Contents: Preface Anders Örtenblad PART I: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1. Introduction: Putting the Learning Organization into Context: An Emerging Research Field Anders Örtenblad 2. What do we Mean by ‘Learning Organization’? Anders Örtenblad 3. Putting the Learning Organization into Context: Contributions from Previous Works Anders Örtenblad, Ziyun Fan, Chenghao Peng, Boying Li, Ziyan Li, Xiaoying Cong and Jie Zhou 4. Contextualizing the Learning Organization: Approaches to Research Design Anders Örtenblad 5. Obstacles to the Learning Organization David Weir and Anders Örtenblad PART II: THE LEARNING ORGANIZATION IN CONTEXT Section A. Culture and Religion 6. National Culture and the Learning Organization: An Integrative Framework Pavel Bogolyubov and Mark Easterby-Smith 7. Developing Learning Organizations in China Jacky F.L. Hong, Robin Stanley Snell and Mian Lin 8. Learning Organization Practices in Mexico: An Empirical Study David Joaquín Delgado-Hernández and Made Torokoff-Engelbrecht 9. Islamic Perspective of the Learning Organization Aini Ahmad Section B. Industries and Sectors 10. Learning, Trust and Change within the Australian Army: The Development of the Army Learning Organization Questionnaire (ALOQ) Maya Drobnjak, Christina Stothard, Steven Talbot, Karen E. Watkins and Denise McDowall 11. The Police Force: To be or not to be a Learning Organization? Cathrine Filstad and Petter Gottschalk 12. The Learning Organization in Elderly Care – Can it Fit? Carina Abrahamson Löfström 13. Family Firms as Learning Organizations Naomi Birdthistle and Thomas N. Garavan 14. Universities as Learning Organizations: Internationalization and Innovation Hong T.M. Bui and Yehuda Baruch Section C. Mixed Contexts 15. Public Sector Organizations as Learning Organizations: Insights from the Education System in Pakistan Muhammad Babur 16. The Learning Organization: Opportunities and Challenges for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Developing Countries Dima Jamali, Yusuf Sidani and Charissa Lloyd PART III: REFLECTIONS ON THE LEARNING ORGANIZATION 17. The Universality of Learning Company Principles: A Critical Realist Approach John Burgoyne 18. Who is the Learning Organization For? A Stakeholder Contingency Approach to Contextualizing Managerial Panaceas Anders Örtenblad 19. ‘The Learning Organization’ – Drop the Dead Metaphor! Performing Organizing and Learning in Networks (So to Speak) Chris Blantern, Tom Boydell and John Burgoyne 20. Alternative Learning Organization Shih-wei Hsu 21. Contextualising the Learning Organization: How will it Help us Learn in the Future? Deborah Ann Blackman 22. Towards a Contingency Model: Recommendations for Further Research Anders Örtenblad Index

Örtenblad offers a contingency framework differentiating the idea of the learning organization as portrayed in research and practice to shed light on context as key to the idea's relevance. The contingency framework anchors chapter authors' interrogation into adaptation of enduring, underlying principles by divergent context - in industry, sector, national culture, religious orientation, and philosophical underpinnings. Readers will value analysis and synthesis of what is known from research as well as informed probing of what could be learned through the lens of provocative viewpoints. Scholars will appreciate Örtenblad's assessment of extant research and arguments made for ''researcher-assisted adaptation'' to balance rigid prescriptions with informed guidance in navigating contextual differences when deciding to enact the learning organization. --Victoria J. Marsick, Columbia UniversityThe handbook is a very well researched and excellent tool for anyone interested in the concept of learning, and particularly in the global organizational context. I highly recommend this book to managers of companies both large and small wanting to compete in the global landscape by highlighting the important learning that occurs in their organizations. --Vanessa Ratten, Thunderbird International Business Review