Project-based companies as learning organisations: systems theory perspective

The determination of viable approaches with which to help project-based companies ensure that learning takes place continuously is a very important issue. In this paper, we suggest that the systemic view provides an approach through which we may advance our understanding of the dynamics of project-based companies' learning, including both individual and social learning. This conceptual paper provides a description of a project-based company as a learning organisation using the systemic view. The discussion starts with an illustration of the concept of a project-based company. The essential components of the systemic view are then described. Following that, the concepts of learning organisations and of organisational learning are highlighted. Finally, the project-based company as a learning organisation is described. We conclude that project-based companies need to start looking at learning issues as systemic problems, rather than as problems that are solved from the standpoint of the individual, and therefore, to seek systems-integrated solutions. This means, for example, that project-based companies need to understand that they function as, and within, living, ongoing processes that require inputs, outputs, and feedback.