In this paper we will develop a systemicframework for the description of organization by which we will define‘organizational learning’ and ‘learning organization’. The framework willfollow modern insights on system-theory and will be used to define and operatethese concepts. In order to do this, first, a general framework forobserving/defining systems will be introduced. This will follow the distinctionbetween organization and structure of systems. Secondly, the general frameworkfor defining systems will be used to define organizations. To this aim, the‘organization/structure’ dichotomy will be further conceptualized according tosocial system-theory. Here, antipoetic, communication-oriented notionorganization (Luhmann, 1988) will be used. A communication definition oforganizations, however, does not suffice: a rationale for defining a‘communicative whole’ as an organization should be given. These rationales areto be found in the perceived network of outputs and transformation of theorganization to-be-defined. Finally, to an organization, defined as acommunicative system, a number of properties might be attributed. Among theseare learning (organizational learning and the learning organization),flexibility and anticipation. These concepts can be defined adequately withinthe developed framework. To conclude, it will be argued that the definedconcepts of flexibility and anticipation contribute to the understanding of thelearning capabilities of organizations. Therefore, these concepts may offer anincreased understanding of learning and of how learning can be influenced.Consequently, this leads to an increased understanding of how organizations maygain viability.

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Date created

• 1994

Type

• Document

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• Processing documentation available at: https://wiki.albany.edu/display/SCA/Processing+Ingested+Digital+Files

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• Creative Commons BY-NC-ND Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International

  
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ITEM CONTEXT

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fe35db792b573af835d96e6eba4759cd

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Part of

c060552994c1527f70693734935660f1

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23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8

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Collection

System Dynamic Society Records

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Collecting area

• This collection is part of the University Archives