Changes in Organizational Learning and Leadership Influenced by Technology

Introduction

While learning and leadership are often considered to be individual activities, when one considers the development of organizational learning and the learning organization, leadership plays a key role. Originally, the traditional theories of management influenced how organizations functioned. These later evolved into theories of leadership and to discussions about the similarities and differences between the two. In the process of this evolution, numerous inventories have been developed to assess learning styles and leadership styles and suggest ways of utilizing this new self-knowledge to enhance learning and leading in organizations. This chapter will include an investigation of the impact of technology on learning and leadership within organizations in the areas of basic communication and information technologies as well as today’s Web 2.0 technologies. Both the theoretical and practical aspects will be considered.