Title: Organisational changes and learning in production and service organisations during a transition in society

Authors: Ruth Alas

Addresses: Estonian Business School, Lauteri 3, Tallinn 10114, Estonia

Abstract: This paper compares changes and learning in the production and service sectors during a transition in society. Interviews were conducted with members of top management teams of 137 Estonian organisations about organisational changes and organisational learning in these organisations. The results indicate that the changes were deeper and more successful in the production sector. At the same time, there was more attention to organisational learning in the service sector. In production companies the key factor for the success of changes was the commitment to the goals; while in the service sector, it was the organisational structure enabling information sharing and communication. The author proposes a model of the characteristics of learning organisations in different industries.

Keywords: organisational learning; organisational change; production organisations; service organisations; society transition; Estonia; organisational structure; information sharing; communication; organisational goals.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2008.017431

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2008 Vol.4 No.4, pp.481 - 497

Published online: 07 Mar 2008 *

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