Current research suggests that organizational learning (OL) occurs through different processes and describes various types of learning that are used in organizations. What is unclear, though, is what circumstances prompt an organization to engage in one learning process or the other. Equally confusing is the underlying relationship between learning processes and the types of learning. To address these issues, we develop a contingency model of organizational learning and suggest that perception of the environment influences the use of learning processes. We also show that differential emphasis on learning processes results in different types of learning. Our conceptual model connects perceptions of the environment, learning processes, and types of learning. The contingency framework offered in this article provides a more holistic perspective of OL and has implications for future research and management practice.

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Research on philanthropy has made major advances in recent years

Human resource management (HRM) is an important source of competitive advantage. However, recent reports document that HRM, and in particular employee training, is less likely to occur in small firms. One possible remedy of special interest to small retailers is trade name franchise membership. Trade name franchises, or buying groups, claim to offer small firms advantages not otherwise realizable, including bulk buying discounts, brand name recognition and workforce training. We report results from our study of over 300 small and medium-sized hardware stores, which tested the effects of employee training and trade name franchise membership, on small firm performance. Trade name franchisees achieve higher mean performance; however, the contribution to performance made by franchisees’ training does not appear to be significantly better than that of independent stores.