Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

LIVE: Thursday 2nd May 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)

Quality sleep is essential for health. But what happens to our brains when sleep patterns are disturbed? Join our experts to explore the interplay between sleep disruption and neurological diseases, and the questions that you need to be asking your patients to help you prevent the harmful effects of sleep deprivation.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Health Research Policy and Systems
Published in: Health Research Policy and Systems 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Review

Scoping literature review on the Learning Organisation concept as applied to the health system

Authors: E. Akhnif, J. Macq, M.O Idrissi Fakhreddine, B. Meessen

Published in: Health Research Policy and Systems | Issue 1/2017

Login to get access

Abstract

ᅟ

There is growing interest in the use of the management concept of a ‘learning organisation’. The objective of this review is to explore work undertaken towards the application of this concept to the health sector in general and to reach the goal of universal health coverage in particular. Of interest are the exploration of evaluation frameworks and their application in health.

Method

We used a scoping literature review based on the York methodology. We conducted an online search using selected keywords on some of the main databases on health science, selected websites and main reference books on learning organisations. We restricted the focus of our search on sources in the English language only. Inclusive and exclusive criteria were applied to arrive at a final list of articles, from which information was extracted and then selected and inserted in a chart.

Results

We identified 263 articles and other documents from our search. From these, 50 articles were selected for a full analysis and 27 articles were used for the summary. The majority of the articles concerned hospital settings (15 articles, 55%). Seven articles (25%) were related to the application of the concept to the health centre setting. Four articles discussed the application of the concept to the health system (14%). Most of the applications involved high-income countries (21 articles, 78%), with only one article being related to a low-income country. We found 13 different frameworks that were applied to different health organisations.

Conclusions

The scoping review allowed us to assess applications of the learning organisation concept to the health sector to date. Such applications are still rare, but are increasingly being used. There is no uniform framework thus far, but convergence as for the dimensions that matter is increasing. Many methodological questions remain unanswered. We also identified a gap in terms of the use of this concept in low- and middle-income countries and to the health system as a whole.
Footnotes
1
The management literature has its own codes. For instance, Marquardt [4], a leading scholar in this field, provides in his book many examples of private firms where the application of the LO concept was found successful and with an important added value for the performance. Obviously, in the business world, the key test for validating an idea is the extent to which it led to profit – in this respect, a testimony from a senior CEO may be enough. The approach to evidence in the health sector is different and more systematic.
 
Literature
1.
Senge PM. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation. Firstth ed. New York: Currency Doubleday; 1990.
2.
Garvin DA. Building a learning organisation. Org Dev Trng. 1985;6E(Iae):274.
3.
Senge PM. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation. Secondth ed. New York: Broadway Business; 2006.
4.
Marquardt MJ. Building the Learning Organisation. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies; 1996.
5.
Garvin DA. Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organisation to Work. Cambridge: Harvard Business Press; 2000.
6.
Garvin DA, Edmondson AC, Gino F. Is yours a learning organisation? Harv Bus Rev. 2008;86(3):109.PubMed
7.
Ellinger AD, Ellinger AE, Yang B, Howton SW. The relationship between the learning organisation concept and firms' financial performance: An empirical assessment. Hum Resour Dev Q. 2002;13(1):5–22.CrossRef
8.
Hussein N, Mohamad A, Noordin F, Ishak NA. Learning organisation and its effect on organisational performance and organisational innovativeness: A proposed framework for Malaysian Public Institutions of Higher Education. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2014;130:299–304.CrossRef
9.
Wetherington JM, Daniels MK. The relationship between learning organisation dimensions and performance in the nonprofit sector. J Nonprofit Manag. 2013;16(1):90–107.
10.
Rose RC, Kumar N, Pak OG. The effect of organisational learning on organisational commitment, job satisfaction and work performance. J Appl Bus Res. 2009;25(6):Rose.
11.
Rashman L, Withers E, Hartley J. Organisational learning and knowledge in public service organisations: A systematic review of the literature. Int J Manag Rev. 2009;11(4):463–94.CrossRef
12.
Etienne C, Asamoa-Baah A, Evans DB. Health systems financing: the path to universal coverage. Geneva: WHO; 2010.
13.
14.
15.
16.
World Health Organization. Everybody's business--strengthening health systems to improve health outcomes: WHO's framework for action. Geneva: WHO; 2007.
17.
18.
Pappaioanou M, Malison M, Wilkins K, Otto B, Goodman RA, Churchill RE, et al. Strengthening capacity in developing countries for evidence-based public health: the data for decision-making project. Soc Sci Med. 2003;57(10):1925–37.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Arksey H, O'Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 2005;8(1):19–32.CrossRef
20.
Somunoğlu S, Erdem E, Erdem Ü. A study on determining the perception of learning organisation applications by health sector workers. J Med Syst. 2012;36(6):3925–31.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Pelit E, Keleş Y, Çakır M. The perceptions of the employees in hotel business concerning learning organisations: a study on the domestic and international chain hotel businesses. J Organ Admin Sci. 2010;2(2):59–68.
22.
Kelly DR, Lough M, Rushmer R, Wilkinson JE, Greig G, Davies HT. Delivering feedback on learning organisation characteristics using a learning practice inventory. J Eval Clin Pract. 2007;13(5):734–40.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Pedler M, Burgoyne JG, Boydell T. The learning company: a strategy for sustainable development. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1996.
24.
Argyris C, Schön DA. Organisational learning: a theory of action perspective. Reading: Addison-Wesley; 1978.
25.
Schilling L, Dearing JW, Staley P, Harvey P, Fahey L, Kuruppu F. Kaiser Permanente's performance improvement system, Part 4: Creating a learning organisation. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2011;37(12):532.CrossRefPubMed
26.
Birleson P, Brann P. Reviewing the learning organisation model in a child and adolescent mental health service. Aust Health Rev. 2006;30(2):181–94.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Birleson P. Learning organisations: a suitable model for improving mental health services? Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1998;32(2):214–22.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Cantle F. What is a ‘learning organisation’ in general practice? A case study. Health Serv Manage Res. 2000;13(3):152–5.CrossRefPubMed
29.
O'Connor N, Kotze B. ‘Learning Organisations’: a clinician's primer. Australas Psychiatry. 2008;16(3):173–8.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Bunniss S, Gray F, Kelly D. Collective learning, change and improvement in health care: trialling a facilitated learning initiative with general practice teams. J Eval Clin Pract. 2012;18(3):630–6.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Leufvén M, Vitrakoti R, Bergström A, Kc A, Målqvist M. Dimensions of Learning Organisations Questionnaire (DLOQ) in a low-resource health care setting in Nepal. Health Res Policy Syst. 2015;13:6.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
32.
Marsick VJ, Watkins KE. Demonstrating the value of an organisation's learning culture: the dimensions of the learning organisation questionnaire. Adv Dev Hum Resour. 2003;5(2):132–51.CrossRef
33.
Mohebbifar R, Hashemi HJ, Rajaee R, Najafi M, Etedal MG. Learning organisation profile of educational hospitals in Iran: practice of organisational interlocking systems. Glob J Health Sci. 2015;7(5):51.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
34.
Estrada N. Exploring perceptions of a learning organisation by RNs and relationship to EBP beliefs and implementation in the acute care setting. Worldviews Evid Based Nurs. 2009;6(4):200–9.CrossRefPubMed
35.
Watkins KE, Marsick VJ. Sculpting the learning organisation: lessons in the art and science of systemic change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc; 1993.
36.
Dias C, Escoval A. Hospitals as learning organisations: fostering innovation through interactive learning. Qual Manag Health Care. 2015;24(1):52–9.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Oudejans SCC, Schippers GM, Schramade MH, Koeter MWJ, Van den Brink W. Measuring the learning capacity of organisations: development and factor analysis of the Questionnaire for Learning Organisations. BMJ Qual Saf. 2011;20(4):307–13.CrossRefPubMed
38.
Jeong SH, Lee T, Kim IS, Lee MH, Kim MJ. The effect of nurses’ use of the principles of learning organisation on organisational effectiveness. J Adv Nurs. 2007;58(1):53–62.CrossRefPubMed
39.
Ugurluoglu O, Ugurluoglu Aldogan E, Dilmac E. The impact of managers' perceptions of learning organisations on innovation in healthcare: sample of Turkey. Int J Health Plann Manage. 2013;28(2):158–68.CrossRef
40.
Watkins KE, Marsick VJ. Dimensions of the Learning Organisation Questionnaire. Warwick: Partners for the Learning Organisation; 1997.
41.
Garvin DA. Building a learning organisation. Harv Bus Rev. 1993;71(4):78–91.PubMed
42.
Vassalou L. The learning organisation in health-care services: theory and practice. J Eur Ind Train. 2001;25(7):354–65.CrossRef
43.
Rowley SD. The journey of a teaching hospital to become a learning organisation. Aust Health Rev. 2006;30(2):232–40.CrossRefPubMed
44.
Cathon DE. The learning organisation: adapted from the fifth discipline by Peter Senge. Hosp Mater Manage Q. 2000;21(3):4–10.PubMed
45.
46.
47.
Friedman C, Rigby M. Conceptualizing and creating a global learning health system. Int J Med Inform. 2013;82(4):63–71.CrossRef
48.
Wilkinson JE, Rushmer RK, Davies HT. Clinical governance and the learning organisation. J Nurs Manag. 2004;12(2):105–13.CrossRefPubMed
49.
50.
Timpson J. The NHS, as a learning organisation: aspirations beyond the rainbow? J Nurs Manag. 1998;6(5):261–72.CrossRefPubMed
51.
Rezaee R, Yazdani Z, Shokrpour N. Comparison of learning organisation indicators in 2 universities in Shiraz as viewed by the personnel. Health Care Manag. 2014;33(4):342–8.
52.
Al-Abri RK, Al-Hashmi IS. The learning organisation and health care education. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2007;7(3):207.PubMedPubMedCentral
53.
54.
Metadata
Title
Scoping literature review on the Learning Organisation concept as applied to the health system
Authors
E. Akhnif
J. Macq
M.O Idrissi Fakhreddine
B. Meessen
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Health Research Policy and Systems / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1478-4505
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-017-0176-x

Other articles of this Issue 1/2017

Health Research Policy and Systems 1/2017 Go to the issue

Research

Building capacity for medical education research in family medicine: the Program for Innovation in Medical Education (PIME)

Research

Setting strategy for system change: using concept mapping to prioritise national action for chronic disease prevention

Research

Non-communicable diseases: mapping research funding organisations, funding mechanisms and research practices in Italy and Germany

Research

Examples of sex/gender sensitivity in epidemiological research: results of an evaluation of original articles published in JECH 2006–2014

Research

The role of NGOs’ service delivery experience in developing relevant research agendas: experience and challenges among NGOs in Malawi

Research

An output evaluation of a health research foundation’s enhanced grant review process for new investigators