Organisational Learning and the Modern Army

Tom Dyson is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Royal Holloway College. He is the author of The Politics of German Defence and Security, Neoclassical Realism and Defence Reform in post-Cold War Europe and the co-author (with Theodore Konstadinides) of European Defence Cooperation in EU Law and IR Theory.

• Introduction: lessons-learned processes as the transmission belt from adaptation to innovation; 1 A model of best practice in military learning; 2 Theorising military learning; CASE STUDY 1 The evolution and performance of British Army lessons learned; 3 The development of the institutional architecture of British Army lessons learned: a tale of two potential absorptive capacities; 4 The performance of British Army lessons learned: tactical-level success and operational-level failure; 5 The British Army’s knowledge transformation capability: the struggle to establish a culture of experimentation and creativity; CASE STUDY 2 The evolution and performance of German Army lessons learned; 6 The development of the institutional architecture of German Army lessons learned: improving potential absorptive capacity; 7 The performance of German Army lessons learned: limited adaptation, innovation and emulation at the tactical and operational levels; 8 The impediments to knowledge transformation in the German Army; Reflections on the sources of military learning and future research agendas: getting leadership and processes right; Appendix; Index

'Dyson makes an important addition to contemporary conflict viewed from an allied but non-US perspective, comprehensive thinking about military learning, and practical considerations for army institutional leadership and civil-military relations. I highly recommend Organisational Learning and the Modern Army' -- Seth A. Johnston, fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, and lieutenant colonel in the US Army