I have been in the business environment for close to 30 years. I spent my time in a family owned multinational that at one time was heavily invested in the notion of welfare capitalism and where the associates truly believed that "Managers, workers, customers and partners will recognise we’re all in this together". In todays world that seems less and less true. When one looks at the increase in productivity (BLS data) and plot this against the real wage growth of labor, one sees that what used to be a mutualistic exchange has become consistently one sided. Not withstanding the rhetoric of the employ engagement/empowerment is there truly a big shift or is there a well crafted PR/propaganda campaign going on.

My larger question, framed within the above context. is do you really think that organizations can create (maintain and continually improve the efficiency of) these learning networks - even if hierarchy, power (of course within limits) and authority are more equitably distributed - given all other social contract changes? Or is this notion far less universal and reserved for only certain types of workers?

A notion of connectivist learning theory (pressed into service within the organization) and employee engagement (the engaged employee willing gives discretionary effort that they might not otherwise have done) intrigues me... there seems to be a link here... like the useful creation of a common sense, Are these process normative or transformative? My sense is as I read a series of blogs on the topic I get the sense that the authors are expounding a new transformed world, I fear it may be a creative re-invention of Taylor, Mayo and others - normative.