The idea, or rather ideas, of the learning organization have for several decades been considered as an ideal. This Handbook surveys the various definitions of the learning organization that have emerged in the last thirty years and aims to provide an overview of what the learning organization is (and is not), how it may be utilized and studied, its strengths and weaknesses, and the universality and future of the idea.

Part I: Introduction
1: Anders Örtenblad: Background and Introduction to the Learning Organization
2: Siu Loon Hoe: The Topicality of the Learning Organization: Is the Concept Still Relevant Today?
Part II: Definitions and Meanings of the 'Learning Organization'
3: Hong T.M. Bui: Senge's Learning Organization: Development of the Learning Organization Model
4: Karen E. Watkins and Victoria J. Marsick: Conceptualizing an Organization That Learns
5: Patrick J. Healy: Garvin's Learning Organization: A Process Perspective on Learning for Implementation, Improvement, and Innovation
6: Mike Pedler, Tom Boydell, and John Burgoyne: Learning Company: The Learning Organization According to Pedler, Burgoyne, and Boydell
7: Michael J. Marquardt: Building Learning Organizations with Action Learning
8: Bob Garratt: Personal Paradoxes in Learning to Design 'The Learning Organization'
9: Hong T.M. Bui: On Definitions of the Learning Organization: Toward a New Definition of Learning Organization
Part III: Aspects of the Learning Organization
10: Max Visser and Paul Tosey: Learning in the Learning Organization: Concepts and Antecedents
11: Alice Lam: Ambidextrous Learning Organizations
12: Peter Hawkins: How the Learning Organization Learns and its Culture Coevolves
13: Robert L. Flood and Hanne Finnestrand: A Mighty Step: Critical Systemic Interpretation of the Learning Organization
14: Anthony DiBella: From Learning Organizations to Learning Cultures and More: Evolutions in Theory, Changes in Practice, Continuity of Purpose
15: William D. Schneper, David Wernick, and Mary Ann Von Glinow: Stakeholders and the Learning Organization
16: Amanda Brazil: What is Needed to Create Gender Inclusive Learning Organizations
Part IV: Practicing the Learning Organization
17: Victoria J. Marsick and Karen E. Watkins: Interventions to Create a Learning Organization
18: Nancy M. Dixon: Glimpses of Organizations in the Act of Learning
19: Laurie Field: Pegasus or Clever White Horse? In Pursuit of Real Learning Organizations
Part V: Studying the Learning Organization
20: Amy C. Edmondson, Francesca Gino, and Patrick J. Healy: The Learning Organization Survey: Validation of an Instrument to Augment Research on Organizational Learning
21: Swee Chua Goh: Measurement of the Learning Organization Construct: A Critical Perspective and Future Directions for Research
22: Kyoungshin Kim and Zhenqiu (Laura) Lu: Learning Organization and Organizational Performance
23: Nhien Nguyen, Jens Ørding Hansen, and Are Jensen: How Best to Study the Learning Organization
Part VI: The Universality of the Learning Organization
24: Peter Wyer and Shaun Bowman: The Potential To Nurture Small Businesses To Learning Organization Form
25: Anders Örtenblad: Contextualizing The Learning Organization: Towards Differentiated Standards
Part VII: New and Alternative Perspectives on The Learning Organization
26: Robert Chia: Becoming a Learning Organization: A Process-Philosophical Perspective
27: Helen D. Armstrong: The Learning Organization as a Practice of Becoming Human
28: Jacky Hong and Carry K.Y. Mak: The Empire Strikes Back: How Learning Organization Scholars can Learn from the Critiques
29: David M. Boje and Grace Ann Rosile: An Antenarrative Amendment to Learning Organization: Theories to Avert Sixth Extinction
30: Kenneth Mølbjerg Jørgensen, Shih-wei Hsu, and Lone Hersted: The Learning Organization: A Critical Analysis and Future Directions
Part VIII: The Learning Organization in the Future
31: Tom Boydell, Mike Pedler, and John Burgoyne: The Future of the Learning Organization
32: Anders Örtenblad: Suggestions for Future Research on the Learning Organization

Edited by Anders Örtenblad , Professor of Work Life Science, University of Agder

Anders Örtenblad is Professor of Work Life Science at University of Agder, Norway. He is Editor-in-Chief of The Learning Organization, and has published articles on the learning organization and organizational learning in journals such as Management Learning and International Journal of Management Reviews. Among books he has edited are a series of volumes on the adaptation of management ideas for various industries, sectors, national cultures, and religions, including the Handbook of Research on The Learning Organization: Adaptation and Context (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013).