University as learning organization: A case study
of teamwork and team learning in a
private university in Taiwan

This study aims to investigate if the concept of the learning organization which is based on Western corporate culture will work in academe in Taiwan. Building a learning organization is argued in recent years to be crucial for organizations to adapt and lead change in this new era of rapid change. As organizational culture and change is a complex issue, especially if the change proposed by the learning organization is to take place in an Oriental culture which is different from that of the West, this study attempts to examine change in the context of a Taiwanese university's adoption of teamwork and team learning, which has never been examined before. The theoretical framework used in the study includes Schein (1996)'s clinical approach to organizations, learning, and culture, and a model of effective teamwork and team learning developed by this researcher derived from literature on effective teamwork and team learning. The research applies qualitative methodology of pre-test and post-test of the problem through intensive detailed interviews of four teams of the university, including the President's executive team, and data collected are based on intensive in-depth observations of real phenomena, as well as the effects of organizational learning and interventions big or small. Findings provide evidence of positive relationships between culture and learning, and changes brought about through team learning. However, there is still concern that academics are hard to re-educate because they are assumed to have their own subjective logic and personal interests based upon their previous studies and firmly held beliefs.