ERIC Number: EJ1057268
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Apr
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1874-785X
EISSN: N/A
Organizational Learning as an Analogy to Individual Learning? A Case of Augmented Interaction Intensity
Döös, Marianne; Johansson, Peter; Wilhelmson, Lena
Vocations and Learning, v8 n1 p55-73 Apr 2015
This paper attempts to explore an analogy between individual and organizational learning within experiential learning theory (ELT). The focus is on both the possibility of identifying a learning subject that learns in action, and on the genesis process behind the learning of a suggested learning subject at organizational level. The exploration uses an empirical study of a global software communication organization. The research adopts a qualitative approach, with data from three middle-management layers of a research and development (R&D) unit with 5,000 employees. During the study, shifts of emphasis occurred between two organizational logics, which required work-integrated learning. Metaphorically speaking, the organization was portrayed as "teeming with interaction", and a growing wave of change decisively altered both the thinking and work processes within the organization. The organizational learning process is theoretically understood as an "augmented intense interaction" around a specific content. The subject that learns and upholds the outcome is suggested to be the teeming activity, comprehended as a living organism. In practice, the awareness of an organization as a body that teems with interaction has potential to offer new understanding about how to manage change.
Descriptors: Workplace Learning, Organizational Culture, Learning Theories, Experiential Learning, Case Studies, Middle Management, Learning Processes, Interaction, Organizational Change, Qualitative Research
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A