Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Methodological and Thematic Prescriptions for Defining and Measuring the Organizational Learning Concept

  • Published:
Information Systems Frontiers Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Despite the long tradition of research on organizational learning (OL), theoretically acceptable definitions and empirically derived measures of the concept have not been developed. This paper introduces theoretical proclamations and a methodological plan that can guide researchers towards the goal of operationalizing OL into a valid and reliable instrument. It includes (1) practical and scientific motivations for advancing and measuring the OL construct, (2) a suggested methodology for operationalization of definitions of OL, (3) theoretical and operational themes found in the literature, and (4) scale and subscale expectations. Organizational researchers are encouraged to use the directions embodied in this research to guide attempts at developing measures of organizational learning, in hopes of advancing the field beyond normal science.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen MJ, Yen WM. Introduction to Measurement Theory. Montery: Brooks-Cole, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Argyris C. Good communication that blocks learning. Harvard Business Review 1994;72(4):77–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Argyris C, Schon DA. Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton D. Are business schools good learning organizations? Institutional values and their effects in management education. Personnel Review 1988;17(4):9–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahlmann T. The learning organization in a turbulent environment. Human Systems Management 1990;9:249–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bedeian AG. Contemporary challenges in the study of organizations. Journal of Management 1986;12(2):185–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boudreau M-C, Gefen D, Straub DW. Validation in information systems research: A state-of-the-art assessment. MIS Quarterly 2001;25(1):1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Budd R, Thorp R, Donohew L. Content Analysis of Communications. New York: Macmillan, 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrd TA, Turner DE. Measuring the flexibility of information technology infrastructure: Exploratory analysis of a construct. Journal of Management Information Systems 2000;17(1):167–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmines EG, Zeller RA. Reliability and Validity Assessment. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carney TF. Content Analysis. London: B.T. Batsford, Ltd., 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavaleri SA. Soft' systems thinking: A pre-condition for organizational learning. Human Systems Management 1994;13(4):259–267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Choo CW. The Knowing Organization: How Organizations Use Information To Construct Meaning, Create Knowledge, and Make Decisions. Oxford University Press, Jan. 1998:256.

  • Churchill GA. A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research 1979;16:64–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach LJ. Test validation. In: Thorndike RL, ed. Educational Measurement, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Council on Education, 1971:443–507.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach LJ, Meehl PE. Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin 1955;52:281–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cyert RM, March JG. A Behavioral Theory of the Firm. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1963.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daft RL, Weick KE. Toward a model of organizations as interpretation systems. Academy of Management Review 1984;9(2):284–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Geus AP. Planning as learning. Harvard Business Review 1988;66(3):70–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon NM. Organizational learning: A review of the literature with implications for HRD professionals. Human Resource Development Quarterly 1992;3:29–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodgson M. Organizational learning: A review of some literatures. Organization Studies 1993;14(3):375–394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drucker PF. The new society of organizations. Harvard Business Review 1992;71(5):95–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery FE, Trist EL. The causal texture of organizational environments. Human Relations 1965;16:20–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiol CM, Lyles MA. Organizational learning. Academy of Management Review 1985;10(4):803–813.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foy N. The Yin and Yang of Organizations. NewYork: Morrow, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedlander F. Patterns of individual and organizational learning. In: Srivastva S and Associates, eds. The Executive Mind: NewInsights on Managerial Thought and Action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1983:192–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garvin DA. Building a learning organization. Harvard Business Review 1993;71(4):78–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldhar JD, Lei D. Variety is free: Manufacturing in the twenty-first century. Academy of Management Executive 1995;9(4):73–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedberg BLT. How organizations learn and unlearn. In: Nystrom PC, Starbuck WH, eds. Handbook of Organizational Design. London: Oxford University Press, 1981:8–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedberg B, Nystrom P, Starbuck WH. Camping on seesaws: Prescriptions for a self-designing organization. Administrative Science Quarterly 1976;21(1):41–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huber GP. The nature and design of post-industrial organizations. Management Science 1984;30(8):928–951.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huber GP. Organizational learning: The contributing processes and the literatures. Organization Science 1991;2(1):88–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huber GP, Daft RL. Information environments. In: Putnam L, ed. Handbook of Organizational Communication. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage 1987:130–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, Robert S, David PN. The balanced scorecard-Measures that drive performance. Harvard Business Review 1992;70(1):71–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiernan JM. The new strategic architecture: Learning to compete in the twenty-first century. Academy of Management Executive 1993;7(1):7–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee S, Courtney JF, Jr, O'Keefe RM. A system for organizational learning using cognitive maps. OMEGA International Journal of Management Science 1992;20(1):23–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levinthal DA, March JG. The myopia of learning. Strategic Management Journal 1993;14(Winter):95–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitt B, March JG. Organizational learning. Annual Review of Sociology 1988;14:319–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis BR, Snyder CA, Rainer RK, Jr. An empirical assessment of the information resource management construct. Journal of Management Information Systems 1995;12(1):199–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukas BA, Hult M, Ferrell OC. A theoretical perspective of the antecedents and consequences of organizational learning in marketing channels. Journal of Business Research 1996;36(3):233–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney JT. The management of resources and the resource of management. Journal of Business Research 1995;33(2):91–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • March J. Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organization Science 1991;2(1):71–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marchand DA, Kettinger WJ, Rollins JD. Making the Invisible Visible: How Companies Win with the Right Information, People and IT. John Wiley & Sons, 2001.

  • Miller D. A preliminary typology of organizational learning: Synthesizing the literature. Journal of Management 1996;22(3):485–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malhotra M, Grover V. An assessment of survey research in POM: From constructs to theory. Journal of Operations Management 1998;16(4):403–423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nonaka I. The knowledge-creating company. Harvard Business Review 1991;69(6):96–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rainer RK, Jr, Harrison AW. Toward development of the end user computing construct. Decision Sciences 1993;24:1187–1203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothwell S. Managing organizational learning. Manager Update 1993;4(3):221–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schein EH. Culture: The missing concept in organization studies. Administrative Science Quarterly 1996a;41(2):229–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schein EH. Three cultures of management: The key to organizational learning. Sloan Management Review 1996b;38(1):9–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senge PM. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday/Currency, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senge P, Sterman J. Systems thinking and organizational learning: Acting locally and thinking globally in the organization of the future. European Journal of Operational Research 1993;59(1):137–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shani AB, Lau JB. Behavior in Organizations: An Experiential Approach, 6th ed. Chicago: Irwin, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinkula JM. Market information processing and organizational learning. Journal of Marketing 1994;58(1):35–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slater SF, Narver JC. Does competitive environment moderate the market orientation-performance relationship? Journal of Marketing 1994;58(1):46–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stata R. Organizational learning: The key to management innovation. Sloan Management Review 1989;30(3):63–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Straub DW. Validating instruments in IS research. MIS Quarterly 1989;13(1):147–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Templeton G, Snyder C. A model of organizational learning based on control. International Journal of Technology Management 1999;18(5-8):705–719.

    Google Scholar 

  • Templeton GF, Snyder CA. Precursors, contexts, and consequences of organizational learning. International Journal of Technology Management 2000;20(5-8):765–781.

    Google Scholar 

  • Templeton GF, Lewis BR, Snyder CA. Development of a measure for the organizational learning construct. Journal of Management Information Systems, forthcoming Fall, 2002.

  • Ventriss C, Luke J. Organizational learning and public policy. American Review of Public Administration 1988;18(4):346–347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward A. Lessons learned on the knowledge highways and byways. Strategy and Leadership 1996;24(2):16–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zachman JA. A framework for information systems architecture. IBM Systems Journal 1987;26(3):276–292.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mississippi State University, Department of Management and Information Systems, P.O. Box, 9581, Mississippi State, Mississippi, 39762, USA

    Gary F. Templeton

  2. Middle Tennessee State University, Department of Computer Information Systems, Jones College of Business, P.O. Box, 45, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132, USA

    Steven A. Morris

  3. Auburn University, Department of Management, Lowder College of Business Building, Auburn, Alabama, 36830, USA

    Charles A. Snyder

  4. Wayne Calloway School of Business and Accountancy, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109-7285, USA

    Bruce R. Lewis

Authors
  1. Gary F. Templeton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Steven A. Morris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Charles A. Snyder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bruce R. Lewis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Templeton, G.F., Morris, S.A., Snyder, C.A. et al. Methodological and Thematic Prescriptions for Defining and Measuring the Organizational Learning Concept. Information Systems Frontiers 6, 263–276 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ISFI.0000037880.50909.09

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ISFI.0000037880.50909.09

Search

Navigation