Black swans don’t fly double loops: the limits of the learning organization?

1See Swieringa, J. and Wierdsma, A., Becoming a Learning Organisation, Beyond the Learning Curve, Addison Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; Senge, P., he Fifth Discipline, Doubleday, New York, NY, 1990, pp. 174‐225; Pedler, M., Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T., The Learning Organisation, A Strategy for Sustainable Development, McGraw‐Hill, New York, NY, 1991.

2See, for example, Bowonder, B. and Miyake, T., "Japanese innovation in advanced technologies, an analysis of functional integration", International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 8 No. 1/2, 1993, pp. 135‐56

Harrigan, K.R. nd Dalmia, K., "Knowledge workers: the last bastion of competitive advantage", Planning Review, November/December, 1991, pp. 5‐48.

3Senge, P., “Mental models”, Planning Review, March/April, 1992, pp. 4‐44.

4Descartes, R., Discourse on Method and the Meditation, Penguin, London, 1968.

5For classification of approaches see Edmondson, A., “Three faces of Eden: the persistence of competing theories and multiple diagnoses in organisational interventional research”, Human Relations, Vol. 49 No. 5, 1996, pp. 571‐96.

6Argyris, C. and Schon, D., Organisational Learning, Addison‐Wesley, Reading, MA, 1978.

7Cohen, M., March, J. and Olsen, J., "A garbage can model of organisational choice", Administrative Science Quarterly, No. 17, 1972, pp. 11‐25

Drummond, H., "Another fine mess. Time for quality in decision making", ournal of General Management, Vol. 18 No. 1, 1992, pp. 1‐14.

8March, J. and Olsen, I., “The uncertainty of the past: organisational learning under ambiguity”, European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 3, pp. 141‐71.

9Evans Pritchard, E., Witches, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1976.

10Locke, J., An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Everyman Classics Edition, London, 1977, pp. 297‐8.

11Beer, S., Brain of the Firm. The Managerial Cybernetics of Organisation, Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, London, 1972

Freeman, D., "Is management still a science?", arvard Business Review, November‐December, 1993, pp. 26‐38

Stacey, R., Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics, 2nd ed., Pitman, London, 1996. (This kind of dysfunctional learning is particularly likely to occur with information‐based learning strategies).

12Nagel, T., The View from Nowhere, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1983.

13Kim, D.H., “The link between individual and organisation learning”, Sloan Management Review, autumn 1993, pp. 37‐50.

14See, for example, Lancaster, G., “Marketing and engineering: can there ever be synergy?”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 9, pp. 141‐53, 1993; Ratnatunga, J., Hooley, G. and Pike, R., The marketing finance interface”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 29‐43, 1990.

15Taylor, F.W., The Principles of Scientific Management, Harper & Row, New York, NY, 1911.

16See, for example, Kanter, R.M., The Changemasters, Simon and Schuster, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1983; Kanter, R.M., hen Giants Learn to Dance, Simon and Schuster, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1989; Morgan, G., Creative Organisation Theory. A Workbook, Sage, London, 1989; Morgan, G., Imaginization, Sage, London, 1993. For a contrary view see Collins, D., The Obscured World of Empowerment, Iconoclastic Papers, Vol. 1 No. 1.

17Leonard‐Barton, D., “The factory as a learning laboratory”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 34 No. 1, 1993, pp. 23‐38.

18Cooke, S. and Slack, N., “Making management decisions”, Prentice‐Hall, Hemel Hempstead, 1991, pp. 4‐21.

19Bailey, L. and Scott‐Jones, G., “What is the research buyer buying?”, Management Decision, Vol. 26 No. 1, 1991, pp. 16‐19.

20Moorman, C., Deshpande, R. and Zaltman, G., “Factors affecting trust in market research relationships”, Journal of Marketing, No. 57, 1993, pp. 81‐101.

21See, for example, Twiss, B., Managing Technological Innovation, Pitman, London, 1992; Von Bruan, C., Fischer, H. and Muller, A., R&D planning in the large corporation”, International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 5 No. 5, pp. 559‐76; Kono, T., “Organisational problems of R&D”, International Journal of Technology Management, Special Edition on Strengthening Corporate and National Competitiveness through R&D, Vol. 7 No. 1/2/3, 1992, pp. 61‐74; Millett, S., “Strategic management of technological R&D: an ideal process for the 1990s”, International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 5 No. 2, 1990, pp. 152‐63; Souder, W., “Disharmony between R&D and marketing”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 10, 1981, pp. 67‐73; Souder, W., “Managing relations between R&D and marketing in managing new product development”, Journal of Product Innovation Management, No. 5, 1988, pp. 6‐19; Henderson, S., Illige, R. and McHardy, P., “Management for engineers”, Heinemann, Oxford, 1994.

22Belbin, M., “Management teams, why they succeed or fail”, Heinemann, Oxford, 1981.

23Jacques, M., “The rest is science”, Sunday Times, 25 April, 1993.

24Dwyer, L., “Factors affecting the proficient management of product innovation”, International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 5 No. 6, 1990, pp. 721‐30.

25See, for example, Garnsey, E. and Wright, S., "Technical innovation and organisational opportunity", International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 5 No. 3, 1990, pp. 267‐91

Swan, J., "Decisions about new technology: knowledge. Cognitions and cognitive maps", apers and Proceedings, Colloque International, Pedagogie de la prise de décision, University of Nancy, 1992.

26See, for example, Senge[1]; Buckler, B., “A learning process to achieve continuous improvement and innovation”, The Learning Organization, Vol. 3 No. 3, 1996, pp. 31‐9; Kilmann, R.H., “Management learning organisations. nhancing business education for the 21st century”, Management Learning, Vol. 27 No. 2, 1996, pp. 203‐37; DiBella, A., Nevis, F. and Gould, J. “Understanding learning capability”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 33 No. 3, 1996, pp. 361‐79.

27Sartre, J.P., Nausea, Penguin, London, 1965.

28Schein, E., “How can organisations learn faster ‐ the challenge of the green room”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 134 No. 2, 1993, pp. 85‐91.

29.Jenkins, M. and Johnson, G., “Linking managerial cognition and organisational performance some insights from the retail sector”, Thirty Years On: What Have We Learned, British Academy of Management Conference, Aston University, 16‐18 September 1996, apers and Proceedings, pp. 4.26‐4.47.

30.McNamara, P. and Baden‐Fuller, C., “Three limits in knowledge based competencies: a learning and resource based perspective”, Thirty Years On: What Have We Learned, British Academy of Management Conference, Aston University, 16‐18 September, 1996, apers and Proceedings.

31.Foucault, M., The Archaeology of Knowledge, Routledge, London, 1972.

32.See, for example, Slater, S. and Narver, J., “Market orientation and the learning organisation”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 59 No. 3, pp. 63‐75.

33.Locke, R., “The limits of America’s pax oceonomica: Germany and Japan after World War II”, Professions and Management in Britain, University of Stirling, Plenary Session, August 1993, Papers and Proceedings, p. 823‐84.