Organizational learning: conceptual challenges from a project perspective

Abstract

Organizational learning has been widely acknowledged as holding the key for companies to survive and prosper and has, in recent years, gained currency in construction management research. Much research centred upon the study of organizational learning as a process, as well as the view and understanding of companies as learning organizations. However, non‐construction management researchers have recently begun to recognize the incoherence of the concepts presented in the literature and identified a lack of a solid theoretical and empirical foundation. To further exacerbate the challenge of embracing organizational learning in construction, the industry is largely project‐based, thus increasing the difficulties for organizational learning to occur. Past research into organizational learning has also mainly concentrated on an intra‐organizational perspective and where construction is specifically concerned, on project partnering. However, we regard such a focus to be myopic as a means of exploring organizational learning at the construction project level. As such, a number of research challenges are recommended including the need to examine organizational learning beyond project partnering; an emphasis on the inter‐organizational dynamics involved in both the process and outcomes of organizational learning and the investigation of construction projects as learning networks.

Keywords:

• Conceptual review
• construction projects
• learning organization
• organizational learning

Notes

1. Lipshitz et al. (2002) locate Organizational Learning Mechanisms (OLMs) within the structural facet of their model. They believe that both individual and organizational learning involve the processing of information. However, while it is possible to study how individuals process information given the identifiable attributes of the nervous systems in living organizms, OLMs therefore are observable organizational subsystems in which members interact for the purpose of learning. A common OLM cited is the after‐action or post‐project review.