Leveraging resources through learning networks

Learning networks are highlighted in contemporary literature as a means of leveraging resources to create and sustain competitive advantage in micro-firms. Despite their importance in the context of micro-firm development, micro-firm learning, learning processes and networks have previously been neglected as an area of academic study, and there is limited evidence of successful cooperative strategies in this environment. The aim of the research discussed in this paper is to catalogue micro-firm learning criteria in a cooperative network environment and to propose a framework of cooperative learning for that milieu. Adopting an action research methodology, primary research was carried out on a Tourism Learning Network (TLN) initiative. Cooperative network activity and individual learning were observed and documented by the researchers over two years. Based on the research findings, the authors propose a framework of cooperative learning that offers insight into how network structures, support and interrelationships may facilitate learning process completion in the micro-firm environment.