture, fostered by healthcare leaders, should include an organizational culture that encourages collaborative learning, replaces the blame culture, prioritizes patient safety and rewards individuals who identify serious mistakes.

As healthcare institution staffs are being asked to deliver more complex medical services with fewer resources, there is a need to understand how hospital staff can learn from other organizational settings, especially the non‐healthcare sectors.

The paper provides suggestions for improving patient safety which are drawn from the health and business management literature.

This paper describes a diagnostic tool to benchmark improvements in an organization’s learning capability over time. This diagnostic tool was used by two different organizations that embarked on a change program to improve their learning capability. Access to these two organizations has allowed a diagnostic measure of their learning capability on a longitudinal basis. Measures were taken prior to change efforts being implemented to improve learning capability and then two to three years later to assess whether any improvements have been achieved. Other qualitative information on the interventions they implemented to improve their learning capability was also obtained. The paper draws from these two case studies some conclusions and implications for managing change and specifically for improving the learning capability of an organization.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential learning consequences of AACSB accreditation as perceived by administrators and faculty members at four Canadian university business schools.

A qualitative, multiple case study approach was employed. A purposive sample of four Canadian business schools was selected and data were collected from multiple sources. The data were analyzed using NVivo7 and a cross case analysis was performed.

The results indicate that AACSB accreditation facilitated organizational learning in three of the four schools. Respondents felt that accreditation promoted strategic alignment, a re‐assessment of the school's mission, and an emphasis on performance management; others identified an increased focus on quality and/or research. Accreditation also served as a catalyst for change, one which motivated program improvement. In terms of contextual factors, leadership was found to be the most pervasive influence on organizational learning effects. Resource dependence was also found to be influential.

This research highlights the importance of educational leadership in facilitating organizational learning through evaluative inquiry. Because of the qualitative methodology, the sample size is limited to four university business schools.

This study has practical implications for management education internationally, as AACSB accreditation is increasingly a global phenomenon. The findings will be of interest to educational administrators, policy makers, managers, and accrediting bodies who are interested in facilitating learning through accreditation

This research offers a novel approach to studying the question of AACSB accreditation and its learning effects. By using a qualitative multiple case study method, this research provided a unique opportunity to focus more keenly on context and its role in influencing the potential learning consequences of accreditation.

Performance management in public sector organizations is a growing phenomenon worldwide. Increasingly, questions are being raised as to its effectiveness in achieving the objective of improving the performance of public sector organizations. Research has shown that there seems to be questionable benefits and many barriers, challenges and problems with implementing performance management and measurement in the public sector environment. The purpose of this paper is to argue that this is due to the lack of focus on the process of managing the implementation of performance measurement. The author aims to review the relevant extant literature to support these assertions and to provide a conceptual framework that integrates these ideas.

This paper reviews the extant literature on public sector performance management and measurement and develops a conceptual framework to explain how public sector performance measurement systems can be made more effective in light of the research evidence.

This paper suggests that three important factors need to be considered in the effective implementation of a performance measurement system in the public sector. They are managerial discretion, a learning and evaluative organizational culture and stakeholder involvement. These three factors are discussed and its impact on performance measurement is explored.

A proposed integrative framework is presented that supports the assertion of the importance of these three factors in influencing how performance measurement can lead to improved performance in public sector organizations. Some potential environmental and institutional constraints are also discussed in implementing some of the suggestions proposed.

The paper provides a model that explains three important facors that need to be considered in implementing an effective performance measurement system in public sector organizations and suggestions for how it can be implemented effectively.

The paper integrates and synthesizes the literature on public sector performance measurement into a comprehensive conceptual framework that explains more explicitly the factors that can influence the effectiveness of a performance measurement system in the public sector.

In this paper, the author explores his research journey into the learning organization and its impact on his academic career. This paper describes how Peter Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization (1990) was the spark that led to the author’s focus on empirical research in the field.

This paper provides author’s personal reflections on how this decision put him on a path to a variety of serendipitous experiences, exciting research areas and also enabled him to engage in productive collaborative research with many of his colleagues.

The findings conclude with a discussion on what the author see as new challenges and perspectives for advancing research into the learning organization.

This paper provides a unique perspective on how The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge has influenced an academic career. It presents a personal reflection of a research journey into the learning organization that spans over 30 years.

The purpose of this paper is to report on how a grade level team in a Singapore primary school used lesson study to mediate the implementation of the English language national curriculum. It aims to explore how this process had mobilised different teachers’ knowledge, challenged their beliefs of teaching and student learning, and created impact on their learning and knowledge.

An interpretive qualitative study using a case study methodology was employed. Data collected included participant observations and individual interviews. Transcripts of lesson study discussions were open coded for the content of teacher discourse and the sources of influences on the teachers’ reasoning and action.

The findings indicate that each stage of the lesson process engaged teachers’ deliberative discourse differently and constituted their building a common inquiry stance into the problem of student learning in reading and writing, moving away from a lesson-based view to embracing a curriculum-based deliberation, and challenging their shared assumptions and enabling their learning to adopt the students’ lens in improving the research lesson.

This study provides an illustrative case on how teachers’ talk about work practices in lesson study mediated teacher learning in a group context. The study established the importance of an interconnected view of teacher interaction in lesson study that factored in the consideration of the influences at the teachers’ level and at the school’s level that enabled and/ or impeded a broader consideration of practice and richer conditions for the mentoring of novice teachers in the team.