Organisational learning is a concept to describe activities that take place in an organisation
A learning organisation refers to a type of organisation. A learning organisation is one which is good at organisational learning
Organisational learning lacks a clear definition. Partly as it has been researched from a wide variety of academic fields, each using its own perspectives and paradigms.
However, there are five aspects of organisational learning that most writers would agree upon:
The survival of an organisation depends on its ability to learn at the same pace or faster than changes in its environment
Learning must be a collective process
There must be a fundamental shift towards systems (or triple-loop learning) thinking by an organisation's members
By adopting organisational learning, an organisation allows to transform itself if necessary
An organisation can adapt to, influence, and even transform its environment
There is no agreed definition of organisational learning
Scarcity of rigorous and longitudinal empirical studies in the area.
An organisation does not learn, people do. The term organisational learning is a misnomer.
Many managers oppose organisational learning as they see it as a threat to stability and order.
The practices part of organisational learning might work well in Western organisations, for Non-Western organisations they might not fit.
General adoption of organisational learning assumes that all organisations operate in a fast changing world. Some sectors might not act in an unpredictable environment, leading to require different capabilities.