Title: Seeking the robust core of organisational learning theory

Authors: Steven E. Wallis

Addresses: Foundation for the Advancement of Social Theory, 1656 Wynoochee Way, Petaluma, California, 94954, USA

Abstract: Organisational learning theory (OLT) has become a hot topic of conversation in academic journals. However, the variety of descriptions seem to suggest no unified understanding of what OLT is. In this paper, I draw on a sample of 12 recent papers as samples of normal science and exemplars of our present level of scholarship to conduct a propositional analysis of the structure of OLT. This analysis identifies the core of OLT and finds that OLT has a robustness of 0.16 on a scale of zero to one. This low level of robustness suggests that OLT may be of limited efficacy in application. This paper creates a benchmark for the progress of OLT and suggests opportunities for advancing our understanding of OLT.

Keywords: organisational learning theory; OLT; theory of theory; metatheory; robustness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCENT.2009.029288

International Journal of Collaborative Enterprise, 2009 Vol.1 No.2, pp.180 - 193

Published online: 18 Nov 2009 *

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