Universities: can they be considered as learning organizations? : A preliminary micro‐level perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore a department in a UK higher education (HE) institute based on Senge's five characteristics of learning organizations. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, a case study method was utilized. The case study entailed two lines of enquiry: a questionnaire, which was distributed to a UK HE‐institution department followed by semi‐structured interviews. Findings – The findings show that learning‐organization characteristics were present to a limited extent. Within the department, the results showed a variation in the impact level of the five characteristics between administrative and academic groups, as well as between the new and old members of staff. Originality/value – Recently, the learning‐organization concept has been of interest to companies operating in both the private and public sectors; however, its implementation in a higher education setting remained limited to holistic studies assessing higher education institutes in general, rather than in studies analyzing its impact at the micro‐level. Hence, this research agenda contributes at two levels of enquiry: the departmental level of learning‐organization adaptation, and the level of the individuals' experiences in the workplace.