The social complexity of organizational learning: The dynamics of learning and organizing

被引:85
作者
Antonacopoulou, Elena
Chiva, Ricardo
机构
[1] Univ Liverpool, Sch Management, GNOSIS, Liverpool L69 7ZH, Merseyside, England
[2] Univ Jaume 1, Castellon de La Plana 12071, Spain
关键词
D O I
10.1177/1350507607079029
中图分类号
C93 [管理学];
学科分类号
12 ; 1201 ; 1202 ; 120202 ;
摘要
This article examines the social complexity of Organizational Learning. We built on and seek to extend recent conceptualizations of Organizational Learning that emphasize the emergent and fluid nature of learning in organizations, by drawing on some of the principles of Complexity Science. We selectively introduce two sets of principles of complexity that provide further richness to our understanding of Organizational Learning as a social complex process. The two sets of principles are 'schemas-diversity' and 'interaction-interdependence'. We discuss the main characteristics of these principles of Complexity Science and show they can help us understand aspects of the social complexity of Organizational Learning. Our analysis shows that one of the main contributions of the Complexity Science perspective to understanding Organizational Learning is that it reveals more clearly the tensions that underpin learning in social contexts. We provide a re-conceptualization of tensions as revealing elasticity and not only conflict. We argue that Organizational Learning as a source of tensions keeps the organization in tension, which allows us to better capture the dynamics of learning and organizing. We conclude by outlining some issues that future OL research would address if OL is conceptualized as a dynamic complex process.
引用
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页码:277 / 295
页数:19
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