Transitions in organizational learning processes: A case study in the perspectives of mid-level managers

This retrospective case study of a direct marketing company examines, from the perspectives of midlevel managers, how the processes by which they learned individually and collectively changed over the course of four organizational growth events spanning 15 years. The study is grounded in theories of organizational learning and organizational change, and draws from literature in knowledge management and social psychology.; In semistructured interviews, each participant selected and discussed changes in organizational learning processes that they associated with one or more organizational growth events. Analysis of corporate documents and observational techniques supplemented the interview data.; Changes in learning processes were reflected in channels of communication and in decision-making and socialization processes. Learning processes were initially informal, ad hoc, and individually focused. Through four successive growth events, learning occurred through a combination of formal and informal processes. As the company grew in age and size, there was an increased tendency to learn through formal organizational processes. Further, there was increased reliance on explicit knowledge, while the tendency to share tacit knowledge through informal processes decreased. Findings suggest that single-loop learning occurred with each of the four growth events. Findings further suggest that double-loop learning occurred with the second and fourth growth events, one of which was experienced as continuous change and the other as discontinuous change.; In addition, the emergence of functional specialization, perceptions of increased time pressure, and shifts in the power structure were contextual factors that changed as the organization grew in age and size. Changes in learning processes were associated with the evolution of these contextual factors, which transitioned from situational to corporate, and then to departmental over the course of the four growth events. The pattern of change in learning processes was similar to the pattern of change that occurred in other organizational processes of interaction, which were associated with organizational growth events.; The overall findings suggest that the process of organizational learning changed in correspondence to the processes of interaction associated with the organization's growth. Three theoretical propositions were developed regarding the relationship between learning processes and growth of organizations.