Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Second Edition

Concluding Remarks

Though many of the observations and trends highlighted in our prior snapshot of the literatures in 2003 hold true today, there has been a proliferation of interest in different forms of knowledge transfer and learning. Moreover, the geopolitical and technological context has pushed the dissemination and practice of using IT mediated teams and supply chains. This has occurred faster than could have been anticipated in 2003, given that Web 2.0 was still in its infancy. Scholars seeking an integrative understanding of knowledge transfer and learning have a lot of diverse developments to catch up with out there ‘in the real world’ as well as within a larger set of conceptually complementary lines of research. Throughout we have repeatedly highlighted a number of aspects and avenues of inquiry that to our mind remain obscure and ripe for inquiry. Our recommendation in 2003 that scholars need to study a broader range of collaborative settings has occurred, though in piecemeal fashion. Our analysis confirms once again the reflection that the alliance literature in general pays insufficient attention to social processes (Doz, 1996). Research on learning in inter-organizational alliances remains overwhelmingly structural and macro in focus. One of the biggest gaps revealed time and again above is a relative lack of studies that look at inter-organizational collaborative learning at the intraorganizational, group, and individual levels of analysis; this gap recently has ...