Organizational Learning: A Case Study of an International Non-profit Organization

Abstract

From the late 1990’s onwards, the concepts and domains of organizational learning (OL) within an organizational setting and management practice have become the most debated topics among both management researchers and practitioners. At the same time, non-profit organizations endure a rapid organizational growth and re-structuring which provoke significant organizational changes in return, making the way how they learn and what they do with gained knowledge crucial for their development. However, up until now, OL remains a research area where theoretical and operational definitions fluctuate, and it is, generally, insufficiently empirically explored by both private and non-profit sectors. The role of OL in non-profits remains vague in particular, and it is yet to be fully discovered what the main barriers to OL are, or how exactly OL practices impact capacity building, performance and other important organizational areas. By using a case study approach and by focusing on working environment and operations in a single international non-profit organization, this study provides a holistic picture of OL processes by considering and integrating various important dimensions: sector to which an organization belongs, an organizational context and influence of various organizational factors. The goal is to assess the employees’ awareness of the OL concept, to explore the social context and the system levels within which the learning occurs in the subject organization, and to identify the main OL challenges.