Organizations , Networks , & Learning : a Sociological View

Aston Business School Research Institute is the administrative centre for all research activities at Aston Business School. The School comprises more than 70 academic staff organised into thematic research groups along with a Doctoral Programme of more than 50 research students. Research is carried out in all of the major areas of business studies and a number of specialist fields. For further information contact: Aston Business School Research Papers are published by the Institute to bring the results of research in progress to a wider audience and to facilitate discussion. They will normally be published in a revised form subsequently and the agreement of the authors should be obtained before referring to its contents in other published works. Abstract In this paper I try to relate the concept of organizational learning to the recent literature on industrial districts and innovation networks. The network literature so far has not applied findings from organizational learning to network learning in a straightforward way. Usually, learning is equated with innovation and 'absorptive capacity'. However, the same virtues that distinguish networks from ordinary market exchange may turn into vices which stifle the innovative process. Especially core firms in industrial sectors seem to be prone to this. Conversely, collaborations in knowledge intensive industries typically are both an entry ticket to an information network and a vehicle for the rapid communication about new opportunities and obstacles. Therefore, an outline for further research is formulated.