Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Senge's many faces: problem or opportunity?

Senge's many faces: problem or opportunity? Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss both possibilities and problems with Senge's (1990) many faces in The Fifth Discipline , i.e. the fact that different authors refer to different excerpts from his book as his version of the learning organization. Design/methodology/approach – The paper shows that the authors' understandings of Senge, in which a literature review resulted, are seen in the light of theories of travelling of management ideas, particularly the “translation model”. Findings – The paper finds that both possibilities and problems with Senge's many faces were found. A fatal problem is that the many faces jeopardize the confidence in the concept and eventually its existence. But the strong connections to Senge's book, that the authors have, reduces the problems, and Senge's many faces might not cause that much trouble after all. Research limitations/implications – The paper shows that anyone who wishes to can, for different reasons, refer to Senge, and his version of the learning organization, and thereby gain legitimacy. One does not have to be very accurate; as it seems, almost anything goes. Practical implications – In the paper the “translation model” is divided into two sub‐models, which probably will sharpen future translation research. Originality/value – The paper is a study in which it is shown how authors understand other authors. This is an example that is rarely seen. Both possibilities and problems are discussed with vagueness to Senge's many faces. This is not very common. A special case of the translation model is developed (the “smorgasbord model”), better suited to deal with the type of idea that focuses on copying of excerpts from a specific book than the traditional translation model (the “whispering game model”). http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Learning Organization Emerald Publishing

Senge's many faces: problem or opportunity?

Anders Örtenblad
The Learning Organization , Volume 14 (2): 15 – Mar 20, 2007
Download PDF
15 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/senge-s-many-faces-problem-or-opportunity-s0ieTbIxk9

References (78)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0969-6474
DOI
10.1108/09696470710726989
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss both possibilities and problems with Senge's (1990) many faces in The Fifth Discipline , i.e. the fact that different authors refer to different excerpts from his book as his version of the learning organization. Design/methodology/approach – The paper shows that the authors' understandings of Senge, in which a literature review resulted, are seen in the light of theories of travelling of management ideas, particularly the “translation model”. Findings – The paper finds that both possibilities and problems with Senge's many faces were found. A fatal problem is that the many faces jeopardize the confidence in the concept and eventually its existence. But the strong connections to Senge's book, that the authors have, reduces the problems, and Senge's many faces might not cause that much trouble after all. Research limitations/implications – The paper shows that anyone who wishes to can, for different reasons, refer to Senge, and his version of the learning organization, and thereby gain legitimacy. One does not have to be very accurate; as it seems, almost anything goes. Practical implications – In the paper the “translation model” is divided into two sub‐models, which probably will sharpen future translation research. Originality/value – The paper is a study in which it is shown how authors understand other authors. This is an example that is rarely seen. Both possibilities and problems are discussed with vagueness to Senge's many faces. This is not very common. A special case of the translation model is developed (the “smorgasbord model”), better suited to deal with the type of idea that focuses on copying of excerpts from a specific book than the traditional translation model (the “whispering game model”).

Journal

The Learning Organization – Emerald Publishing

Published: Mar 20, 2007

Keywords: Learning organizations; Literature

There are no references for this article.