Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which the concept of learning organization can support the embedding of responsible innovation (RI) in organizations. Design/methodology/approach: Based on literature in the fields of corporate social responsibility, learning organizations and quadruple helix collaborations, the…

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,…

Purpose: Learning, unlearning and relearning (LUR) has been preached as a panacea to organizations. Whereas, research on learning and unlearning has grown exponentially, relearning is still considered as an obscure concept. This paper aims to provide a new insight on organizational relearning and highlight its linkages with organizational…

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.…

Purpose: While many approaches in the field of unlearning aim at describing, understanding or explaining the "what" and/or "how" of unlearning, this paper aims to focus on the "where-to" and the goal of unlearning. In many cases, unlearning starts off with a specific result or goal in mind. This paper suggests that…

Purpose: This paper aims to challenge the alleged gender-neutral character of Argyris and Schön's theory of organizational learning (1978). While theories in organizational science seem gender neutral at the surface, a closer analysis reveals they are often based on men's experiences. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses the method of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight challenges and opportunities that surround the process of learning with an emphasis on higher-order learning and learning as behavior. Higher-order learning has been conceptualized as learning behavior that can be learned. Design/methodology/approach: The holistic framework regarding higher-order…

Purpose: Calls for dialectical learning process model development in learning organizations have largely gone unheeded, thereby limiting conceptual understanding and application in the field. This paper aims to unify learning organization theory with a new understanding of Hegelian dialectics to trace the development of the storytelling learning…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the dominance of the participation metaphor for learning in the literature on learning organizations and to propose a working model of the teaching organization with conceptual input from educational science and the sociology of professions. Design/methodology/approach: The paper combines…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the differences in mindfulness, meditation and flow and the conditions in which each occurs. It summarizes research that demonstrates positive benefits of these three for employee and organizational learning. While mindfulness focuses awareness on what is occurring in the moment, flow involves total immersion in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to debate how companies may better become a sustainable learning organization by offering the most used and insightful concepts of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: Through literature review, learning organization and sustainability perspectives are explored and compared. Findings: Learning…

Purpose: The topic of organizational learning is populated with many theories and models; many relate to the enduring organizational learning framework consisting of knowledge acquisition, knowledge dissemination, and knowledge use. However, most of the research either emphasizes structural knowledge acquisition and dissemination as a composite…

Purpose: The primary purposes of the current paper are to: provide theoretically clear concepts of the learning organization (LO) and organizational learning (OL) process; and empirically test the relationships among research constructs--environmental aspects of the LO and three types of OL processes at the levels of individual, group/team, and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Special Issue; to provide a practitioner's retrospective views of the learning organization concept; and to comment on the status of "The Learning Organization" journal. Design/methodology/approach: The approach adopted involves recounting a personal history of a practitioner's experiences…

Purpose: In an effort to better understand the political dimensions of organizational learning, this paper aims to examine learning processes in an organizational context--namely renegotiation of pay and performance management arrangements--where the interests of organizational members are threatened. Design/methodology/approach: Data were derived…