Learning under pressure: The effects of politicization on organizational learning in public bureaucracies

Abstract

When things in the public domain go wrong, government bureaucracies usually face increased political scrutiny and strong demands for reform. The need for organizational learning is high under such circumstances. Conventional theories, however, conceive political involvement as a constraint on organizational learning. This implies a paradoxical challenge for public organizations. On the one hand, the need to learn from mistakes is highest in times of political scrutiny; on the other hand, under such conditions learning is presumed to be most difficult. After studying the effects of politicization on organizational learning in detail, we come to the conclusion that this notion is incomplete at best. Learning in public organizations depends not so much on political involvement as such but, rather, on the specific characteristics of that involvement. Politicians may influence learning processes positively if they commit to structural solutions and encourage the institutionalization of organizational lessons.