Cycles of Organisational
Learning: A Conceptual Approach

Dr Peter Murray
Senior Lecturer
Division of Economic and Financial Studies,
Department of Business,
Macquarie University, NSW. Australia. Phone +61 2 98508468 Email: p.murray@mq.edu.au

Key Words: unbounded learning, integrated learning cycles, competencies

Abstract

In an environment of rapid change, organisational learning theory appears to offer much for organisations trying to grapple with change and growth. Not all theorists agree on the methodologies of organisational learning however, and there is little consensus about how organisations achieve both change and growth simultaneously. This paper attempts to expand the simplistic idea that organisational learning is an adaptive approach supported by individualized and stand-alone strategies of learning. The paper demonstrates how various conventions of learning can be understood as integrated learning cycles from which organisations can chart new paradigms of learning in practice. Current theories of organizational learning are imbued with their own sense of history making, clever manifestos that support a workshop or case study approach, and questionable rather than empirical validations of internally consistent phenomenon. Existing theories of learning however are valuable to the extent that they collectively represent a community of practice from which scholars and practitioners benefit. New conceptual approaches are needed however to link current practices and empirical observation so that individualized approaches to organizational learning can be integrated.

PURPOSE OF THE PAPER

This paper explores several new learning concepts such as unbounded learning and demonstrates how an integrated learning cycle can be developed to assist firms address the conceptual and practical issues of