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Organizational Learning Versus Individual Learning in the Organization

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Organizational Learning as Relational Governance

Part of the book series: Relational Economics and Organization Governance ((REOG))

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Abstract

This chapter critically discusses the existing literature on organizational learning. This critical analysis aims to provide evidence for the argument that, in mainstream literature, organizational learning has been conceptualized mainly in terms of individual learning and as an intra-organizational process. This focus on individual learning led to epistemological and ontological problems, to a paradox of organizational learning (does the organization really learn? Or is it only a metaphor?) and hinders a conceptualization of organizational learning as learning by the organizational entity. The focus on intra-organizational processes led to a view of learning processes that focused mainly on the institutional boundaries of the organization. Although in recent decades the inter-organizational level has been included in the literature debate and has also developed as a distinct stream, there are still problems in shifting the level of analysis of organizational learning to the network (or stakeholder nexus) level. Both the influence of individual learning and the intra-organizational focus hinder a conceptualization of organizational learning as learning in an organization conceptualized as a nexus of stakeholder resources and interests that form a distinct entity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This view of individuals as agents of organizational learning is based on individualism as a meta-theoretical basis that treats the collective as the results of individual agents (Ritzer & Gindoff, 1992).

  2. 2.

    Some scholars argue that learning and cognitive development is a social process in its nature and therefore do not distinguish the cognitive from the social development. For an overview of this perspective, please see Schutt (2015), Pescosolido (2015), Henrich (2004), Vygotsky (1978), Salomon and Perkins (1998), Mead (1934).

  3. 3.

    Morandin et al. (2021) point out that the literature ignores the social aspect in favour of an individual dimension.

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  1. Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Jessica Geraldo Schwengber

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Geraldo Schwengber, J. (2024). Organizational Learning Versus Individual Learning in the Organization. In: Organizational Learning as Relational Governance. Relational Economics and Organization Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52015-0_3

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