Temporal dimensions of organizational learning : a review and directions for future research

This paper examines temporal dimensions of organizational learning. Organizational learning is a process phenomenon that unfolds over time. However, only scant attention has been paid to the role of time in theories of organizational learning and reviews of the field. The objective of this paper is to conceptualize the temporal dimensions of organizational learning, to review existing work that has implicitly or explicitly addressed time, and to identify directions for future research. Three sets of prior findings are discerned, concerning time as a resource for organizational learning; the timing and temporal structuring of organizational learning; and the role of the past, present, and future in organizational learning. Each of these perspectives offers unique insights, but is far from saturated; moreover, future research may be enriched by integrating approaches.