ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the main theoretical concepts underlying this study. The chapter starts with a reflection on the need for organisational learning and an exploration of the concepts of the learning organisation and the learning-oriented organisation (‘Lifelong learning, organisational learning and learning-oriented organisations’). Then there is a discussion of the theoretical basis on the changing role of the Human Resource Development function as a consequence of the concept of the learning organisation (‘Human resource development in learning-oriented organisations’). As this book has a specific European outlook, the question is also posed as to whether the approach to HRD within Europe differs from that in the US and Japan (A European outlook on HRD? Comparison with US and Japan’).
