The Evolving Field of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management

Organizational learning (OL) and knowledge management (KM) research has gone through dramatic changes in the last twenty years and, without doubt, the fi eld will continue to change in the next ten years. Our research suggests that Cyert and March were the fi rst authors to reference organizational learning in their publication of 1963. It was just twenty years ago that a conference was held at Carnegie Mellon University to honor March and his contribution to the fi eld of organizational learning. Many of these presentations were published in a special issue of Organization Science in 1991. Since that time we have seen a rapid expansion in the number of journal articles— both academic and practitioner—devoted to organizational learning. Fields such as information technology, marketing and human resources have also jumped on the bandwagon. Doctoral programs are including seminars on organizational learning, and MBA courses on organizational learning are appearing. All of this refl ects acceptance of the concept that organizations have knowledge, do learn over time, and consider their knowledge base and social capital as valuable assets. It also reaffi rms the legitimacy of research on organizational learning and its practical applications to organizations. The fi rst edition of this Handbook was published in 2003 but most chapters were completed in 2001 or 2002. Our fi rst edition was widely used and it was clear—given the advancement of the fi eld—that a second edition was necessary. Some people might claim that it is foolhardy to seek to cover the full range of the literature within one volume. Our intent is to provide a resource that is useful to academics, practitioners, and students who want an overview of the current fi eld with full recognition that—to our delight—the fi eld continues to have major impact on research and management practices. Our response is