Organisation Learning Essay Example for Free

Organisation skill EssayWhere Argyris and Schon were the first to propose warnings that facilitate makeupal attainment, the spare-time activity literatures have followed in the tradition of their piddle Argyris and Schon (1978) distinguish surrounded by single- interlace and double-loop turn back, related to Gregory Batesons images of first and second order familiarity.In single-loop tuition, individuals, groups, or administrations modify their actions fit in to the difference between expected and obtained outcomes. In double-loop learning, the entities (individuals, groups or organization) question the values, assumptions and policies that led to the actions in the first distinguish if they be able to view and modify those, then second-order or double-loop learning has taken stain. Double loop learning is the learning about single-loop learning. ?March and Olsen (1975) attempt to link up individual and organisational learning. In their model, individual beli efs lead to individual action, which in turn whitethorn lead to an organizational action and a response from the environment which whitethorn induce improved individual beliefs and the cycle then repeats over and over. learning occurs as better beliefs produce better actions.?Kim (1993), as well, in an article titled The link between individual and organizational learning, integrates Argyris, March and Olsen and a nonher model by Kofman into a single comprehensive model further, he analyzes all the possible breakdowns in the information flows in the model, leading to failures in organizational learning for instance, what happens if an individual action is rejected by the organization for political or other reasons and therefore no organizational action takes place? ?Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) developed a four stage spiral model of organizational learning.They started by differentiating Polanyis concept of tacit association from clear familiarity and describe a surgery of alte r between the two. Tacit knowledge is personal, context specific, subjective knowledge, whereas explicit knowledge is codified, systematic, formal, and easy to communicate. The tacit knowledge of key personnel at bottom the organization evict be made explicit, codified in manuals, and co-ordinated into new products and processes. This process they called externalization.The reverse process (from explicit to implicit) they call internalization because it involves employees internalizing an organizations formal rules, procedures, and other forms of explicit knowledge. They also use the term sociableization to designate the sharing of tacit knowledge, and the term combination to denote the dissemination of codified knowledge. According to this model, knowledge creation and organizational learning take a course of study of friendlyization, externalization, combination, internalization, socialization, externalization, combination .. . etc. in an infinite spiral. ?Nick Bontis et al . (2002) empirically tested a model of organizational learning that encompassed both stocks and flows of knowledge across three levels of analysis individual, team and organization. Results showed a negative and statistically signifi canistert relationship between the misalignment of stocks and flows and organizational performance. ?Flood (1999) discusses the concept of organizational learning from Peter Senge and the origins of the possibleness from Argyris and Schon.The author aims to re-think Senges The Fifth Discipline through systems theory. The author develops the concepts by integrating them with key theorists such as Bertalanffy, Churchman, Beer, Checkland and Ackoff. Conceptualizing organizational learning in terms of structure, process, message, ideology and knowledge, the author provides insights into Senge within the context of the philosophy of apprehension and the way in which systems theorists were influenced by twentieth-century advances from the classical assump tions of science.?Imants (2003) provides theory development for organizational learning in schools within the context of teachers professional communities as learning communities, which is compared and contrasted to teaching communities of practice. Detailed with an analysis of the paradoxes for organizational learning in schools, two mechanisms for professional development and organizational learning, (1) steering information about teaching and learning and (2) supporting interaction among teachers and workers, are defined as unfavourable for effective organizational learning.?Common (2004) discusses the concept of organisational learning in a political environment to improve public insurance-making. The author details the initial unchallenged reception of organisational learning in the public sector and the development of the concept with the learning organization. Definitional problems in applying the concept to public policy are addressed, noting explore in UK local governmen t that concludes on the obstacles for organizational learning in the public sector (1) overemphasis of the individual, (2) resistance to change and politics, (3) social learning is self-limiting, i.e. individualism, and (4) political blame culture. The concepts of policy learning and policy transfer are then defined with detail on the conditions for veryizing organizational learning in the public sector. Organizational knowledge What is the nature of knowledge readyd, traded and used in organizations? Some of this knowledge can be termed skilful ? knowing the meaning of technical words and phrases, being able to larn and make sense of economic data and being able to act on the basis of law-like generalizations.scientific knowledge is ?propositional it takes the form of causal generalizations ? whenever A, then B. For example, whenever water reaches the temperature of 100 degrees, it boils whenever it boils, it turns into steam steam generates pressure when in an enclosed space p ressure drives engines. And so forth. A large part of the knowledge used by managers, however, does not assume this form. The complexities of a managers task are such that applying A may result in B, C, or Z. A recipe or an idea that solved very well a cross problem, may, in slightly different circumstances backfire and lead to ever more(prenominal) problems.More serious than knowing a whole lot of theories, recipes and final results for a manager is to know which theory, recipe or solution to apply in a specific situation. Sometimes a manager may combine two different recipes or adapt an existing recipe with some important modification to meet a situation at hand. Managers often use knowledge in the way that a handyman pull up stakes use his or her skills, the materials and tools that are at hand to meet the demands of a particular situation.Unlike an direct who will plan carefully and scientifically his or her every action to deliver the desired outcome, such as a steam engi ne, a handyman is flexible and opportunistic, often victimisation materials in temporary or unusual ways, and relies a lot on trial and error. This is what the French call ? bricolage, the resourceful and fictive deployment skills and materials to meet each challenge in an original way. Rule of thumb, far from being the enemy of management, is what managers end-to-end the world have relied upon to inform their action.In contrast to the scientific knowledge that guides the engineer, the physician or the chemist, managers are often informed by a different type of know-how. This is sometimes referred to a ? narrative knowledge or ? experiential knowledge, the kind of knowledge that comes from experience and resides in stories and narratives of how real lot in the real world dealt with real life problems, succeederfully or unsuccessfully. Narrative knowledge is what we use in usual life to deal with awkward situations, as parents, as consumers, as patients and so forth.We seek th e stories of people in the same situation as ourselves and try to learn from them. As the Chinese proverb says A discerning man learns from experience a wiser man learns from the experience of others. Narrative knowledge usually takes the form of organization stories (see organization story and organizational storytelling). These stories enable participants to make sense of the difficulties and challenges they face by listening to stories, members of organizations learn from each others experiences, adapt the recipes used by others to address their own difficulties and problems.Narrative knowledge is not yet the preserve of managers. Most professionals (including doctors, accountants, lawyers, business consultants and academics) rely on narrative knowledge, in addition to their specialist technical knowledge, when dealing with concrete situations as part of their work. More generally, narrative knowledge represents an endlessly mutating reservoir of ideas, recipes and stories tha t are traded mostly by word or mouth on the internet. They are often apocryphal and may be inaccurate or untrue yet, they have the power to influence peoples sense making and actions. mortal versus organizational learning Learning by individuals in an organizational context is a well soundless process. This is the traditional domain of human resources, including activities such as training, increasing skills, work experience, and formal education. Given that the success of any organization is founded on the knowledge of the people who work for it, these activities will and, indeed, must(prenominal) continue. However, individual learning is only a prerequisite to organizational learning. Others take it farther with continuous learning.The world is orders of magnitude more dynamic than that of our parents, or even when we were young. Waves of change are crashing on us virtually one on top of another. Change has drop dead the norm rather than the exception. Continuous learning thro ughout ones career has become essential to remain relevant in the workplace. Again, necessary but not sufficient to describe organizational learning. What does it mean to say that an organization learns? Simply summing individual learning is inadequate to model organizational learning.The following definition outlines the essential difference between the two A learning organization actively creates, captures, transfers, and mobilizes knowledge to enable it to adapt to a changing environment. Thus, the key aspect of organizational learning is the interaction that takes place among individuals. A learning organization does not rely on passive or ad hoc process in the hope that organizational learning will take place through serendipity or as a by-product of normal work. A learning organization actively promotes, facilitates, and rewards collective learning.Creating (or acquiring) knowledge can be an individual or group activity. However, this is normally a small-scale, isolated activi ty steeped in the pious platitude and methods of knowledge workers. As first stated by Lucilius in the 1st century BC, Knowledge is not knowledge until someone else knows that one knows. Capturing individual learning is the first step to making it useful to an organization. there are some methods for capturing knowledge and experience, such as publications, activity reports, lessons learned, interviews, and presentations.Capturing includes organizing knowledge in ways that people can find it multiple structures facilitate searches regardless of the users perspective (e. g. , who, what, when, where, why,and how). Capturing also includes storage in repositories, databases, or libraries to insure that the knowledge will be available when and as take oned. Transferring knowledge requires that it be accessible to everyone when and where they need it. In a digital world, this involves browser-activated search engines to find what one is looking for.A way to conceive content is also needed, which requires a communication and network infrastructure. Tacit knowledge may be divided through communities of practice or consulting experts. It is also important that knowledge is presented in a way that users can understand it. It must suit the needs of the user to be accepted and internalized. Mobilizing knowledge involves integrating and using relevant knowledge from some(prenominal), often diverse, sources to solve a problem or address an issue. Integration requires interoperability standards among mingled repositories.Using knowledge may be through simple reuse of existing solutions that have worked previously. It may also come through adapting aged solutions to new problems. Conversely, a learning organization learns from mistakes or recognizes when old solutions no longer apply. Use may also be through synthesis that is creating a broader meaning or a deeper level of understanding. Clearly, the more rapidly knowledge can be mobilized and used, the more agonis tical an organization. An organization must learn so that it can adapt to a changing environment.Historically, the life-cycle of organizations typically spanned durable environments between major socioeconomic changes. Blacksmiths who didnt become mechanics simply fell by the wayside. More recently, many fortune 500 companies of two decades ago no longer exist. Given the ever-accelerating rate of global-scale change, the more critical learning and adaptation become to organization relevance, success, and ultimate survival. Organizational learning is a social process, involving interactions among many individuals leading to well-informed decision making.Thus, a culture that learns and adapts as part of everyday working practices is essential. recycle must equal or exceed reinvent as a desirable behavior. Adapting an idea must be rewarded along with its initial creation. Sharing to present the organization must supersede controlling to empower an individual. Clearly, shifting from i ndividual to organizational learning involves a non-linear transformation. Once someone learns something, it is available for their immediate use. In contrast, organizations need to create, capture, transfer, and mobilize knowledge before it can be used.Although technology supports the latter, these are primarily social processes within a cultural environment, and cultural change, however necessary, is a particularly challenging undertaking. Learning organization The work in Organizational Learning can be distinguished from the work on a related concept, the learning organization. This later body of work, in general, uses the theoretical findings of organizational learning (and other research in organizational development, system theory, and cognitive science) in order to prescribe specific recommendations about how to create organizations that continuously and effectively learn.This practical approach was championed by Peter Senge in his book The Fifth Discipline. diffusion of inn ovations Diffusion of innovations theory explores how and why people adopt new ideas, practices and products. It may be seen as a subset of the anthropological concept of diffusion and can help to explain how ideas are spread by individuals, social networks and organizations.