Abstract

The essay offers a reflection on the current ‘state of health’ of the relationship between organization theory and public policy analysis and on the opportunities for cross fertilization that the two disciplines have not yet fully explored. After a brief recount of how and why the research agendas of organizational scholars and public policy analysts have long remained parallel, in a state of mutual disregard, the article traces the genesis and evolution of two boundary concepts, that of network and that of learning, which have followed substantially parallel tracks in the agendas of organizational scholars and public policy analysts in recent decades, while highlighting the potential benefits of a more explicit dialogue. In conclusion, a balance is drawn, and some hypotheses defined regarding the potential and hoped-for convergences between the two disciplines today, especially with regard to analyzing (and proposing solutions to) new, unforeseen and particularly complex problems