Project-Based Workplace Learning: A Case Study‪.‬

Notwithstanding the abundance of literature on organizational learning, learning organizations and capability development, a vital need remains to integrate managerial theory and practice (Denton 1998). Managers seeking practical guidance on developing organizational learning that is theoretically robust-beyond training and development ideas-must negotiate a maze of academic and professional literature that ranges from highly abstract pieces conceptualizing learning, to systems-oriented discussions of effective learning strategies, and finally, articles offering handy hints and tips and tools. The references following this article include several that illustrate one or more of these approaches, particularly Rylatt (1994), Waddell et al (2000), Dixon (1992), Easterby-Smith (1990), Stata (1989), Schein (1993), and Denton (1998). Studies of organizational learning (a term often used interchangeably with 'learning organizations' in the literature) continue to observe that the concepts are poorly defined, poorly understood, and poorly applied. See the reference list for literature that addresses these problems, including Lang and Wittig-Berman (2000); Dunphy, Turner, and Crawford (1996); and Garvin (1993). No wonder managers become cynical about so-called transformational human resource management strategies that are suppose to contribute to competitive advantage in a knowledge era. For example, the HR professional seeking to implement an organizational learning strategy may find only frustration unless line managers can apply the underlying meanings and concepts to the business realities she or he faces. A model of organizational learning as a system of inputs, processes and outputs, where there are some dozen potential key processes (each of which is itself a sub-system, such as team-based learning) and a payoff that, at best, is in t he future and, at worst, is poorly articulated, is unlikely to command either attention or respect. It is also disappointing, though perhaps not surprising, that a survey of managers' sources of information on organizational learning found that academic sources were totally absent from the responses (Denton 1998).