Drawing on Possible Self Theory to Explore the Influence of Subjectivity on Individual Learning and Employees' Attitudes toward Learning Behaviours Popularized by Two Learning Organization Models

Drawing on possible self theory, this is a qualitative study that seeks to explore two major connected assumptions. The first is whether diverse possible selves can generate a wide variety of individual learning experiences. The second which the present study seeks to explore is the joint influence of the latter two (i.e. possible selves and the individual learning experiences generated therefrom) on employees' attitudes towards learning behaviours popularized by two LO models: Senge's model and Marsick and Watkins' model. In setting the theoretical scene, the researcher argues that such models have only mildly considered the complex issues of self and subjectivity, and suggests that failure to realize the ideal of the learning organization may be partially explained by failure to acknowledge the powerful role of subjectivity in generating different individual learning experiences. In this context, possible self theory has been employed as a means to understand individuals' subjectivities and how they might influence attitudes towards formal learning behaviours associated with two LO models. This is the main contribution the present study seeks to achieve. The sample of the study consisted of 19 employees working for a well-known Saudi public corporation. A semi-structured interview was used to elicit participants' responses after which those were explored and discussed. The findings of the study generally support the need to acknowledge the centrality of subjectivity in generating diverse learning experiences across the same organization. They also reveal the idiosyncratic nature of individual learning in a ways that challenge formal organizational learning policies and popular notions on the homogeneity of organizational cultures. The implications derived thereof for organizations, individual learning, and the LO concept are detailed in the concluding chapter.