Learning Organisation and the Process of Regionalisation

Abstract

"Concepts like Taylorism, lean production and learning organisation draw attention to the point that work organisation can appear in different forms and it is generally recognised that different conditions tend to produce different forms. Still, there is a tendency to underplay how different these generative conditions are. In this article the issue of learning organisation is placed in focus, drawing upon experiences from Scandinavian workplace development programmes. These experiences indicate that learning organisation is not a question of job design but of a democratic social order characterised by open communication and mutual trust between all concerned. These characteristics are best made real in social environments characterised by pluralism combined with possibilities for interaction and the notion of “region” has come to the forefront in work organisation development." (author's abstract)