Becoming a learning organisation - learning to change, change for learning: an IT case study

Abstract

This paper describes a qualitative case study of a fledgling IT organisation's espoused journey to becoming a learning organisation (LO). In particular, it examines how that change journey was informed and impacted by notions and elements embedded in Örtenblad's (2004) model of a LO. It derives insights from the organisation's experience to determine whether and how the model needs to be refined or re-interpreted for organisations pursuing the benefits of becoming a LO. The study concludes that Örtenblad's model has value in guiding such change and affirms the heightened importance of facilitating an appropriate climate for learning (CL), and of meaningfully contextualising learning processes within an organisation's formal and informal learning structure (LS), on that LO journey. The study is unique in identifying the relative influence and importance of Örtenblad's elements, the need for a more nuanced interpretation of those elements, and of evolving rather than developing a new model.