Challenges of Organizational Learning Research

Abstract

This literature review on organizational learning points out five main challenges faced by researchers from this field. The challenges identified had a theoretical, conceptual, and methodological nature and they deserve a special attention at the time of planning research projects in this area. The first finding of the bibliographical survey is that there is not a theory of organizational learning and, therefore, researchers face the challenge of building theory related to this complex and multifaceted phenomenon. In turn, the second challenge refers to multilevel analysis of a process that takes place at the individual level and goes beyond the group, the organization, and other organizations, requiring a suitable analytical model. The theme has been studied by several disciplines from different perspectives, representing the third research finding and the challenge of building interdisciplinary bridges to develop a comprehensive and useful theory in various fields of science. This challenge becomes even more complex given the verification of the multiplicity of research concepts and constructs directly related to the same processes of generating and operating knowledge for organizational adaptation and performance. Finally, the fifth challenge refers to research methodologies on organizational learning, with barely explored possibilities and hegemony of instruments of individual perception.