There is an ongoing discussion in the research field of higher education that universities should borrow organizational models and adaptation strategies from business life in order to cope with the changing environment. Voices have been raised, proposing that universities should become learning organizations. The objective of this article is to contribute to the discussion by focusing on the development of theory and methodology of the university as a learning organization in an empirical study. A mixed theory from different fields has been created and tested. Factor analysis resulted in two factors, ethos and accountability, that together explain 47 percent of the variance of the total structure in the theory. The con­struction of measuring instrument and how it can be improved is discussed. Finally, the concept of learning organizations and its application on universities is questioned and discussed.