Open research questions in Organizational Learning and Leadership

What the literature leaves open

• Ensuring adequate representation of each campus despite differences in population size. Balancing the sampling fractions across campuses due to differences in campus populations. Addressing the limited literature on distributed leadership in South African TVET colleges.

  Distributed leadership, institutional culture, and stakeholder satisfaction in selected South African TVET colleges · 2026 · DOI

• There is a limited literature on distributed leadership in South African TVET colleges. The impact of distributed leadership on staff, students, and institutional culture is not well understood. The study aims to address this gap by investigating the influence of distributed leadership on lecturers' satisfaction, student engagement, academic performance, and institutional culture.

  Distributed leadership, institutional culture, and stakeholder satisfaction in selected South African TVET colleges · 2026 · DOI

• The study addresses a gap in the scarce studies in the university context for organisational learning and sustainable performance.

  Linking organisational learning, performance, and sustainable performance in universities: an empirical study in Europe · 2024 · DOI

• The empirical gap regarding how bottom-up subcultural values influence a firm's capacity to pivot and execute new strategies. The lack of understanding of how occupational subcultures shape the non-linear, cyclical sensemaking process of scanning, interpreting, and taking action.

  Unpacking the Black Box: How Occupational Subculture and Sensemaking Drive Strategic Learning Capability · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the research on learning organization systems. The study notes that relatively little research has been conducted on learning organization systems. The study seeks to address this gap by exploring the impact of learning organization systems on organizations and employees.

  The relationship between learning organization system on innovation performance: testing moderated mediation role of organizational cultural identification · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a need to examine corporate learning as a multi-aspect phenomenon. It highlights the importance of corporate learning in continuous professional development.

  CORPORATE LEARNING: A MULTI-ASPECT APPROACH TO CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY · 2026 · DOI

• The gap between the current state of Pesantren and the need for transformation in the era of globalization. The lack of studies on the practice of learning organization in Islamic boarding schools.

  Learning Organization Practices in Islamic Boarding Schools: Transforming Educational Culture and Institutional Performance · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the understanding of the impact of knowledge management on organizational performance in the public sector. The research highlights the need for further investigation into the role of learning organization in mediating the impact of knowledge management on organizational performance.

  Leveraging Knowledge Management for Public Sector Organizational Performance: The Mediating Role of Learning Organization · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a lack of knowledge about current examples of successful organizational learning projects. The research highlights the need for more studies on informal learning in the workplace.

  7 Models of Organizational Learning: Paradoxes and Best Practices in the Post-Industrial Workplace · 2026 · DOI

• Many schools continue to face challenges such as limited collaboration, weak organizational systems, and inconsistent school climates. Gaps in professional development, leadership practices, and stakeholder engagement hinder the ability of schools to sustain effectiveness.

  Examining the Relationship of Learning Organization Dimensions and School Climate to School Effectiveness · 2026 · DOI

• The findings adopt an exploratory, predictive perspective by identifying factors associated with organisational innovativeness; accordingly, the study does not claim causal effects. The scope is limited to variables available in TALIS 2018 and to participating education systems, which provides rare cross-system coverage but also constrains contextual sensitivity. The machine learning models capture statisti- cal regularities that hold on average in the pooled international sample; however, they cannot explain how the meaning and salience of “innovation” may vary across systems with distinct histories, policies, and sociocultural norms. A key limitation concerns cross-national measurement invariance of the dependent variable: because only configural invariance was supported (and stronger forms such as metric/scalar invariance were not established), the identified associations should be interpreted as pooled-sample patterns rather than effects that operate identically across countries. Under these conditions, the use of a pooled prediction model raises the possibil- ity that the algorithm may partially capture country-specific measurement artefacts or response styles, in addition to substantive relationships between predictors and the outcome. Consequently, predictors identified as important in the pooled model Journal of Educational Change (2026) 27:149–1801 3 173 should not be interpreted as evidence of invariant effects operating uniformly across countries. Rather, these findings indicate variables that are salient within the pooled international sample, with the explicit recognition that the nature, strength, and func- tional form of these associations may vary across national contexts. Future research should replicate these analyses via country-specific models or multigroup approaches under stronger measurement invariance conditions to assess the robustness and con- textual specificity of the identified predictors. In addition, all the measures rely on principals’ self-reports, increasing the risk of single-source bias and common method variance, which may inflate associations. Finally, prioritizing malleable school pro- cess variables necessarily deemphasizes structural contextual factors (e.g., socio- economic composition) that shape inequality and may help identify systematically underresourced schools; future work could integrate such indicators as controls, moderators, or complementary risk markers and examine country-specific models to assess contextual variation.

  A machine learning analysis of school-level drivers of organisational innovativeness · 2026 · DOI

• The study suggests exploring the longitudinal effects of transformational leadership on workplace diversity. The research recommends extending the study to other sectors for comparative analysis.

  THE INFLUENCE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ON WORKPLACE DIVERSITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AS MEDIATOR · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in understanding the impact of transformational leadership on workplace diversity. The research highlights the need to explore the mediating role of organizational culture.

  THE INFLUENCE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ON WORKPLACE DIVERSITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AS MEDIATOR · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the leadership literature by highlighting the indirect and context-dependent relationship between leadership and performance. Prior studies have not fully considered the complexity of hybrid organizations and the role of leadership in navigating institutional logics.

  Leading Hybrid Public Organizations: Institutional Pathways and IndirectLeadership Effects in State University Teaching Hospitals (RSPTN) · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of research on succession planning and the elements of an organisational learning structure that should be present for successful knowledge transfer. The study aims to address this gap by investigating how an organisational learning structure can contribute to knowledge transfer during changeovers.

  Organisational learning structures favour knowledge transfer in succession planning · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should investigate the causal relationships between barriers to learning and job satisfaction. Future research should explore the dynamic relationship between barriers to learning and turnover intention.

  Using a non-recursive model with feedback loops to identify barriers to learning as a dynamic construct in workplace learning · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in prior research on workplace learning, which has focused on factors that promote learning activities. The study highlights the need to consider barriers to learning in workplace learning.

  Using a non-recursive model with feedback loops to identify barriers to learning as a dynamic construct in workplace learning · 2026 · DOI

• The joint impact of individualized learning and development and line managers' involvement on company performance has not been extensively studied. The study aims to address this research gap by investigating this relationship.

  Coaching and Mentoring as a Tool for Individualisation in Employee Learning and Development and Their Impact on Business Performance: The Mediating Role of Line Managers' Involvement in HR Processes Observed in Medium and Large Enterprises · 2026 · DOI

• While both elements are recognized separately for their benefits, the joint impact of ILD and line managers' involvement (LMI) on overall company performance (CP), including productivity, innovation, and environmental effects, has not been extensively studied at the organizational level.

  Coaching and Mentoring as a Tool for Individualisation in Employee Learning and Development and Their Impact on Business Performance: The Mediating Role of Line Managers' Involvement in HR Processes Observed in Medium and Large Enterprises · 2026 · DOI

• The paradox that organisations invest heavily in analytical technologies, but their measurable impact on strategic human capital decisions remains elusive. The gap in the HR analytics literature on how analytics generates organizational knowledge. The need to integrate dynamic capabilities theory, absorptive capacity, and organizational learning theory.

  HR Analytics as an Organizational Learning Capability: Dynamic Capabilities, Absorptive Capacity, And Double-Loop Learning · 2026 · DOI

• The mechanism by which analytical data become organizational knowledge and transform decision-making. The conversion process that absorptive capacity theory illuminates with precision.

  HR Analytics as an Organizational Learning Capability: Dynamic Capabilities, Absorptive Capacity, And Double-Loop Learning · 2026 · DOI

• The exhibition industry in Serbia faces challenges in adapting to modern management models. Trade fairs in Serbia demonstrate a lower level of digitalization and specialization. The industry needs to develop its own model of the exhibition industry, resulting in diverse forms and modalities of trade fair events.

  Application of holistic management in the exhibition industry of the European Union and Serbia: trade fairs as learning organizations · 2026 · DOI

• There is a research gap regarding the insufficient consideration of managerial and organizational aspects of trade fair events. The exhibition industry has been analyzed from the perspective of its technological infrastructure, while the organizational and managerial aspects are often neglected.

  Application of holistic management in the exhibition industry of the European Union and Serbia: trade fairs as learning organizations · 2026 · DOI

• Vocational schools face the challenge of innovating in response to changing labor-market expectations. Schools must coordinate leadership, professional learning, and technological change to support innovation. There is a need for more qualitative evidence on the role of organizational culture in enabling innovation.

  How organizational culture enables innovation in vocational schools: Evidence from a qualitative case study in Indonesia · 2026 · DOI

• Future studies can explore the generalizability of the findings to other vocational school contexts. Research can investigate the impact of organizational culture on student outcomes and labor-market readiness. Studies can examine the role of technology-enabled practices in supporting innovation and organizational learning.

  How organizational culture enables innovation in vocational schools: Evidence from a qualitative case study in Indonesia · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Organizational Learning and Leadership

• The myopia of learning · Strategic Management Journal · 1993 · 5,513 citations
• Innovation, Market Orientation, and Organizational Learning: An Integration and Empirical Examination · Journal of Marketing · 1998 · 5,382 citations
• Market Information Processing and Organizational Learning · Journal of Marketing · 1994 · 2,028 citations
• The Synergistic Effect of Market Orientation and Learning Orientation on Organizational Performance · Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 1999 · 1,249 citations
• Organizational Learning: A Review of Some Literatures · Organization Studies · 1993 · 1,164 citations
• Benchmarking Marketing Capabilities for Sustainable Competitive Advantage · Journal of Marketing · 2004 · 1,143 citations
• Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, locus of control, and support for innovation: Key predictors of consolidated-business-unit performance. · Journal of Applied Psychology · 1993 · 1,104 citations
• A Framework for Market-Based Organizational Learning: Linking Values, Knowledge, and Behavior · Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 1997 · 1,094 citations
• Performance, Aspirations, and Risky Organizational Change · Administrative Science Quarterly · 1998 · 1,070 citations
• Innovation, organizational learning, and performance · Journal of Business Research · 2010 · 1,028 citations

Most recent work

• Customer service excellence in banking: a learning framework integrating 3Cs and digital feedback · The Learning Organization · 2026
• Organisational learning structures favour knowledge transfer in succession planning · Journal of Workplace Learning · 2026
• Using a non-recursive model with feedback loops to identify barriers to learning as a dynamic construct in workplace learning · Vocations and Learning · 2026
• The HR department as a facilitator of organizational learning from failures: Captain or hangman? · The Learning Organization · 2026
• Developing and sustaining school partnerships in a networked improvement community: the TAMAM project · Journal of Educational Administration · 2026
• Learning stocks and flows: the role of transactional and transformational leadership · The Learning Organization · 2026
• Employee ownership as an institutional problem of adoption, diffusion, and learning · International Review of Applied Economics · 2026
• Moderating role of leadership effectiveness in learning–innovation relationship · International Journal of Public Leadership · 2026
• Leading the unseen: a systematic review of informal learning in knowledge work and workplace context · The Learning Organization · 2026
• Embedding action learning for strategic transformation: a reflective account of practice at Ping An Bank · Action Learning Research and Practice · 2026

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