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The study explores the role of organizational learning as a strategic engine, emphasizing the need to dynamically align the (continuous) organizational learning process with an organization’s strategic approach. Despite quite an impressive literature (that spans more than four decades) on the (discrete/grained) linkages between organizational learning and strategy, limited research has comprehensively mapped the conceptual landscape that connects these two areas.
The aim of this paper is to uncover the antecedents (strategic foundations), enabling mechanisms (the learning engine), and strategic consequences (strategic value) of organizational learning, highlighting how it fits in and shapes strategic decision-making, innovation, and performance in a complex environment.
To achieve this, a bibliometric co-occurrence analysis of authors’ keywords using VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) was employed. A dataset of peer-reviewed Journal Articles (n = 713) covering publications from 2020 to 2024 in the field of Business, Management and Accounting was extracted from the Scopus database.
The analysis revealed five major thematic clusters, representing conceptual linkages between (organizational learning and strategic management) constructs: (1) strategic agility and performance (consequences), (2) knowledge management and innovation (antecedents and enablers), (3) dynamic capabilities and strategic positioning (consequences and feedback loops), (4) strategic learning models: exploration versus exploitation (mediators/enabling mechanisms), and (5) resilience and crisis-responsive strategy (consequences and contextual modifiers).
These clusters served as the basis for the development of a conceptual framework that positioned organizational learning as a mediating engine driving the transformation of antecedents (or strategic foundations, such as knowledge systems, change management, industry 4.0 technologies, and digitalization) into strategic outcomes (or strategic value, such as strategic agility, innovation performance, competitive advantage, resilience, and crisis management capabilities). This learning engine is powered by mechanisms of exploratory and exploitative learning, absorptive capacity, dynamic capabilities, open innovation practices, experiential learning, etc., while it also propels feedback loops (e.g., performance outcomes fueling further capacity building, or crisis experiences intensifying the organization’s learning orientation for future strategic resilience).
Overall, findings suggest that organizational learning could/should act as a core strategic function – rather than just a support and/or a spontaneous process, particularly in times of uncertainty and rapid/disruptive change. The theoretical framework provides recommendations on how organizations can develop learning architectures that improve strategic flexibility and long-term competitiveness. Future research may test the theoretical model for empirical validation.
