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Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization: A Dichotomy Between Descriptive and Prescriptive Research:

Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization: A Dichotomy Between... Despite the growing popularity of the term 'organizational learning," writings on the topic have little consensus in terms of definition, perspective, conceptualization, and methodology. This article examines the dichotomy between two main streams of theorizing in the field. The first stream, prescriptive writings on the learning organization, is concerned with the question "How should an organization learn?" Targeting practitioners, these studies are usually based on the authors' consulting experience and seldom follow rigorous research methodologies. They also tend to overgeneralize their theories to all types of organization. Descriptive researches on organizational learning fall in the second stream which tackles the question "How does an organization learn?" These are academic studies striving for scientific rigor. Nevertheless, they often fail to generate useful implications for practitioners. In the final section of the article, brief suggestions are made to integrate the two streams of research. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Human Relations SAGE

Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization: A Dichotomy Between Descriptive and Prescriptive Research:

Tsang, Eric W. K.
Human Relations , Volume 50 (1): 17 – Apr 22, 2016
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References (61)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by The Tavistock Institute
ISSN
0018-7267
eISSN
1741-282X
DOI
10.1177/001872679705000104
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Despite the growing popularity of the term 'organizational learning," writings on the topic have little consensus in terms of definition, perspective, conceptualization, and methodology. This article examines the dichotomy between two main streams of theorizing in the field. The first stream, prescriptive writings on the learning organization, is concerned with the question "How should an organization learn?" Targeting practitioners, these studies are usually based on the authors' consulting experience and seldom follow rigorous research methodologies. They also tend to overgeneralize their theories to all types of organization. Descriptive researches on organizational learning fall in the second stream which tackles the question "How does an organization learn?" These are academic studies striving for scientific rigor. Nevertheless, they often fail to generate useful implications for practitioners. In the final section of the article, brief suggestions are made to integrate the two streams of research.

Journal

Human Relations – SAGE

Published: Apr 22, 2016

Keywords: organizational learning,learning organization,descriptive research,prescriptive research

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