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SMB 3004
Strategies fordeveloping a
LearningOrganisation
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The business of business is learning and all else will follow.
Learning inside an organisation must beequal to or greater than change outsidethe organisation.
- Reg Revans -
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Critical issues facing todays corporations? Reorganisation, restructuring, and reengineering.
Increased skills shortages, with schools unableto adequately prepare for work in the 21 st century.
Doubling of knowledge every two to three years.
Global competition from the worlds most powerful companies.
Overwhelming breakthroughs of new andadvanced technologies.
Spiralling need for organisations to adapt tochange.
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The behaviours that define learning
and the behaviours that define being productive
are one and the same.Learning is the heart of productive
activity.
- learning is the new form of labour.
Shoshana Zuboff
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Organisations that learn faster will be able toadapt quicker and thereby achieve significant
strategic advantages. There are four major areas , which have
changed profoundly over the last years:
1. Economic, social and scientific environment globalisation economic and marketing competition
environmental end ecological pressures
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new sciences of quantum physics and chaostheory (understanding of quantum physics means
that one cannot predict with absolute certainty,that chaos is a part of the reality) Knowledge era (knowledge that exists in an
organisation is the sum of everything everybodyin your company knows that gives you acompetitive edge. The greatest challenge is tocreate an organisation that can redistribute itsknowledge.)
societal turbulence
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2. Workplace environment Information technology and the informated
organisation (Informated organisations areable to immediately acquire information thatcan be used to get a job dine, generate new
information as a by-product, and develop newinformation)
Organisation structure and size
Key resource of business is not capital, personnel, or facilities, but rather knowledge, information, and ideas.
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Another form of restructuring is a virtualorganisation, a temporary network of independent companies, suppliers,customers, and even rivals linked byinformation technology to share skills,
costs, and access to one anothersmarkets.
Three other emerging management
theories gaining popularity isreengineering core competencies andorganisational architecture.)
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Total quality management movement Competitive advantage comes from the
continuous, incremental innovation andrefinement of a variety of ideas that spreadthroughout the organisation.
Workforce diversity and mobility Boom in temporary help
3. customer expectations (cost, quality, time,service, innovation, customisation)
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4. Workers Those who thrive will have problemidentifier skills, problem solving skills andstrategic broker skills. Corporations depend on the specialised
knowledge of their employees. Knowledge workers do, in fact, own the
means of production and they can take it out
of the door with them at any moment.)
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The Systems-Lined OrganisationModel
A systematically define learning organisationis an organisation which learns powerfully andcollectively and is continually transforming
itself to better collect, manage, and useknowledge for corporate success. It empowers people within and outside the
company to learn as they work. Organisational learning refers to how
organisational learning occurs, the skills and processes of building and utilising knowledge.
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There are a number of dimensions of alearning organisation: Learning is accomplished by the organisational
system as a whole. Organisational members recognise the
importance of ongoing organisationwidelearning. Learning is a continuous, strategically used
process integrated with and running parallel towork.
There is a focus on creativity and generativelearning.
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Systems thinking is fundamental People have continuous access to information and
data resources. A corporate climate exists that encourages,
rewards, and accelerates individual and grouplearning
Workers network inside and outside theorganisation.
Change is embraced, and surprises and evenfailures are viewed as opportunities to learn.
It is agile and flexible.
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Everyone is driven by a desire for quality andcontinuous improvement.
Activities are characterised by aspiration,reflection, and conceptualisation.
There are well-developed core competencies
that serve as a taking-off point for new products and services.
It possesses the ability to continuously adapt,
renew, and revitalise itself in response to thechanging environment.
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The systems-linked learning organisationmodel is made up of five closely interrelatedsubsystems: learning organisation
people knowledge technology
If any subsystem is weak or absent, theeffectiveness of the other subsystems issignificantly weakened.
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It is important to remember that onenever fully is a learning organisation.
Change always continues , as well aslearning.
There are 16 steps taken by variousorganisations in order to become learningorganisations :
1. Commit to becoming a learningorganisation.
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2. Connect learning with businessoperations (direct connections betweenlearning and improved businessoperations makes it easier to persuade
people)3. Assess the organisations capability on
each subsystem of the systems learning
model.
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4. Communicate the vision of a learningorganisation (the most sophisticated vision is
of no use unless it can be clearly understood by others)
5. Recognise the importance of systems
thinking and action (a company cannot become a learning organisation byfocusing on just one subsystem or onone part of the organisation)
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6. Leaders demonstrate and modelcommitment to learning
7. Transform the organisational culture toone of continuous learning andimprovement
8. Establish corporate-wide strategies of learning (encourage experimentation,recognise and praise learners, reward learning,spread the word about new learnings, applythe new learnings)
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9. Cut bureaucracy and streamline the structure10. Empower (to possess the necessary freedom,
trust, influence, opportunity, recognition, andauthority) and enable (to possess the necessaryskills, knowledge, values, and ability)
employees. Significant resources of time,money, and people are allocated to increaseemployees skills not only in present job butalso for future, unforeseen challenges.
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11. Extend organisational learning to theentire business chain
12. Capture learnings and releaseknowledge (quickly throughout the
organisation)13. Acquire and apply best of technology
to the best of learning.
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14. Encourage, expect, and enhancelearning at individual, group, andorganisation levels
15. Learn more about learningorganisations.
16. Continuous adaptation, improvement,and learning.
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Starting the Process
Org started the process for variety of reasons:
a) Significant external change
b) New Leader c) Clear Championd) Desire to become a learning organisation
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What are they doing? Based on Pedlers model:
a) Strategy b) Looking In: activities that support the vision.c) Structures: flatter organisation and flexible working pattern.d) Looking Out:networking and co-operative ventures,develop
people and systems to access external information.e) Learning Opportunities
Develop people oriented and participative
culture. Encouraging personal growth and development. Encouraging feedback and reflections.
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Role of Managers and Leaders
1. Visionary Vision are clear statements which are
focused and directed towards something or
state that everyone in the organisation canaspire and work towards.
3. Empowerer
Give individual members of staff both the power and responsibility to managethemselves and their activities in theworkplace.
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1. Risk-taker Mayo describes the ways in which calculated
risks may be encouraged in the workplace by: Throw away the rule books Investing in innovation Creating alliances with competitors Learning from mistakes and share their
learning. Encourage creative dialogue
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Building, Maintaining, and Sustaining theLearning Organisation
Building a learning organisation may be difficult, butso is maintaining and sustaining it when it isoperating.
Many an excellent, even learning company has
dropped from its high perch. It is preferable to begin building a learning
organisation at the very top to get top leadershipcommitted.
But it is possible to begin in any part that has the potential to affect the others.
Start where the energy is! Things to consider include:
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Work with the directors, managers, union and humanresources department
Begin with a diagnosis Raise consciousness and start with a company
conference Start with one department and Focus on one of the key
business issues. Keys to a successful transformation into a learning
organisation: Establish a strong sense of urgency about becoming a
learning organisation. The idea is to make the status quoseem more dangerous than the unknown.
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Form a powerful coalition pushing for the learningorganisation
Create a vision of the learning organisation.Without a vision, the effort can dissolve into a listof confusing and incompatible projects.Communicate and practice the vision. Remove
obstacles (bureaucracy, competitiveness of individuals rather than collaboration, control. Poor communications, poor leaders, rigid hierarchy) that
prevent others from acting on the new vision of alearning organisation.
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create short-term wins. Most people wont stayon the long march unless the journey has someshort-term successes.
Consolidate progress achieved and push for
continued movement. Declaring the war woncan be catastrophic until changes sink deeplyinto the culture.
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Ten facilitating factors that support andsustain the learning organisation:
1. Scanning imperative. Learning cannotcontinue without a solid awareness of theenvironment
2. Performance gap. Performance shortfalls areopportunities for learning.
3. Concern for measurement. Discourse over metrics is a learning activity.
4. Experimental mindset. Support the practice of trying new things and being curious abouthow things work.
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5. Climate of openness. Debate and conflict remainacceptable ways of solving problems.
6. Continuous education. One is never finishedlearning and practising.7. Operational variety. There is more ways than one
to accomplish business objectives and work goals.8. Multiple advocates or champions.9. Involved leadership. Creating vision is not
enough. Leadership at any organisational level
must engage in hands-on implementation of thevision.
10. Systems perspective.
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The End
Thank You
