Schools of thought in organizational learning

This article attempts to bring coherence to the diversity that characterizes organizational learning research. It argues that organizational learning is embedded in four schools of thought: an economic school, a managerial school, a developmental school, and a process school. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the schools, describes how they differ from each other, and outlines how each of them can be employed effectively. To demonstrate the benefits of theoretical plurality, the four schools are applied to the key marketing topics of market orientation and new product development. Implications for future research in marketing are provided. Simon J. Bell is a lecturer in marketing in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce at the University of Melbourne. Gregory J. Whitwell is an associate professor of marketing in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce at the University of Melbourne. Bryan A. Lukas is an associate professor of marketing and director of the Master of Applied Commerce Program in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce at the University of Melbourne.     

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Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Innovation speed under uncertainty and competition

Innovation speed is widely considered to be a key factor for a firm's ability to maintain competitive advantage. Primarily, empirical evidence has found contradictory interdependencies regarding the role of innovation speed. The prevailing proposition of “the faster the better” has been challenged by results of empirical studies heavily depending on the methodological setup used. In contrast, we propose a model of the complete innovation process to study innovation speed under uncertainty and competition. We find that higher market uncertainty speeds up innovation and encourages firms to innovate incrementally. Strong competition tends to reduce innovation speed and encourages rather radical innovation.     

Crowding standards at Petra Archaeological Park: a comparative study of McKercher's five types of heritage tourists

To achieve sustainability in heritage tourism, tourists should be placed at the heart of the management and planning processes. Indicators and standards-based frameworks were developed in the field of outdoor recreation management to manage and measure crowding and other problematic issues in parks and related areas. Using normative theory and visual research methods, this article aims to examine crowding standards of tourists at Petra Archaeological Park, and compare these standards between the types of heritage tourists suggested by a model developed by Bob McKercher. Results showed that tourists’ acceptability levels go down with an increasing number of tourists, and tourists who are highly motivated to visit heritage sites (i.e. purposeful and sightseeing heritage tourists) had the most restrictive acceptable number of tourists at the park. The normative standards formulated in this article provided a guidance to manage crowding at Petra.     

Griechenlands Krise: Das währungspolitische Trilemma im Euroraum

Die Eurozone ist vor allem durch die gef?hrdete Kreditwürdigkeit Griechenlands in eine schwere Krise geraten. Jetzt zeigt sich, dass jede W?hrungsunion ein Konstruktionsproblem hat. Die Mitgliedstaaten müssen auf die Autonomie in der Geldpolitik verzichten und ohne die Instrumente der Geld- und Wechselkurspolitik ihre internationale Wettbewerbsf?higkeit bewahren.     

The G20 proposal on IMF governance: Has any progress been made?

At their London summit in April 2009 the G20 proposed major changes in the governance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): a reallocation of voting shares to emerging and developing countries, an antedated reform of the quota system, a delinking of the managing director’s election from regional origin and support for the Singapore quota and voice reform of 2006. Unfortunately, these reform proposals remain in part imprecise, they leave crucial issues untouched and they have so far not been implemented.