Abstract Organizational learning is a research topic very relevant in strategic studies. Nevertheless, the way in which learning takes place in the firm constitutes one of the main gaps in research. For this reason, this paper wants to explain how learning occurs in a company. A case study of a Spanish high- tech company is used to explore the network perspective on intraorganizational learning. It expands the generalization of the network perspective to intra-organizational learning, as proposed by ��kerlavaj and Dimovski (2006) [1]. We formulated four propositions based on an exploratory social network analysis. We provide additional arguments for the generalization of the research findings related to the importance of industry experience and company tenure as determinants of the key players in learning networks. The novel contribution of this study relates to the complementarity of knowledge as a tie generator and shows the importance of cross-departmental knowledge flows in projects. Moreover, similarity in terms of experiential level and physical proximity creates opportunities to learn. From a practice-oriented perspective, this study offers tools for detecting the most important employees in a firm from a learning viewpoint. Keywords Intra-organizational learning, social network, company tenure I. INTRODUCTION ustained learning isa key driver of an organization���s ability remain adaptive and flexible ��� that is, to survive and effectively compete (Burke et al. 2006) [2]. Hence, it is crucial to manage organizational learning processes within these organizations in order to successfully compete. For this reason managers need to understand how organizational learning processes take place. The network perspective on intra-organizational learning (��kerlavaj and Dimovski, 2007[3] ��kerlavaj, Dimovski, Mrvar, and Pahor, 2008 [4]) offers an explanation that joins previously disparate participation and acquisition perspectives on organizational learning. By doing so it merges knowledge from the fields of social network analysis and organizational learning. Social networks are seen as a specific set of linkages among a defined set of persons, with the additional property that the characteristics of these linkages as a whole may be used to interpret the social behavior of the persons involved (Mitchell, 1969) [5]. Network analysis is concerned with the structure and patterning of these relationships and seeks to identify both their causes and consequences (Tichy, Tushman, and Fombrum, 1979) [6] The network perspective on intra-organizational learning also builds upon the Learning Network Theory (Van der Krogt, 1995 [7] Poell, Chivers, Van der Krogt, and Wildermeersch., 2000 [8]), which states that a learning network is operating in every organization and describes the way learning is organized in the context of work organizations. People learn in every organization, even in a hierarchical or chaotic one, and the learning network merely represents how the learning is organized. This study extends our understanding of learning networks by filling in the research gap related to the way in which firms generate intra- organizational learning. Specifically, this study extends the generalization of the research findings of ��kerlavaj and Dimovski, 2007 and ��kerlavaj, Dimovski, Mrvar, and Pahor, 2008, which tested the intra-organizational learning network perspective in a Slovenian IT company present in Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia. The structure of the paper is as follows: Section 2 briefly presents the networks perspective on intra- organizational learning as a bridge between the acquisition and participation perspectives. Section 3 is empirical in nature and presents the company profile as well as the methodological framework. Section 4 presents the results of the exploratory analysis and four propositions for further confirmatory analysis. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the results and expose its main findings and Exploratory study of intra-organizational learning from social network perspective within a Spanish knowledge intensive company S��nchez de Pablo Gonz��lez del Campo, Jes��s David University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) jesusdavid.sanchez@uclm.es ��kerlavaj, Miha University of Ljubljana (Slovenian) miha.skerlavaj@ef.uni-lj.si Guadamillas G��mez, F��tima University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) Fatima.Guadamillas@uclm.es Dimovski, Vlado University of Ljubljana (Slovenian) vlado.dimovski@ef.uni-lj.si Sto 2009 Advances in Social Network Analysis and Mining 978-0-7695-3689-7/09 $25.00 �� 2009 IEEE DOI 10.1109/ASONAM.2009.79 13