Do organizations learn when employees learn: the link between individual and organizational learning
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the link between individual learning and organizational learning and offer guidelines to harness the individual capability of learning for organizational objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper using arguments from the theory of meaning structures.
Findings
The author shows that, learning, whether organizational or individual, is about the construction and accessibility of meaning, and that such processes thrive in a culture which fosters collaborative team work.
Research limitations/implications
The theory presents a perspective of how organizational knowledge exists in a triad – private, accessible and collective – and the interrelationships to create organizational learning. These constructs can form the building blocks for future research.
Practical implications
The theory brings organizations closer to prioritizing and evaluating learning processes to ensure that they facilitate the accessibility of knowledge.
Social implications
The theory can enable organizations to identify processes which inhibit the accessibility of knowledge and create the environment to promote such.
Originality/value
The theory opens a new insight into viewing organizational learning from the perspective of constructing and sharing meaning structures.
Keywords
Citation
Boateng, R. (2011), "Do organizations learn when employees learn: the link between individual and organizational learning", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 25 No. 6, pp. 6-9. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777281111173324
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited