ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a unique perspective on autonomous learning. It investigates how individuals engage in vicarious learning from others' experiences at work. The book presents a social learning theory-based framework of the conditions that enable an agentic vicarious learning process. Based on experiential learning theory, it emphasizes that the breadth and depth of cultural experience is key for developing cultural intelligence. The book addresses individual, job/firm, and broader environmental factors that facilitate or inhibit individuals' decisions to engage in different types of autonomous learning. It discusses the critical role that high-quality feedback plays in effective autonomous learning. The book reflects on a variety of individual and organizational factors that influence autonomous learning. It shows that autonomous learning is a pervasive phenomenon, one that leads to ability and skill development as a function of a variety of factors.
