“Organizational learning has become a fundamental element in striving towards optimal business management, yet few organizations adequately navigate this difficult terrain. Michael Beitler's comprehensive book will demystify this challenge.”

Michael Arena, Ph.D.
Director of Organizational Effectiveness
Ingersoll Rand Corporation

“Mike's strategy-driven emphasis is dead-on target. I like his approach in Strategic Organizational Learning. He gets to the point and doesn't mince words. I especially found the chapters on self-directed learning, learning agreements, and corporate universities to be interesting. Mike's experience comes through in every chapter. Strategic Organizational Learning spearheads new thinking in many areas.”

Professor Jim Burns
Okanagan University
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

“Beitler’s text brilliantly clarifies the decisions a company must make to capture learning and link it to business strategy. One wonders upon what mishmash of concepts modern organizations built their Knowledge Management and Learning programs before Strategic Organizational Learning existed.”

George Smart, CEO
Strategic Development, Inc.

“Strategic Organizational Learning introduces a sound approach for organizational learning. At last, and long overdue, a complex subject made simple. It's a first-rate introduction for the neophyte, and an excellent comprehensive course for the most experienced executive. ”

Keith Grant, Ph.D.
GM University
General Motors Corp.

“Strategic Organizational Learning is an easy-to-read guidebook that covers all of the emerging issues in organizational learning and knowledge management. It’s a must read for both managers and consultants.”

Lisa G. Withers
Training & Performance Consultant

Amazon.com Review of Strategic Organizational Learning

"I could not wait to get Dr. Michael Beitler's newest book. I found his first book, Strategic Organizational Change, to be the most-informative and complete book of its kind.

In his newest book, Strategic Organizational Learning, Beitler gives a clear and realistic view of how adults learn and are best motivated. Beitler shows how organizations ideally should train employees and how organizational learning consultants can get the best results from working with clients. He combines his many years of experience as an academic/practitioner and business professional with his real consulting experience--yielding a book that has the potential of being THE ultimate reference and training guide for consultants.

What I enjoyed most about reading Strategic Organizational Learning is that it made me feel like I was being personally taught all of the "ins and outs" of the subject--through lectures at a university classroom from a MASTER LECTURER. The book is "academic" from the perspective that it provides citations and resources for more in-depth study, but it is written in plain English so that managers, consultants, and students can easily learn practical applications. (Dr. Beitler is a practicing consultant, as well as a faculty member in the MBA program at the University of North Carolina).

This book is another "must have" for every manager, consultant, HR professional, or business student! Beitler has done a brilliant job of researching organizational learning and combining all of the best and most-recent information, while compiling and reporting it in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand format.

As a college instructor and consultant myself, I highly recommend purchasing Strategic Organizational Learning because it covers the topics of organizational learning, employee motivation, and knowledge management better than all the others.

Strategic Organizational Learning begins where Dr. Beitler's first book left off, and then goes comprehensively into how to be a better manager, mentor, and/or consultant at any level of an organization."

"This book is written like a conversation, for this reason it is easy to read. The language of the book is basic and clear. The information about organizational learning, motivation, and performance is very beneficial.

Dr. Beitler stresses the importance of educating the management and professional staff with a variety of learning methods. The information about motivation and motivation theories generates a strong background for the other chapters.

Dr. Beitler's Performance Equation expresses the factors of performance improvement very well. His Performance Equation is quite realistic.

The book shows how to increase education and improve performance in great detail. The chapter on preparing and supporting workers abroad is especially beneficial.

The chapter on self-directed learning (and the use of the SDLRS instrument) was the most helpful to my own work. I have cited Dr. Beitler's earlier publications in my own research publications on self-directed learning.

This book is a beneficial guide for all organizations."

Prof. Dr. Inci Morgil
Hacettepe University
Ankara, Turkey

"I appreciated Beitler's 'up-front' approach to strategic learning in organizations, particularly his views and research on traditional learning practices as compared to the new wave of learning including self-directed learning and the future of organizational learning. Mike's focus on the future in the learning arena is refreshing and challenging.

As a professional trainer, I could relate to what Beitler offers in this book. It's true that many trainers still refer to assessment as 'training needs analysis,' which implies a training problem. It has been my experience that managers tend to 'throw' training at every problem, which is a waste of organizational resources. We've largely not considered any other solutions to performance problems.

I liked Mike's comments on the 'diminishing classroom.' Right on! Ditto for the segment on motivation. Gone are the days when we would herd people into a classroom hoping to improve sagging performance. This approach usually does nothing for performance and builds resentment.

Also, I appreciated Beitler's comments re leadership with emphasis on accountability and responsibility. The real goal for leaders should be to help others become leaders. And that is done by giving them responsibilities through delegation and holding them strictly accountable for results.

I found Strategic Organizational Learning to be a very good read, just like Mike's first book, Strategic Organizational Change."

Richard J. Kildahl
Professional Trainer & Consultant
Madison, Wisconsin