The meanings of "learning organization" from the perspective of usage

The definition of what (a) learning organization is, has been contested throughout the several decades since the term came into use. This chapter investigates the use of the term in context, by analysing a corpus of 1,458 abstracts containing the term “learning organization” and/or the control term “knowledge organization,” used as a foil for the investigation, by means of interpreting a collocation analysis. The results indicate that learning organization (unlike knowledge organization) is frequently construed as a desirable attribute that an organization aspires to attain, and at other times as a multidimensional construct with characteristics that an authentic learning organization displays. The term knowledge organization reveals its multidimensional nature in techniques for organizing knowledge—the how-to of knowledge organization. Both terms are used in metalevel reflection, where learning organization is seen as a concept or idea, tied to its aspirational attribute, whereas knowledge organization is seen as a scholarly field.