In 1990, Peter Senge of the MIT Sloan School of Management published his book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. I am sure he was confident in the ideas he presented in that book, but he probably never dreamed that he would cause such a stir in the academic and professional community by introducing a “new management trend”. Today, however, more than 30 years after the book's publication, the idea of the learning organization continues to appeal to academics and practitioners alike. This is reflected in the strength of The Learning Organization journal, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. We have prepared a special virtual issue for you because we believe you should all learn about learning organizations and develop your workplace and relationships accordingly!

Since the topic of learning organizations sounds confusing to some, we are offering you free access to seven articles previously published in TLO! You can read about the factors that influence Senge's five disciplines, the basics of the literature on learning organizations, the conceptual framework of organizational learning, issues of learning and unlearning, and learning in virtual teams in which many participate today. Many are aware of the need to create learning opportunities on an ongoing basis. However, there are also many conscious or unconscious efforts to avoid and undermine them. You can read more about this as well! Enjoy!

Natasa Rupcic

Editor-in-Chief

The following articles are free to access from July 5th 2023 to August 5th 2023:

 

1.      The learning organisation: a meta-analysis of themes in literature
Thomas, K. and Allen, S. (2006), "The learning organisation: a meta‐analysis of themes in literature", The Learning Organization, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 123-139. 

2.      Creating learning organizations: a systems perspective
Bui, H. and Baruch, Y. (2010), "Creating learning organizations: a systems perspective", The Learning Organization, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 208-227. 

3.      Organisational learning: a critical review
Wang, C.L. and Ahmed, P.K. (2003), "Organisational learning: a critical review", The Learning Organization, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 8-17.  

4.      Organizational learning and unlearning
Starbuck, W.H. (2017), "Organizational learning and unlearning", The Learning Organization, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 30-38. 

5.      The learning organization: a review and evaluation
Garavan, T. (1997), "The learning organization: a review and evaluation", The Learning Organization, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 18-29. 

6.      The learning organization as paradox: being for the learning organization also means being against it
Vince, R. (2018), "The learning organization as paradox: Being for the learning organization also means being against it", The Learning Organization, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 273-280

7.      Learning together and working apart: routines for organizational learning in virtual teams
Dixon, N. (2017), "Learning together and working apart: routines for organizational learning in virtual teams", The Learning Organization, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 138-149.