Learning Organisations Organisational Learning vs. Learning Organisation
There is a difference between Organisational Learning and Learning Organisation. Argyris (1977) defines Organisational Learning as the process of "detection and correction of errors" while Senge (1990) defines Learning Organisation as "a group of people continually enhancing their capacity to create what they want to create". He further remarks that "the rate at which organizations learn may become the only sustainable source of competitive advantage". Ang & Joseph (1996) contrast Organisational Learning and Learning Organisation in terms of process versus structure. Learning Organisation
A Learning Organisation is an organisation that learns and encourages learning among its people in an effort to create a more knowledgeable and flexible workforce capable to adapt to cultural changes. Some definitions: “The learning organisation is an organisation which facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself" (Pedler et. al., 1989). "Organisations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to learn together" (Peter Senge, 1990). According to Sandra Kerka (1995) most conceptualisations of the learning organisations seem to work on the assumption that ‘learning is valuable, continuous, and most effective when shared and that every experience is an opportunity to learn’.
Learning Organisations Characteristics The following are some common characteristics found in Learning Organisations: Are adaptive to the external environment Continually enhance their capability to change and adaptation Develop collective as well as individual learning Embrace creative tension as a source of energy and renewal Foster inquiry and dialogue, making it safe for people to share openly and take risks Link individual performance with organisational performance Provide continuous learning opportunities Use the results of learning to achieve better results Use learning to reach their goals
(Kerka, 1995) & (Knowledge Connections, Undated) The basic rationale for such organisations is that in situations of rapid change only those that are flexible, adaptive and productive will excel. For this to happen, it is argued that organisations need to ‘discover how to tap people’s commitment and capacity to learn at all levels’ (Peter Senge, 1990) and that “the pressure of change in the external environments of organisations... is such that they need to learn more consciously, more systematically, and more quickly than they did in the past... they must learn not only in order to survive but also to thrive in a world of ever increasing change” (Pearn, 1997). The key ingredient of the Learning Organisation is in how organisations process their experiences and how they learn from their experiences rather than being bound by their past experiences. Learning Organisation Concepts The major Learning Organisational concepts focus on “Continuous Improvement”, “Culture” and “Innovation and Creativity”. | Focus | The concept of Learning Organisation | Practices | 1. | Continuous Improvement | “A learning organisation should consciously and intentionally devote to the facilitation of individual learning in order to continuously transform the entire organisation and its context “ (Pedler et al. 1991) |
| The adoption of Total Quality Management practices |
| 2. | Culture | “A learning organisation should be viewed as a metaphor rather than a distinct type of structure, whose employees learn conscious communal processes for continually generating, retaining and leveraging individual and collective learning to improve performance of the organisational system in ways important to all stakeholders and by monitoring and improving performance” (Drew & Smith, 1995) |
| Creation and maintenance of learning culture: adopting to cultural change, collaborative team working, employee empowerment and involvement, etc. |
| 3. | Innovation and Creativity | Organisation learning is the process by which the organisation constantly questions existing product, process and system, identify strategic position, apply various modes of learning, and achieve sustained competitive advantage |
| Facilitation of learning and knowledge creation; focus on creative quality and value innovation |
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(A Review of the Concept of Organisational Learning, 2002)The concept of organisational learning evolved from the individual learning process, but organisational learning is not simply the collectively of individual learning processes, but it engages interaction between: Individuals in the organisation Interaction between organisations as an entity Interaction between the organisation and its environment
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