OrgLearn is a project sponsored by the European Commission's Fifth Framework Programme aiming to determine best practice  for organisational learning in four large European enterprises in the chemical sector.

The project will clarify the concept of organisational learning in this context. It will also examine the interrelationship between vocational training, human resource development, economic competitiveness and organisational learning in the enterprises. Therefore it analyses:

• the acquisition and determination of new vocational competencies;

• what competencies are required from employees to participate in processes of organisational learning;

• what competencies the employees actually acquire in the framework of strategies of organisational learning;

• what role training plays in this context as a prerequisite for organisational learning;

best practice for organisational learning in the European chemical industry.

Methodology

In an empirical investigation, the project will examine methods of organisational learning in large chemical enterprises in the four partner countries of the project. Due to the fact that learning cultures in partner countries and partner companies differ from each other, the project will analy examples of successful organisational learning and barriers to such learning. The results will be compiled in the form of case studies and evaluated in co-operation with the study participants as well as with experts and persons in responsible positions from research, enterprises, associations and national vocational education institutions

Outcomes of the project

The case studies on organisational learning in the European chemical industry will illuminate:

• the different perspectives on organisational learning;
• the requirements, activities and consequences of organisational learning;
• the implications for the different stakeholders in society (employees, company representatives, representatives from research, politics and the educational administration).

The project does not only intend to clarify processes of organisational learning in the enterprises involved, but also to improve them. The project outcomes will include recommendations for shaping organisational learning in the light of European strategies of personnel development, vocational education and economic competitiveness.