Research methods for organizational learning: the transatlantic gap

Easterby-Smith, M. and Li, S.X. and Bartunek, J. (2009) Research methods for organizational learning: the transatlantic gap. Management Learning, 40 (4). pp. 439-447. ISSN 1350-5076

Abstract

Research design has a notable impact on the nature of management and organizational research, and there have been numerous mentions, largely anecdotal, of differences in research design between journals published in the UK and USA. This article describes a systematic study of these supposed differences through content-analysis of 295 articles about organizational learning published in eight leading British- and US-based journals over the past 20 years. The results demonstrate substantial differences in data sources, data collection, and the scale of investigations. We discuss their impact on gaps in the study o f organizational learning and o f fer our own thoughts on possible solutions (as well as challenges) for bridging these gaps.

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