ABSTRACT
This book is a collection of ideas and interests that have developed over the past five years. The process of researching and writing it started when, in 1998, I took up the Chair in Organizational Learning at the University of Glamorgan. The post was sponsored for three years by Hyder plc, which was at that time the largest private company in Wales, in the United Kingdom. Hyder, which was taken over and ceased to exist in the autumn of 2000, and Hyder managers, figure to a significant extent in this book. The reason why Hyder people wanted to sponsor a Chair at the university was because they thought that a senior academic linked into the organization would be able to provide in-depth and continuous consultancy and inquiry connected to their efforts to promote learning and to manage change. I am not sure that they got exactly what they wanted. As managers and practitioners they had an idea that I would advise and consult on how approaches to learning, managing and organizing could be best applied within the organization ‘to add value’. I would help them to further conceptualize learning within the company, and especially help to devise learning strategies for the senior managers.
