Ugly Duckling No More: Pasts and Futures of Organizational Learning Research
探讨组织学习研究的理论前沿，提出三个关键理论问题，呼吁更多系统的实证研究，并建议采用更广泛的学习模型、定性研究、模拟技术以及加强应用与理论研究的联系。
This article addresses theoretical and research frontiers for learning research, a second theme of Professor Argyris essay—the lead article in the “Crossroads” section. We outline three key theoretical questions for further work. We call for more systematic empirical learning research, suggesting that the paucity of such research may have resulted less from defensiveness than from the demanding requirements of doing crisp, systematic learning research. The need for scholarly empirical work is enhanced, we believe, by the growing popularity of organizational learning models among practitioners. Concurring with Professor Argyris' broad concern with enhancing research fruitfulness, we suggest ways to supplement traditional organizational research methods. In particular, we argue that it makes sense to cast wider nets for models of learning and adaptation, to sustain qualitative investigation, to use simulation techniques, and to maintain stronger—and perhaps even experimental—linkages between applied and theoretical research.