Home and away - Learning in and Learning from Organisational Networks in Europe

This report is a comparative analysis of the various learning networks established within the Innoflex Project. The report recaps on the central argument underpinning Innoflex, namely that traditional ways of organising workplaces and traditional styles of management cannot achieve the commitment, agility and adaptability required in the 21st Century. The competitiveness of European firms and public sector organisations requires forms of organising whereby people can learn and be creative; to do this people need work to be organised in ways that foster learning and innovation. Such a view is consonant with earlier research arguing for ‘high-road’ strategies for competitiveness and sustainability that, above all, entail stakeholder convergence, in the particular case of Innoflex between competitiveness and the quality of working life. The case is developed by arguing not just for an emphasis on forms of work organisation that foster learning in organisations, but also those that foster learning between organisations, in particular through learning networks.