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The Learning Organization, Power, Politics and Ideology Introduction

Department of Economics and Management, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, UK.

Three main criticisms of the 'learning organization' are developed in this paper. First, it is argued that the concept is badly flawed because of its proponents' apolitical assumptions. This leads them to neglect the political activity likely to be encountered in a learning organization, activity which will tend to frustrate the learning aims. Second, while their model allows for greater employee empowerment the amount will probably be relatively modest in real terms. On the other hand, the power of managers, especially those at the apex of the organization, is likely to be enhanced by their privileged access to any extra informational and symbolic resources that are created by individual and collective learning processes. The third, and potentially the most damning, criticism is that the concept of the 'learning organization' is expressed in ways that provide raw material for managerial ideology, potentially constraining the meanings and actions of other employees so that they support the interests of the dominant coalition.

Management Learning, Vol. 26, No. 2, 193-213 (1995)
DOI: 10.1177/135050769502600204


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