Issue 4 of Volume 33 brings together seven contributions that examine organizational learning from complementary theoretical, empirical and practical perspectives. Although the papers address different organizational contexts, levels of analysis and research questions, collectively they illustrate how organizational learning capabilities emerge through the integration of multiple organizational conditions and mechanisms. Rather than representing isolated organizational practices, learning organizations are portrayed as systems in which leadership, organizational culture, psychological safety, learning from failures, knowledge sharing, stakeholder engagement, integrative thinking and institutional context interact to enable continuous learning, adaptation and organizational transformation. Together, the contributions show that organizational learning capabilities do not develop through individual interventions but emerge gradually from the leadership of coherent organizational systems that effectively integrate these complementary elements.Abanumay and Nalband conducted a bibliometric analysis to map the evolution and intellectual structure of learning organization research indexed in the Web of Science database between 1988 and 2023. Kalynychenko investigated how employees perceive the role of the human resources (HR) department in facilitating learning from failures in hospitals as professional organizations, using a qualitative research approach. Sahoo, Mishra, and Jena (2026) investigated how a learning organization culture influences the successful transfer of knowledge acquired through faculty development programs in Indian higher education institutions. Specifically, the study examined whether faculty members’ transfer interest and self-efficacy explain how a learning organization culture ultimately translates into the effective application of newly acquired knowledge and skills in teaching and research. Brody, Rivera, and Furness (2026) conducted a scoping review to clarify the meaning of Integrative Thinking, examine its conceptual development across disciplines and propose a unified, domain-independent definition. Cho (2026) conducted a systematic review of empirical research on the World Café to examine its applications, benefits, limitations and potential contribution to organizational learning and stakeholder engagement. Şahin and Bilir (2024) examined the influence of entrepreneurial and servant leadership on employees’ knowledge-sharing behavior in knowledge-intensive organizations, emphasizing the mediating role of psychological safety.Complementing these broader conceptual and theoretical contributions, Balasi and Iordanidis (2026) examined the application of learning organization principles in primary education by exploring the development of schools as professional learning communities. Through a qualitative study of teachers’ and principals’ perceptions, the authors investigate how the five dimensions of professional learning communities (supportive and shared leadership, shared beliefs, values and vision, collective learning and application, shared personal practice and supportive conditions) are enacted within the highly centralized Greek educational system. Their findings suggest that although schools exhibit many characteristics of professional learning communities, centralized governance and bureaucratic structures continue to constrain collaboration, shared leadership and the development of a mature learning culture. The study therefore illustrates how broader organizational and institutional contexts shape organizations’ ability to develop into effective learning organizations and highlights the importance of autonomy, trust and a collaborative culture for sustaining organizational learning. The paper shows that becoming a learning organization depends not only on internal learning processes but also on institutional conditions that either enable or constrain the development of organizational learning capabilities.The ability to survive and prosper in today’s complex, uncertain and rapidly changing business environment increasingly depends on organizations’ capacity to learn, adapt, transform and grow. Organizations are expected to develop capabilities that enable them not only to respond to changing market conditions but also to continuously anticipate future challenges and opportunities. In this context, organizational learning capability has become a critical strategic resource. It encompasses practices, mechanisms and structural arrangements that facilitate learning throughout the organization (Goh et al., 2012). Organizations with a strong learning capability are better equipped to respond to changing market trends, anticipate market shifts, proactively adapt to other environmental changes and ultimately sustain and improve different dimensions of organizational performance (Şahin Sok it requires organizations to integrate, share, interpret and apply knowledge while simultaneously abandoning obsolete routines and practices. For practitioners, these findings reinforce the importance of developing organizational systems that support continuous learning, knowledge integration, innovation and strategic adaptation and transformation, rather than viewing learning as isolated training activities.The study shows that learning organization research has evolved from establishing conceptual foundations to examining increasingly complex organizational capabilities, knowledge processes and the organizational outcomes of these activities. Future research could further strengthen the practical relevance of the learning organization model by examining how its learning capabilities and characteristics contribute to organizational flexibility, adaptability, resilience and long-term sustainability in increasingly complex business ecosystems, as well as how organizations can ride the wave of digital transformation and implement artificial intelligence to enhance and sustain their transformation.Many modern organizations operate in environments characterized by increased complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity and continuous change, making their ability to learn, adapt and transform a critical determinant of their long-term performance, sustainability and resilience. Among the many avenues leading to organizational learning, failures represent particularly valuable opportunities because they expose weaknesses in existing individual assumptions, approaches, knowledge and skills, as well as in organizational mental models, systems, processes and routines. These weaknesses can reveal possibilities for improvement based on immediate practical insight (Dahlin, Chuang, & Roulet, 2018). However, learning from failures should be viewed as more than merely identifying and correcting errors. It should involve a systematic process of detecting and analyzing failures, understanding their causes and underlying assumptions, designing and implementing corrective actions and embedding new insights and knowledge into organizational routines to prevent similar occurrences in the future (Dahlin et al., 2018). In this way, learning can gradually progress from the individual to the group level and ideally to the organizational level, contributing to organizational learning and strengthening organizational capability to adapt, improve and remain viable in increasingly complex environments (Argote & Miron-Spektor, 2011).Although the benefits of learning from failures are well recognized in practice and established in the literature, not all organizations are equally successful in this process. In other words, not all organizations are capable of creating conditions that enable employees to openly acknowledge, discuss and learn from mistakes in ways that contribute to group and organizational learning. This challenge is particularly pronounced in professional organizations, such as hospitals, where highly autonomous professionals with deeply rooted professional identities and complex organizational structures often hinder such transformative learning practices required to challenge existing assumptions and modify established behaviors (Argyris, 1992). In such organizational settings, admitting mistakes by highly respected professionals may threaten their professional credibility and evoke feelings of guilt, shame or fear of blame. Psychological safety therefore represents a fundamental prerequisite for meaningful, persistent and successful learning from failures (Edmondson, 1996, 1999).Kalynychenko (2026) explored the challenge of learning from failures by surveying employee perceptions in hospitals as professional organizations and examining the role of the HR department as a facilitator in this process. Through a qualitative study involving HR and non-HR employees that enabled a nuanced investigative approach, the paper addresses an important gap in the literature by shifting attention from designed HR practices that formally support and foster employee learning to employees’ interpretations of those practices and how these interpretations are reflected in their willingness to participate in detecting and reporting failures and, consequently, in group and organizational learning. strategic has been recognized as an of organizational learning by the processes of knowledge sharing, and the development of organizational & attention has been devoted to understanding whether employees perceive HR as a facilitator of these learning and knowledge findings that effective learning from failures is more complex than the of learning opportunities. The employees that learning and learning from and learning systems, including established reporting devoted to individual and group on from leadership and an organizational culture characterized by psychological safety and the of blame. learning from their and their willingness to failures, openly discuss them and in collective learning the psychological including or the benefits of the most important contribution of the study in a fundamental the role of Although many learning formally by HR employees HR as an of organizational and rather than trust and in the organizations many learning or from HR to employee and The study therefore demonstrates that the of HR as a facilitator of organizational learning, learning from failures, depends not only on the of HR practices, but also on how they are presented to how they are by employees and on the employees to to and to organizational role in practitioners, these findings important Organizations to strengthen learning from failures and enhance its should that learning programs are learning from and or practices, with or and requires organizational systems that employees with opportunities to knowledge and support fear of Psychological safety, trust and a learning culture emerge as conditions for and organizational learning. organizations should examine how HR are throughout the HR is with and as is the its ability to facilitate group and organizational learning In this regard, the HR department into a learning and of support rather than is This requires more than HR practices in terms of providing more effective learning it requires its and employees’ perceptions of HR through behaviors that and a to employee Future research could on these findings by examining how HR can transform their organizational and from to strategic of individual and organizational learning and in continuous organizational transformation and continuously considerable resources in employee education and development with the that newly acquired knowledge and skills be and, in improve individual and organizational performance. However, the value of training depends not only on but also on employees’ ability and willingness to apply newly acquired in their the challenge extends beyond designing effective training programs to creating organizational conditions that facilitate the transfer of learning into and et (2026) investigated how learning organization culture influences the successful transfer of knowledge acquired through faculty development programs in Indian higher education into faculty members’ Specifically, the study examined whether faculty members’ transfer interest and self-efficacy a role in explaining how learning organization culture ultimately translates into the effective application of newly acquired knowledge and skills in teaching and research. on the authors that organizational culture as an important through which organizations the value they to learning, knowledge sharing, and the practical application of newly acquired shape employees’ perceptions of organizational and influence their to in learning and their willingness to transfer new knowledge into study demonstrates that learning organization culture provides a supportive environment for learning by continuous knowledge and professional However, organizational support is to ensure that learning is to The findings reveal that employees’ transfer interest and self-efficacy represent the psychological mechanisms through which learning organization culture influences training perceive organizational support for learning develop interest in newly acquired knowledge and in their ability to do making them more likely to integrate new into their teaching and research important contribution of the study is the that transfer interest and self-efficacy the relationship between learning organization culture and training In other words, a culture not improve organizational performance it creates conditions that organizational to learning and employees’ and the practical application of newly acquired The study therefore illustrates that organizational learning is not a of providing learning opportunities but of creating an organizational environment that the importance of learning and employees in learning into practitioners, these findings that in training do not knowledge implementation and, consequently, individual and organizational Organizations should training with learning environments that the strategic importance of learning through supportive leadership, collaboration, knowledge sharing, and opportunities to apply newly acquired the should that employees perceive these organizational as and and to implement what they organizations create value not by training but by creating conditions in which newly acquired knowledge is and into individual practice and, collective leading to sustained organizational Future research could further examine how different organizational such as leadership HR practices, systems and processes, shape employees’ to learn, apply knowledge and contribute to continuous organizational learning and increasingly operate in environments characterized by complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity and where requires more than and organizational challenges the ability to organizations as systems or integrate of knowledge, often and continuously on underlying assumptions or mental In this context, integrative thinking has as an increasingly important capability for and However, its growing across the has been and its its theoretical development and practical et (2026) this challenge by a scoping review to clarify the meaning of integrative examine how the has been across disciplines and propose a unified, domain-independent definition. the existing literature, the authors identify the dominant ways in which Integrative has been in two complementary on the development of individual thinking and capability and emphasizing its application to organizational and review fundamental dimensions that together integrative it organizations and as systems rather than isolated it requires synthesizing multiple and of knowledge to a and more it emphasizes of between and innovation through Integrative requires and to assumptions, remain to and as new insights Rather than representing these dimensions collectively an of thinking that to while meaningful, important contribution of the study in that Integrative extends beyond an individual the development of integrative thinking capabilities with its value these capabilities are into organizational Integrative thinking therefore as a between individual and organizational organizations to integrate address complex and create more coherent to dynamic In this integrative thinking systems thinking by beyond those into organizational learning and a broader organizational integrative thinking represents more than approach to It constitutes a capability that organizations to and continuously their systems of knowledge and increasing Organizations operate as isolated they of systems in which organizations, and broader continuously organizational learning therefore requires not only within level but also across In this integrative thinking may be viewed as a capability that knowledge, understanding and principles to be throughout organizational systems while their structural and practitioners, these findings suggest that learning organizations should environments that collaboration, and the integration of perspectives. integrative thinking is therefore not merely a training but a strategic organizational capability that learning, and continuous viability. In organizations should to develop and coherent of thinking across the organization, throughout structures and processes, rather than them as isolated individual and organizations to individual practices, strategic and organizational values and enable all to address increasingly complex challenges more research could the of integrative thinking beyond individual by examining its role in the emergence of learning systems. systems may exhibit of learning, adaptation and knowledge integration across organizational based on similar principles of integration and that operate simultaneously within organizations and broader how these and contribute to organizational transformation may represent an important in the development of Integrative and its application within learning organizations increasingly operate in environments characterized by growing complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity and it is becoming more for or of to knowledge to address organizational Organizations need to and integrate from different For this should be to and multiple and that may contribute to more The in this as valuable organizational development that create opportunities for stakeholder collaborative and collective exploration of complex and (2026) examined such the World Café through a systematic review of empirical to identify its applications, benefits, limitations and research as a the World Café brings together of in an environment where they discuss in while changing and This process to become with and and collectively a of and potential review demonstrates that the World Café has been for collaborative and stakeholder engagement, trust and relationship development and learning through Organizations the to identify involve stakeholder in organizational strengthen and psychological safety and to on from multiple perspectives. organizational settings, the has also considerable as a qualitative research and because it with of while qualitative benefits of implementing this beyond and engagement. The World Café organizations to rapidly and identify emerging of and stakeholder within a of collective can improve organizational understanding of complex strengthen stakeholder enable of and a valuable for and the the review important is may be and sustained the may be the provides guidance on how the volume of and should be and into organizational an organizational learning the World Café should therefore be viewed as a for and stakeholder rather than as a that organizational learning or knowledge the creates opportunities for and to multiple organizational learning requires processes through which is and and are these been recognized can organizations integrate the newly acquired insights with existing organizational knowledge, them into and organizational their outcomes and ultimately successful practices into organizational routines and practitioners, these findings suggest that organizations should the of a World Café not by the of or but by their ability to transform into coherent organizational understanding and The value of the therefore in which organizations often and more in creating opportunities to knowledge and stakeholder perspectives. However, this potential requires complementary mechanisms capable of and implementing the this the World Café the benefits of integrative the World Café the of and integrative thinking provides the capability to identify and coherent to complex organizational Together, these complementary processes illustrate that organizational learning depends not on acquiring more but on into into knowledge, knowledge into and into organizational capabilities that support continuous learning and research could therefore examine how integrative thinking and organizational learning contribute to organizational collective and the of within increasingly complex stakeholder an approach may a more comprehensive understanding of how organizations transform stakeholder into coherent organizational knowledge, and continuous organizational is of the fundamental mechanisms through which individual knowledge organizational knowledge and changes in organizational knowledge is and by organizations learn only that knowledge is collectively and with existing organizational knowledge, leading to practices and new routines. knowledge is more than it is a organizational process through which organizational learning capabilities development and transformation. However, this process be and In knowledge-intensive a particularly important role in creating organizational conditions and a culture that employees to their knowledge, and in collective and which insights should be in organizational practices and this regard, Şahin and Bilir (2026) investigated how these two different complementary leadership entrepreneurial leadership and servant leadership influence employees’ knowledge-sharing behavior within knowledge-intensive In the study examined the role of psychological safety in explaining how these leadership shape employees’ willingness to knowledge and contribute to collective organizational learning. leadership has been recognized as emphasizing strategic and innovation & leadership, on the other focuses on and leadership that foster employee development and in a environment 2011). Although these leadership are entrepreneurial leadership provides a of and while servant leadership creates conditions of and which employee behaviors learning and that can improve organizational findings show that leadership influence knowledge by employees’ perceptions of the organizational creating a that innovation and entrepreneurial employees to with new and contribute proactively to organizational in create supportive conditions that and while emphasizing employee development and The study also demonstrates that psychological safety a role in this process. perceive their environment as are more to knowledge, existing assumptions and participate in learning processes fear of important contribution of the study in that different leadership should not be viewed as but as complementary that contribute in ways to employee development and organizational learning. leadership a and strategic by a on and servant leadership creates the support and psychological safety for employees to participate in knowledge-sharing activities. However, it should be that while entrepreneurial leadership may and these do not psychological may to mistakes and learn from failures and of In this servant leadership particularly well to creating the psychological conditions that employees to in effective knowledge and contribute to sustained organizational learning. However, whether leadership can be by remains to an organizational learning leadership should be viewed as the of the organizational conditions that organizational learning rather than as a of organizational learning. learning is a complex process by the learning and the learning Through the values and behaviors in their with shape an organizational culture that trust and psychological safety as environmental conditions and influences employees’ willingness to and transform acquired knowledge into collective organizational strengthening organizational learning can therefore be a between group and organizational learning, with effective leadership as a facilitator in this practitioners, these findings that they their organizations to strengthen organizational learning they should not only on learning on leadership behavior and organizational culture. influences not only what employees do and what they learn, but also which organizational values are how are and what the of knowledge, existing practices or Organizations should therefore leadership that simultaneously and strategic while also and psychological environments enable employees not only to and apply knowledge but also to continuous group and organizational learning, and long-term organizational the presented throughout this suggest that organizational learning through a of organizational Organizations first and interpret and integrate them through and integrative transform into knowledge, that knowledge across organizational knowledge into organizational and ultimately successful practices into organizational capabilities and organizational provides the organizational psychological safety and learning culture that sustain of this learning organizations to continuously adapt, transform and remain viable in increasingly complex Future research could further how leadership to and throughout this learning process and how different leadership support the development of learning capabilities across organizations and broader stakeholder
Nataša Rupčić (Wed,) studied this question.