How Do Foreign Aid Agencies Learn? A Comparative Analysis of Organisational Learning Determinants in National Donor Bureaucracies

Janus, Heine ; Esse , Daniel E.
A icle — Published Ve sion
How Do Fo eign Aid Agencies Lea n? A Compa a i e
Analysis o O ganisa ional Lea ning De e minan s in
Na ional Dono Bu eauc acies
The Eu opean Jou nal o De elopmen Resea ch
P o ided in Coope a ion wi h:
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Sugges ed Ci a ion: Janus, Heine ; Esse , Daniel E. (2025) : How Do Fo eign Aid Agencies Lea n? A
Compa a i e Analysis o O ganisa ional Lea ning De e minan s in Na ional Dono Bu eauc acies,
The Eu opean Jou nal o De elopmen Resea ch, ISSN 1743-9728, Palg a e Macmillan, London, Vol.
37, Iss. 4, pp. 792-811,
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
How Do Fo eign Aid Agencies Lea n? ACompa a i e
Analysis o O ganisa ional Lea ning De e minan s
inNa ional Dono Bu eauc acies
Heine Janus1 · DanielE.Esse 2
Accep ed: 12 May 2025 / Published online: 25 June 2025
© The Au ho (s) 2025
Abs ac
We dis il and alida e a new heo y o o ganisa ional lea ning (OL) o unde s and
OL in o eign aid agencies. Re iewing exis ing schola ship on OL in he public sec-
o , we de ise a heo ec ical amewo k consis ing o h ee a iables ha connec
in e ac ing dimensions co-de e mining heo ganisa ion-speci ic in ensi y o OL: (1)
indi idual knowledge acquisi ion, (2) social p ac ices and (3) o ganisa ional poli i-
cal embeddedness. To alida e ou app oach o s udying OL empi ically, we heed
calls o mo e compa a i e esea ch on OL by analysing 89 andomly sampled in e -
iews wi h na ional de elopmen bu eauc a s in Ge many, Sou h Ko ea and No -
way. Ou analysis demons a es ha ou heo e ical amewo k explains a ying
in ensi ies o OL ac oss he h ee cases. C ucially, i e eals he second dimension,
social p ac ices, o bedecisi e. Whileall cases in ou sample con ain e idence o
indi idual lea ning and awa eness o he o ganisa ions’ con ex -speci ic poli ical
embeddedness, we obse e dis inc social p ac ices in each o ganisa ion. The o gani-
sa ion in which OL is mos ib an is he only one in ou sample social p ac ices ha
a edi ec ly conduci e o OL. These p ac ices comp ise unsanc ioned nego ia ions o
o ganisa ional objec i es among s a , as well as a consensus o p io i ise e idence
and e mina e ailed p ojec s, despi e poli ical p essu es o spend mo e, as e . We
conclude ha u u e esea ch on OL needs o eschew e e ences o hypo he ical bes
p ac ices and ins ead s udy OL empi ically and compa a i ely by connec ing p e i-
ously disjoin ed schola ly li e a u es h ough heo y.
* Heine Janus
heine [email p o ec ed]
Daniel E. Esse
[email p o ec ed]
1 Ge man Ins i u e o De elopmen andSus ainabili y (IDOS), Tulpen eld 6, 53113Bonn,
Ge many
2 Ame ican Uni e si y, 4400 Massachuse s A enue NW, Washing on, DC20016, USA
793
How Do Fo eign Aid Agencies Lea n? ACompa a i e Analysis o …
Keywo ds Bu eauc a s· De elopmen bu eauc acy· Fo eign aid· O ganisa ional
lea ning· Randomised in e iews· Social p ac ices
Résumé
Nous dis illons e alidons une nou elle héo ie de l’app en issage o ganisa ionnel
(AO) pou comp end e l’AO dans les agences d’aide é angè e. En examinan les e-
che ches exis an es su l’AO dans le sec eu public, nous élabo ons un cad e héo ique
composé de ois a iables qui elien les dimensions in e ac i es co-dé e minan
l’in ensi é spéci ique à l’o ganisa ion de l’AO: (1) l’acquisi ion de connaissances in-
di iduelles, (2) les p a iques sociales, e (3) l’anc age poli ique o ganisa ionnel. Pou
alide no e app oche de l’é ude empi ique de l’AO, nous épondons aux appels pou
da an age de eche ches compa a i es su l’AO en analysan 89 en e iens échan il-
lonnés au hasa d a ec des bu eauc a es du dé eloppemen na ional en Allemagne,
en Co ée du Sud e en No ège. No e analyse démon e que no e cad e héo ique
explique les in ensi és a iables de l’AO dans les ois cas. De maniè e c uciale, elle
é èle que la deuxième dimension, les p a iques sociales, es décisi e. Tous les cas de
no e échan illon con iennen des p eu es d’app en issage indi iduel e de conscience
de l’anc age poli ique con ex uel des o ganisa ions; cependan , nous obse ons des
p a iques sociales dis inc es dans chacune des ois o ganisa ions. L’o ganisa ion où
l’AO es la plus dynamique es la seule de no e échan illon à p ésen e des p a iques
sociales di ec emen p opices à l’AO. Ces p a iques comp ennen des négocia ions
non sanc ionnées des objec i s o ganisa ionnels pa mi le pe sonnel e un consen-
sus pou donne la p io i é aux p eu es e me e in aux p oje s échoués malg é les
p essions poli iques pou dépense plus, plus apidemen . Nous concluons que les
eche ches u u es su l’AO doi en é i e de se é é e à des meilleu es p a iques
hypo hé iques e plu ô é udie l’AO de maniè e empi ique e compa a i e à a e s
une héo ie elian des li é a u es académiques aupa a an disjoin es.
Resumen
Des ilamos y alidamos una nue a eo ía del ap endizaje o ganizacional (AO) pa a
comp ende el AO en las agencias de ayuda ex anje a. Re isando la li e a u a ex-
is en e sob e AO en el sec o público, desa ollamos un ma co eó ico que cons a de
es a iables que conec an dimensiones in e ac i as que co-de e minan la in ensidad
especí ica de AO en la o ganización: (1) adquisición de conocimien o indi idual, (2)
p ác icas sociales e (3) inse ción polí ica o ganizacional. Pa a alida empí icamen e
nues o en oque pa a es udia el AO, p es amos a ención a las llamadas a ealiza más
in es igaciones compa a i as sob e AO analizando 89 en e is as seleccionadas al
aza con bu óc a as nacionales de desa ollo en Alemania, Co ea del Su y No uega.
Nues o análisis demues a que nues o ma co eó ico explica las di e en es in ensi-
dades de AO en los es casos. C ucialmen e, e ela la segunda dimensión, las p ác i-
cas sociales, como decisi a. Todos los casos de nues a mues a con ienen e idencia
de ap endizaje indi idual y conciencia de la inse ción polí ica especí ica del con ex o
de las o ganizaciones; sin emba go, obse amos p ác icas sociales dis in as en cada
una de las es o ganizaciones. La o ganización donde el AO es más ib an e es la
única en nues a mues a que exhibe p ác icas sociales di ec amen e conducen es al
794
H.Janus, D.E.Esse
AO. Es as p ác icas comp enden negociaciones no sancionadas de los obje i os o -
ganizacionales en e el pe sonal y un consenso pa a p io iza la e idencia y e mina
p oyec os allidos a pesa de las p esiones polí icas pa a gas a más, más ápido. Con-
cluimos que la in es igación u u a sob e AO necesi a e i a e e encias a p ác icas
hipo é icas óp imas y en su luga es udia el AO empí ica y compa adamen e a a és
de eo ías que conec en li e a u as académicas p e iamen e desa iculadas.
In oduc ion
O ganisa ions os ensibly need o lea n in o de o succeed. This dic um can be ound
ac oss schola ly li e a u e anging om managemen esea ch o public policy, as i
pu po edly holds o p i a e and public o ganisa ions alike. Ale asoul e al. (2022:
1) pu o wa d ha “o ganisa ional lea ning (OL) is essen ial o he su i al o an
o ganisa ion”. Acco ding o A go e (2012: 36) “[o] ganiza ions lea n om bo h suc-
cesses and ailu es”, and o ganisa ional mo i a ions o lea n a e co ela ed posi i ely
wi h he cos o ailu e (A go e 2012: 37). No ably, schola s ha e anked he o eign
aid sec o as ela i ely open o lea ning om ailu e, on a pa wi h he business,
a ia ion, and echnology sec o s (Chambe s e al. 2022; c . Ege e al. 2022). A he
same ime, schola ly de ini ions o OL abound: Bas en and Haamann (2018) e iew
405 publica ions on di e en ypes o OL and iden i y 45 dis inc app oaches.
They conclude ha nosingle app oach appea s o bemos app op ia e and call o
esea ch o accoun o speci ic o ganisa ional con ingencies (Bas en and Haamann
2018: 14).
In esponse, we de ise a mul i-dimensional heo y o OL capable o explaining
a ia ion in OL in ensi y as a esul o o ganisa ion-speci ic con igu a ions. We heed
ecen calls o mo e compa a i e esea ch on OL in he public sec o (Cu a and
S eil 2019; Dahls öm and Lapuen e 2022; Iao-Jö gensen 2023). We selec h ee
na ional dono bu eauc acies o alida e i s applicabili y o he o eign aid sec o .
Ou esea ch objec i e is o s udy OL “non-me apho ically” (Ron e al. 2006: 1084)
by examining how hese o ganisa ions ac ually lea n, as opposed o p esc ibing how
hey should lea n. D awing on exis ing schola ship, we hypo hesise ha OL esul s
om ac i i ies in h ee in e connec ed o ganisa ional dimensions: (1) indi idual
knowledge acquisi ion, (2) social p ac ices, and (3) o ganisa ional poli ical embed-
dedness. We ask: how does OL occu in o ganisa ional se ings cha ac e ised by di -
e en con igu a ions o hese h ee dimensions?
Ou heo e ically guided empi ical app oach hus di e s om schola ly con i-
bu ions ha eso o bina ies o OL and sugges he exis ence o bes p ac ices.
Examples o  hese bina ies include he jux aposi ion o “chu ch-like o ganisa ions”
p oducing “o icial b anded knowledge” e sus “open lea ning o ganisa ions” (Elle -
man 1999), o a “linea model” o indi idual skill acquisi ion e sus an “ac ion
lea ning app oach” cha ac e ised by “cycles o ac ion and e lec ion” (Johnson
and Thomas 2007: 41); andOL occu ing in ei he “Ka kaesk” o “ ep esen a i e
bu eauc acies” (Hoey 2015). We doub ha such heu is ics can cap u e he di e se
landscape o OL in o eign aid. Ra he , hey enable co-op a ion in he name o
os ensibly ‘easy’ o ganisa ional e o ms (McFa lane 2006; Chambe s e al. 2022)
795
How Do Fo eign Aid Agencies Lea n? ACompa a i e Analysis o …
and e lec a manage ialis yea ning o lea ning ha is unde heo ised and empi i-
cally unsubs an ia ed.
We p oceed as ollows. Syn hesising exis ing esea ch seeking o explain OL
empi ically, we dis il a h ee- ie ed heo e ical amewo k. This amewo k gene a s
a wo king hypo hesis ha he in ensi y o OL is co-de e mined by h ee in e ela ed
a iables. Nex , we p esen he me hodology o ou case selec ion and p ima y da a
collec ion. We hen del e in o a compa a i e analysis and discuss i s main indings.
We conclude by e iewing he alidi y o ou heo e ical amewo k and de i ing
implica ions o u u e esea ch on OL in o eign aid and beyond.
A No el Theo e ical F amewo k o O ganisa ional Lea ning
Fo o e wo decades, aid agencies ha e been “ ou ing he impo ance o knowledge
gene a ion and o ganisa ional lea ning in one o m o ano he ” (Rope and Pe i
2002: 1; McFa lane 2006) and chasing no ma i e ‘bes p ac ices’ (Biggs and Smi h
2003: 1745–1747; Fe guson e al. 2010). A he same ime, he e has been a pe -
sis en us a ion abou he dea h o e idence o OL. Gilson e al. (2009: 6; also
Rashman e al. 2009) echo Ul ich e al.’s esea ch om o e 30 yea s ago (1993: 59)
lamen ing ha “ o da e he e ha e been a mo e hough pape s on why lea ning
ma e s han empi ical esea ch”. Taken oge he , we ead he lack o compelling
heo ies and he sca ci y o empi ics as an oppo uni y o dis il and alida e a no el
heo e ical amewo k o explain a ying in ensi ies o OL. The li e a u e we e iew
o his pu pose sugges s ha h ee dis inc bu in e ela ed dimensions should be
analysed oge he .
Indi idual Knowledge Acquisi ion
Indi idual lea ning is widely conside ed o be he ounda ion o OL. In one o he
mos igo ous empi ical s udies o OL, Ron e al. (2006: 1084) concep ualise OL
as “indi iduals, collabo a ing in eam se ings […], p ocess[ing] in o ma ion el-
e an o he o ganiza ion’s pe o mance in a way ha leads o sys emic changes”.
Indi idual knowledge acquisi ion hus se es as a necessa y bu insu icien condi-
ion o OL o occu ; indi idual lea ning does no au oma ically ansla e in o OL:
“Inc eased indi idual capaci y wi hin one a ea o he o ganisa ion—o one o gan-
isa ion wi hin he b oade go e nmen —is unlikely o ansla e in o a one- o -one
imp o emen in o e all pe o mance and may some imes be en i ely disconnec ed
om i ” (Williams 2021: 345; c . Vallejo and Wehn, 2016: 6).
Schola s ha e p oposed ha e ec i e ansmission comp ises echnical pla o ms
o knowledge managemen (A go e 2012: 20) as well as social p ocesses ha a e
cen ally in o med by indi idual iden i ies (B own e al. 2015: 271). Iden i ies also
co-de e mine indi iduals’ aspi a ions o pu sue di e en ca ee pa hs (Ing am 2023;
Tangianu e  al. 2025). These, in u n, posi ion indi iduals di e en ly in e ms o
hei abili y o induce o ganisa ional change based on indi idual knowledge. This
can occu ei he hie a chically, om a posi ion o au ho i y, o ca aly ically, h ough

796
H.Janus, D.E.Esse
social nego ia ion (Johnson and Thomas 2007: 46). While such social pe suasion is
mo e gene a i e, i also ca ies g ea e p o essional and social isks (Loe le 2021).
Social P ac ices
In a seminal a icle, B own and Duguid (1991: 41) p opose a causal ela ionship
be ween “ac ual p ac ices [and] he success o ailu e o o ganiza ions”. In addi ion
o indi idual knowledge acquisi ion, ou heo e ical amewo k he e o e needs o
accoun o “s a ’s e e yday p ac ices” wi hin de elopmen bu eauc acies (Eyben
2010: 384), ocusing on ac ual ou ines as opposed o p esc ibed managemen in e -
en ions designed o p oduce OL. Ca ino and Pa io a (2013) p o ide e idence
ha such ou ines canbe ei he conduci e o de imen al o OL. Simila ly, Ba e e
e al. (2012: 146) demons a e empi ically ha “ac ions such as ole a ing mis akes,
ques ioning es ablished ules, and being open o expe ience and change” con ibu e
di ec ly o wha Rashman e al. (2009: 470) e m “lea n[ing] h ough collabo a i e
ac ion”.
Howe e , social p ac ices conduci e o OL ace sec o -speci ic challenges in o -
eign aid, as hebene icia ies o indi idual aid p ojec s ypically li e o e seas and
canno p o ide di ec eedback o dono bu eauc a s. Meanwhile, bu eauc a s a e no
held accoun able by hose whom hey a e supposed o se e bu a he by poli ical
p incipals wi hin hei own poli ies(Esse and Janus 2025). This lack o ex e nal
eedback can acili a e o ganisa ion-in e nal social p ac ices ha become sel - e e -
en ial and sel - ein o cing. As a esul , OL in de elopmen o ganisa ions o en legi i-
mises and pe pe ua esexis ing p ac ices a he han acili a ing collec i e e lec ion
and isk- aking (Chambe s e al. 2022: 6). A he same ime, we should no expec
highly idiosync a ic social p ac ices, gi en ha o ganisa ional mimic y is a well-
known phenomenon in he o eign aid sec o (Gul ajani and Swiss 2019).
O ganisa ional Poli ical Embeddedness
The hi d a iable in ou heo e ical amewo k accoun s o he way in
whichbo h indi idual knowledge acquisi ion and social p ac icesa e embedded
in highly poli icised en i onmen s (Gilson e al. 2009). OL in public o ganisa-
ions o en occu s in se ings ma ked by “ esis ance o change […]; a modes
capaci y o al e beha iou and o ganisa ional s uc u es; a loss o lea ning con-
inui ies […] because o elec ions cycles and go e nmen successions; [being]
o en held ha shly o accoun o e ‘e o s’; [and he] need o be seen by he pub-
lic as success ul” (Gilson e al. 2009: 20). Al hough in e nal social in e ac ion is
no necessa ily egula ed, public o icials s ill ac poli ically. A he same ime,
e en he poo es pe o me s in he public sec o do no ace he same compe i i e
p essu es as in he p i a e sec o (Williams 2021); exis en ial conce ns he e o e
do no ac ually igge lea ning (c . A go e 2012). As a esul , OL in he public
sec o in he shape o “o ganiza ional sel -co ec ion as an adap i e mechanism”
(Cu a and S eil 2019: 113) is always e lec i e o poli ical objec i es. In ex eme
cases, “p ocesses o knowledge acquisi ion [in he public sec o ] may be shaped
797
How Do Fo eign Aid Agencies Lea n? ACompa a i e Analysis o …
by delibe a e mis ep esen a ion, oppo unis ic in e es g oups o by he eme -
gence o dominan social cons uc ions o p oblem and con ex ” (Ellio 2009:
162).
Poli ical embeddedness does no ende OL in o eign aid agencies solely eac-
i e, in he sense o ‘lea ning despi e poli ics’. Ra he , indi iduals and g oups
wi hin o ganisa ions ac i ely seek o in luence poli ical dynamics engaging in
‘lea ning h ough poli ics’. In bo h cases, howe e , poli ical embeddedness condi-
ions OL and he e o e needs o be eckoned wi h heo e ically and empi ically.
We summa ise he h ee dimensions o ou amewo k and hei in e ac ions in
Fig.1.
Figu e1 isualises ou wo king hypo hesis ha he OLin ensi y is co-de e -
mined by h ee in e ela ed a iables. Impo an ly, ou eading o exis ing schol-
a ship sugges s ha hein e ela ion in his case is no sequen ial o addi i e, bu
mul i-co ela ed. Howe e , as his is he i s app oach o combine hese h ee
dimensions, we can only p o ide indica i e guidance on how each a iable in e -
ac s wi h he o he wo. The empi ical componen o ou esea ch he e o e se es
a dual pu pose: i s , o alida e he amewo k’s a iables and composi ion; and
second, o e eal which in e dimensional dynamics a e obse able in p ac ice and
how hey a ec OL.
Fig. 1 Theo e ical amewo k o o ganisa ional lea ning in o eign aid agencies. Sou ce: Own ep esen-
a ion
798
H.Janus, D.E.Esse
Case Selec ion andP ima y Da a Collec ion
We pu posely choose h ee na ional aid agencies ou o a uni e se o cases com-
p ising 32 membe s o he OECD DAC, a o eign aid “dono s’ club” (Eyben
2013: 80) ha de ines global no ms and s anda ds o ODA (Ve schae e and
O bie 2016). We hen andomly sample be ween 27 and 31 in e iewees in each
o hese h ee agencies. We selec in o man s in each o ganisa ion om a pool
o o icials wo king in subs an i e as well as adminis a i e oles ac oss di e -
en  hie a chical le els and o ganisa ional uni s, including HQ and ield o ices
whe e applicable. This app oach ensu es ha ou selec ionis ep esen a i e o he
h ee agencies, while alsoyielding indings ha a e analy ically ele an o o he
OECD DAC coun ies.
Be ween Augus 2022 and Ma ch 2023, we conduc ed 89 in e iews a he Ge -
man Fede al Minis y o Economic Coope a ion and De elopmen (BMZ), he
Republic o Ko ea’s In e na ional Coope a ion Agency (KOICA), and he No we-
gian Agency o De elopmen Coope a ion (No ad). We jus i y his choice on he
basis o h ee a ionales. Fi s , BMZ, KOICA, and No ad a e compa able in ha
hey each unc ions as he nodal poin o  a na ional de elopmen adminis a ion,
ansla ing poli ical p io i ies o o icial de elopmen assis ance (ODA) in o p o-
g ammes and p ojec s. Second, he o icials in hese o ganisa ions a e ci il se -
an s who espond o bu eauc a ic incen i es and o e see o ganisa ions esponsible
o implemen ing p ojec s. Thi d, a ecen e iew classi ies all h ee cases as p io -
i ising au onomy o e accoun abili y (Dahls öm and Lapuen e 2022). Wi hin his
sample, Ge many and Ko ea a e cha ac e ised as “Webe ian bu eauc acies” wi h
au onomous ci il se an s ope a ing wi hin ule-based s uc u es, whe eas No way
is desc ibed as a “libe al bu eauc acy” combining au onomous ci il se an s wi h
“manage ial, lexible p inciples” (Dahls öm and Lapuen e 2022: 56–57).
While he h ee o ganisa ions a e hus compa able, di e ences in hei ins i u-
ional con ex s a e e lec ed by hei sizes, policy app oaches and local p esence.
BMZ was ounded in 1961 and comp ises nea ly 1,300 s a membe s, a ound en
pe cen o whom se e as liaison s a a Ge man embassies in pa ne coun ies.
I s o ganisa ional uni s a headqua e s (HQ) ha e bo h hema ic and egional
oci, and hey co e “a wide swa he o issues and geog aphies” (Chen e al. 2023:
50). BMZ is o mally esponsible o alloca ing he majo i y o Ge many’s ODA,
a guably he wo ld’s la ges na ional aid dono a e he de ac o suspension o
he Uni ed S a es Agency o In e na ional De elopmen (USAID) bu has so a
ecei ed limi ed a en ion om schola s (Esse and Janus 2023).
KOICA was ounded in 1991 and employs app oxima ely 500 o icials, a hi d
o whom se e in one o he agency’s 46 coun y o ices. I s “global s a egy is
p edominan ly bila e al” (Kalinowski and Cho 2012: 243) and cha ac e ised by
Ko ean ODA being “in eg a ed in o high-le el esou ce diplomacy as an e ec-
i e poli ical ehicle o smoo h Ko ea’s o e seas esou ce de elopmen p ojec s
in selec ed de eloping coun ies” (Kalinowski and Cho 2012: 249). Fo mos o
KOICA’s his o y, his app oach has esul ed in a “ ocus on s a e-led and la ge-
scale p ojec s and he emphasis on cons uc ion” (Wa son 2012: 92).
799
How Do Fo eign Aid Agencies Lea n? ACompa a i e Analysis o …
Founded in 1968, No ad is he smalles o he h ee o ganisa ions in e ms o
s a numbe s. I s 250 o icials cons i u e a “managemen appa a us o No wegian
de elopmen aid and sou he n policies” (T ed 2007: 631) concen a ed a HQ in
Oslo and wo king on hema ic po olios. In addi ion o ad ising he No wegian
Minis y o Fo eign A ai s and di ec ly supe ising mul ila e al con ac s wi h
in e na ional o ganisa ions and pa ne coun ies, No ad also plays a leading ole in
channelling and o e seeing public unding in suppo o No way’s “s a egic com-
munica ion egime” (T ed 2007: 620) on in e na ional de elopmen coope a ion.
All in e iewees in he h ee o ganisa ions ecei ed con iden iali y assu ances and
p o ided hei in o med consen in w i ing. Inspi ed by an explo a o y pape (Yan-
guas 2021), ou semi-s uc u ed ques ionnai e consis ed o i e ques ions p omp ing
in o man s o a icula e linkages be ween he concep s o knowledge managemen ,
OL, and de elopmen e ec i eness on he basis conc e e p ac ical examples d awn
om hei own p o essional expe ience. Mos in e iews las ed a ound 75 minu es,
amoun ing o nea ly 120 hou s in o al. Bo h au ho s p oduced indi idual ansc ip s
o each in e iew. These da a we e subsequen ly anonymised and depe sonalised. A
eam o esea ch assis an s adjudica ed and consolida ed all anonymised ansc ip s.
In e iewee iden i ie s (e.g. BMZ 3, No ad 25) we e assigned andomly and non-
ch onologically. Thequo es in his pape hus s em om c oss- alida ed da a and
comply wi h e hical equi emen s o expe in e iews.
We s uc u ed he in e iew da a in ATLAS. i using a coding a chi ec u e
in o med by ou heo e ical amewo k, wi h child codes accoun ing o agency-
speci ic cha ac e is ics. Ou quali a i e analysis es ed he amewo k’s alidi y. I
p oceeded in wo s eps. The i s s ep ocused on each o he h ee agencies, seek-
ing o asce ain he ex en o which OL is condi ioned by he h ee a iables: (1)
indi idual knowledge acquisi ion, (2) social p ac ices and (3) o ganisa ional poli ical
embeddedness. The second s ep compa ed hese o ganisa ion-speci ic con igu a ions
o gain insigh in o how he h ee a iables in e ac i ely de e mine he in ensi y o
OL in each case.
Agency‑Speci ic Findings
BMZ
Wi hou being p omp ed, 18 ou o 31 in e iewees a BMZ men ion ha he Ge -
man minis y is cons i u ed by gene alis s who o a e be ween posi ions, du y s a-
ions and esponsibili ies e e y wo o h ee yea s. Two in e iewees e en quip ha
BMZ elies on “uni e salis dile an es wi h b oad gene al knowledge” (BMZ 7; also
9). In such an en i onmen , “o ganisa ional lea ning is no possible wi hou indi id-
ual lea ning” (BMZ 7; also 19, 22) since “you lea n mos on he basis o you own
expe iences and less on he basis o o he people’s expe iences” (BMZ 25; also 12,
19, 26). Consequen ly, o mal ainings a e conside ed cen al (BMZ 2, 6, 8, 9, 10,
13) as hey a e expec ed o “p oduce” OL by equipping indi iduals wi h “collec i e
knowledge ha is ou wa d acing” (BMZ 25). In addi ion, o mal aining is app e-
cia ed o impa ing a ange o skills, om “ he co ec p ocedu e o ile a eques ”
806
H.Janus, D.E.Esse
pe iod o sha ed e lec ion was poli ically manda ed and o limi ed du a ion, social
p ac ices a No ad ha e ins i u ionalised nego ia ion a ound o ganisa ional objec-
i es as a p o essional ou ine. And while in he case o KOICA, mic o-le el agency
d i ing indi idual knowledge acquisi ion occu s despi e o ganisa ional igidi ies,
such ini ia i e- aking a No ad is aided by la hie a chies and sha ed commi men o
e idence-based decision-making.
Compa a i e Findings
All h ee cases con i m indi idual knowledge acquisi ion as a necessa y a iable
o OL bu also highligh i s insu iciency. Indi idual knowledge does no ansla e
cumula i ely in o OL. Se e al examples o e ec i e indi idual en ep eneu ialism
no wi hs anding, ou da a om wo “Webe ian” bu eauc acies, Ge many and Ko ea,
co obo a e a well-known s uc u al limi a ion: o indi iduals o induce o ganisa-
ional change, hey ei he need o occupy “a posi ion o conside able in luence” o
“ac as a ‘change agen ’ and ca alyse o ganisa ional lea ning om a junio posi ion”
(Johnson and Thomas 2007: 46), accep ing ha such ac ions can jeopa dise one’s
ca ee ad ancemen .
C ucially, di e en ca ee pa hs and p o essional iden i ies eme ge as indi ec
bu powe ul de e minan s o OL wi hin he indi idual dimension o ou heo e ical
amewo k. Whe eas some s a a BMZ may join he minis y as de elopmen p o-
essionals, o he s a e could be a ac ed by ci il se ice bene i s. Acco ding o ou
da a, compliance wi h sho - e m poli ical p io i ies cons i u es an o e iding du y
a BMZ. The ypical ca ee pa h a KOICA, oo, is p edica ed on a gene alis p o ile;
specialis s ha e less job secu i y and limi ed p ospec s o p omo ion. In con as
o BMZ, howe e , gene alis s a KOICA a e mo e likely o be p omo ed based on
cumula i e subs an i e expe ise. A No ad, ca ee pa hs a e cu iously non-linea ;
se e al in e iewees desc ibe mo ing be ween leade ship and desk posi ions based
on pe sonal p e e ences, pe sonal ci cums ances, and changing o ganisa ional needs.
As a esul , subs an i e expe ise a No ad appea s o be widesp ead and no co e-
la ed o any senio i y le el o p o essional p o ile.
Di e en ly s uc u ed ca ee s and indi idual p o essional iden i ies p oduce in e -
ac ion e ec s wi h ou second a iable, social p ac ices, by acili a ing g oup con-
e gence on o ganisa ional objec i es. The la e is mo e likely o occu in o ganisa-
ions whe e social p ac ices conduci e o OL a e no malised. This insigh is bes
exempli ied by collec i e eckoning wi h ailu e and con o ms ea lie esea ch on
OL by Ron e al. (2006) s essing he impo ance o balancing unbiased e iew and
ank judgemen . I also echoes B own and Duguid’s (1991: 53) p econdi ion o
OL o a oid any “ es ic i e in luence o he exis ing canonical iew”. Ou heo-
e ical amewo k helps concei e o OL no as a disc e e, measu able ou pu bu
as an eme gen o ganisa ional quali y. Ou empi ical indings illus a e ha open-
ended e lec ion on mis akes can be a ypical indica o o ib an OL in o eign aid
agencies.
A No ad, ank con e sa ions abou ailed p ojec s and p og ammes a e ou ine.
In con as , in e iewees a KOICA and BMZ a ely i e e men ion ins ances when

807
How Do Fo eign Aid Agencies Lea n? ACompa a i e Analysis o …
ailu e was app aised collec i ely and openly. I such e iews occu , hen hey o m
pa o hie a chically manda ed e o ms. Impo an ly, indi iduals in bo h o ganisa-
ions ecognise such e o s as ime-in ensi e bu conduci e o OL. Howe e , he
“Webe ian” ea u es o Ge many’s and Ko ea’s bu eauc acies seem de imen al in
his con ex as ule compliance and a oidance o accoun abili y amid a “blame cul-
u e” (Ca ino and Pa io a 2013: 438) a e p io i ised o e pe spec i e- aking and
cons uc i e dissen , which a e mo e likely o occu in “libe al” adminis a i e se -
ings such as No way’s (Dahls öm and Lapuen e 2022: 56–57).
E en hough ou empi ics con i m he analy ical alue o di e en ia ing be ween
“Webe ian” and “libe al” bu eauc acies, ou esea ch demons a es ha a dicho o-
mous eading o ou da a would be misguided. None o he h ee agencies exhibi s
“chu ch-like dynamics p oducing ‘o icial b anded knowledge’” (Elle man 1999),
while all cases show ha OL is p ecisely no cha ac e ised by nea ly delinea ed
“cycles o ac ion and e lec ion” (Johnson and Thomas 2007: 41). Ra he , OL is
condi ioned by he e ogeneous and ubiqui ous social p ac ices wi hin each o ganisa-
ion. Simila ly, ou esea ch con i ms ha o ganisa ional size pe se does no condi-
ion di e ences in OL (Walke e al. 2024). Ins ead, ou da a con ain e idence o
manage ially manda ed o ganisa ional e o m deemed e ec i e o OL in he la ges
as well as in he smalles bu eauc acy in ou sample. Likewise, indi idual ini ia i e
os e ing OL is e iden ac oss he h ee o ganisa ions bu condi ioned di e en ly due
o a ia ion in social p ac ices and o ganisa ional poli ical embeddedness, as illus-
a ed by ou heo e ical amewo k.
Co obo a ing esea ch by Ba e e e  al. (2012), ou hi d a iable, poli ical
embeddedness, holds u he explana o y powe . Especially poli icisa ion o o gani-
sa ional objec i es impedes OL, andnone o he h ee agencies a e seen o be lea n-
ing because o such poli icisa ion. Ra he , hey lea n despi e and h ough poli ics.
Al hough poli ical embeddedness ac s p ima ily as a cons ain o OL, i also shapes
OL p ocesses as a unc ion o o ganisa ional no ms. A BMZ, sho - e mism amid
equen ly changing minis e ial p io i ies is accep ed as a undamen al condi ion.
We de ec a compa able dynamic a KOICA whe e s a membe s eel wedged
be ween minis e ial hie a chies and beholden o con ibu ing o he agency’s sco e
in he annual pe o mance assessmen as he ul ima e measu e o success. In bo h
cases, OL occu s only when i is ei he ini ia ed hie a chically o when indi iduals
ake on pe sonal isks. In con as , nume ous in e iewees a No ad p o ide e idence
o ‘lea ning h ough poli ics’ by c i ically engaging wi h poli icisa ion and pushing
back agains i . This o ganisa ional consensus s ems om social p ac ices a No ad
ha acili a e s a con e gence on he iew ha he agency’s ul ima e objec i e is
o achie e de elopmen e ec i eness, which equi es e idence-based p og amming
os e ed by open-ended discussions abou wha wo ks and wha does no .
Conclusion
We ha e applied a no el heo e ical amewo k o an o iginal da ase comp ising
in e iews wi h nea ly one hund ed andomly selec ed bu eauc a s in h ee OECD
DAC membe s a es o explain OL in he o eign aid sec o . Ou esea ch objec i es
808
H.Janus, D.E.Esse
ha e been, i s , o alida e he amewo k’s a iables and, second, o e eal how
in e ac ions be ween indi idual knowledge acquisi ion, social p ac ices, and o gani-
sa ional poli ical embeddedness a ec OL in he h ee o ganisa ions. Ou compa a-
i e analysis con i ms ha agency-speci ic in e ac ions be ween hese h ee a iables
accoun o a ying in ensi ies o OL ac oss he h ee o ganisa ions, wi h social
p ac ices playing a pi o al ole in OL in, and possibly also beyond, o eign aid.
All ou cases con ain e idence o indi idual lea ning and awa eness o o ganisa-
ional poli ical embeddedness; howe e , we obse e dis inc social p ac ices in he
h ee o ganisa ions. No ad— he agency whe e OL is mos p e alen —is he only
case in ou sample exhibi ing social p ac ices di ec ly conduci e o OL. These p ac-
ices comp ise unsanc ioned nego ia ions o o ganisa ional objec i es among s a
and a consensus o p io i ise e idence and e mina e ailed p ojec s despi e poli ical
p essu es o spend mo e, as e .
Social p ac ices canno be enginee ed. Fo ins ance, he e ec i eness o echni-
cal pla o ms o enhance knowledge managemen —a ypical manage ialis ‘bes
p ac ice’—depends on hei in eg a ion in o o ganisa ional ou ines. In con as ,
igne es om KOICA and No ad p o ide angible illus a ions o OL in he p o-
cess o discon inua ion o ine ec i e p ojec s and e idence-based alloca ion o pub-
lic unds. Ou analysis sugges s ha o ganisa ional leade s can encou agecollec i e
e lec ion on o ganisa ional igidi ies and e en ailu es, bu his only esul s in OL
when i ca alyses sha ed commi men o o ganisa ional change among s a who
wi hs and poli ical headwinds. Those seeking o acili a e OL in o eign aid agencies
he e o e need o eschew e e ences o acuous‘bes p ac ices’ and ins ead c ea e
social space o unsanc ioned nego ia ions ha allow o collec i e lea ning how o
do less, be e .
Ou indings ha e se e al implica ions o esea ch on OL in bo hna ional and
in e na ional bu eauc acies. In he heo e ical ealm, ou esea ch demons a es
he po en ial o s udying OL empi ically h ough heo y ha connec s p e iously
disjoin ed schola ly li e a u es. Al hough each o he h ee a iables de i ed om
p e ious analyses o OL explains ce ain aspec s o OL, hey a e nei he addi i e
no sequen ial; only a ocus on hei in e ac ions ende s deepe comp ehension o
a ying in ensi ies o OL. We ha e hus shown ha ou no el amewo k is app o-
p ia e o cap u e agency-speci ic OL dynamics in he o eign aid sec o . On his
e iden ia y basis, we a e con iden ha ou app oachcan be applied mo e widely.
Resul ing esea ch should be wa y o in e p e ing o ganisa ions blun ly in ‘cul u al’
e ms. Ou cases indica e ha we need o concei e o o ganisa ionalcul u es mo e
g anually as conglome a ions o social p ac ices (Cicmil and Gaggio i 2014) ha
co-de e mine, bu a e also condi ioned by, indi idual knowledge acquisi ion and
poli ical embeddeness. We a e keen o seeou  analy ical app oach o s uying OL
being ex ended beyond he OECD DAC, as well as beyond in e na ional de elop-
men adminis a ion.
Acknowledgemen s The au ho s wish o hank all in e iewees who pa icipa ed in his esea ch o
hei ime and candou and app ecia e help ul commen s by EJDR edi o Fiona Yap and wo anony-
mous e iewe s. Valuable eedback was also p o ided du ing a wo kshop on “O ganisa ional Pe spec-
i es on De elopmen E ec i eness: Compa ing Aid Agencies’ Bu eauc a ic Poli ics and P ac ices” held
in Pa is in No embe 2023, especially by Paul Clemen s, Nilima Gul ajani, Dan Honig, Da id Hulme,
809
How Do Fo eign Aid Agencies Lea n? ACompa a i e Analysis o …
Jenny Iao-Jö gensen, Molly Sundbe g and Pablo Yanguas. The 2024 ECPR Gene al Con e ence panel
on “Consequences and Cu es o Bu eauc a ic O e bu dening” a Uni e si y College Dublin and a wo k-
shop hos ed by he Uni e si y o Pi sbu ghs Cen e o Go e ance and Ma ke s in June 2025 p o ided
simila ly cons uc i e oppo uni ies o discuss his esea ch.In addi ion, Niels Keijze , Da ide Nicolini,
And eas Rasche and Ma k Theisen sha ed eedback, insigh s and e e ences. Geo gia Calime es, Ma cel
D eibholz, Elias Koch, Nawshin Tabassum and Alessand a Tangianu assis ed wi h backg ound esea ch
and edi ing. Moi a Da idson-Sege p oo ead he manusc ip . Bo h au ho s con ibu ed equally and sha e
esponsibili y o emaining e o s.
Funding Open Access unding enabled and o ganized by P ojek DEAL. Financial suppo om he Ge -
man Fede al Minis y o Economic Coope a ion and De elopmen (BMZ) is g a e ully acknowledged.
Da a a ailabili y The da a used in his esea ch a e con iden ial.
Decla a ions
Con lic o in e es s On behal o all au ho s, he co esponding au ho s a es ha he e is no con lic o
in e es .
Open Access This a icle is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons A ibu ion 4.0 In e na ional License,
which pe mi s use, sha ing, adap a ion, dis ibu ion and ep oduc ion in any medium o o ma , as long
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licenses/by/4.0/.
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