TRAMES, 2007, 11(61/56), 2, 139

TRAMES, 2007, 11(61/56), 2, 139–154

Patterns of learning organisation
in Estonian companies

Tõnis Mets, Made Torokoff

Abstract. Organisational learning is related to individuals’ behaviour in an organisation, and the organisation’s ability to respond more effectively to changes in its environment. Organisations possessing learning capabilities and not just reactive behaviour are considered to be learning organisations. The mMain aim of the paper is to identify the features of learning organisation (LO) and to evaluate the state of organisational learning in Estonian production companies. The basic models of empirical research came from Senge’s five disciplines and Mets’s three-dimensional learning framework. Altogether the questionnaires of 326 respondents were analysed, 187 of whom identified themselves as workers and 137 as managers. The main idea of the LO in the sample of Estonian production companies was better represented in the group of “managers” (business owners, board members, managers, middle managers and specialists), whose perception of organisational learning (OL) was described by three statistically reliable factors relevant roughly to organisational learning framework (OLF) model: internal environment and learning, shared values and the main business process. The workers perception of OL processes was less differentiated and was limited to two factors related to the internal and external environment of the company.

Key words: organisational learning, learning organisation, organisational learning framework

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