Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model that uses dialectical inquiry (DI) to create cognitive conflict in strategic decision-makers for the purpose of improving strategic decisions. Activation of the dialectical learning process using DI requires strategic decision-makers to integrate conflicting information causing…

Innovation is the lifeblood of companies, while simultaneously being one of the most difficult and elusive processes to manage. Failure rates are high--varying between six out of ten to nine out of ten--while the need to innovate is high. Departing from a real-life case of a company, Sara Lee/Douwe Egberts, that has set learning within and from…

Purpose: To develop a biological approach to the analysis of learning organisations based on complexity theory, autopoiesis, and evolutionary epistemology. Design/methodology/approach: This paper synthesises ideas from disciplines ranging from physics, epistemology and philosophy of science to military affairs, to sketch a scientific framework in…

For the past ten years the management literature has increasingly discussed the concept of learning organizations. Yet, more that a decade later, few organizations have figured out how to create the structures and processes necessary to assure continuous learning. This article purports that this problem can be attributed to the mental models of…