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Action Learning

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2

Administrative theory......................................................................................................................3

Decision making process:................................................................................................................4

Task 1 ..........................................................................................................................................4

Decision Making is a Recursive Process.........................................................................................4

Understand Different Styles of Decision-Making ..........................................................................5

Decision making tree.......................................................................................................................6

Task 2...........................................................................................................................................6

Accessing Weaknesses.....................................................................................................................6

Reflective Action.............................................................................................................................6

Action Learning...............................................................................................................................7

Action Learning Model....................................................................................................................9

Action Research ............................................................................................................................10

Task 3.........................................................................................................................................11

Wild cat Strikes:.............................................................................................................................11

Perception (Theories):....................................................................................................................12

Constructive and Defensive behavior:...........................................................................................13

Interpersonal skills:........................................................................................................................14

Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................16

References......................................................................................................................................16
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Administrative theory
Administrative theory emphasizes for an organization to carry out managerial activities more
effectively. Famous writers on this were Henri Fayol, Max Weber, and Chester Barnard.

Henri Fayol’s theory was directed to achieve the ‘most rational’ organization to fulfill various
tasks assigned to a large group of labor. In other words, organizations are anticipated to clear and
stiff aims, which are retained by every individual, by following the rules and regulations
fulfilling the individual expectations, as per the given blueprint and structure.

Henry Fayol’s 14 principles of management-

1. Division of work – The task should be performed by the dedicated people and the same
should be a unit or department.

2. Authority – Assigned people who are allowed to give orders and anticipate that they are
met.

3. Discipline – Employees should be dutiful and respect towards the organization

4. Unity of command – As per the company hierarchy, one authorize person should give
orders to the employees

5. Unity of direction – the company and employees should have only one plan and
objectives.

6. Avoid unclearness or confusion within the organization and follow only on objective

7. Salary –the company should take care of employees economic situation and salaries

8. Centralization – Centralization depends on the importance on the authority that makes the
decision or department level.

9. Scalar chain – authority in an organization which commands evenly from top to bottom.

10. Order – everything, people and resources, has a place that it belongs.

11. Equity –management-employee relations should be fair in terms of equity.

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12. Stability of tenure of personnel

13. Take new initiatives to increase production

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14. Harmony and unity within the organization

Chester Barnard (1886-1961) is an experienced manager and did extensive study in sociological
theory in building a theory of the organization.

According to Barnard an organizations is a "cooperative system" of people having three

important elements: (1) willingness to cooperate, (2) one purpose, and (3) communication.'
Missing of any three elements would lead to an imbalanced organization.

Decision making process:

Decision making is to decrease un-ambiguity and changes in an organization. Uncertainty is
reduced rather than totally removing. Decision is made with certainty and knowledge about
alternatives is not too possible. Every decision has some risk and if there is no uncertainty there
is no Decision making process and there are some steps to follow to implement Decision making.

Task 1

Decision Making is a Recursive Process

All the organizations always think about decision making and alternatives to solve the issue. The
alternatives effect the criteria we apply to decision and vice versa. The following image explains
the decision making process:

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Understand Different Styles of Decision-Making

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Estimate the Chances

Probabilities are common for decision making and investments. The objective is to estimate the
probable effects if a given event occurs.

According to Warren Buffett, top successful investor, is a chief of guessing the probabilities. He
says,
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Discuss with people before decision making

Figure out problems and make decisions more effectively by talking with people. However the
vital thing is to communicate which is very important in business to resolve troubles and make
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decisions, both by yourself and with people.

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Decision making tree

A decision tree is an important efficient tool of decision-making theory and practice. It will
especially help in situations of difficult decision problems. A decision making tree is essentially
a structure that represents, in a specially organized way, the decisions, events for uncertainty,
also possible outcomes of all decisions and events.

Task 2
How to assess your strengths
Strength is a mixture of inbuilt aptitude, personal character, behavior, sharable skills and learned
knowledge that when applied produces a consistently successful result. Following are the key
questions to evaluate strengths. The skills are divided into three categories:

1. Knowledge-based skills:
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2. Transferable skills:
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Accessing Weaknesses
Weakness prevents you from performing at best. Think to manage the activity and the steps you
could take on a practical level to improve overcoming your weaknesses. The strategies that can
be used to manage and avoid weaknesses are by practicing the task or activity, designing a
system to deal with the weakness, concentrating on strength to overcome the weakness.

Reflective Action
Reflective action is a self sustaining process in which learning occurs through experience from
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one’s own actions. The leaders and managers learn through this process while participating in
training workshops and coaching sessions. In addition, they have an access to life-long process
that allows them to learn from any situation they encounter.
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Action Learning
In Action Learning, learning process is considered as ‘relational Learning’. It is based on a
collective process which involves a person participating in a shared process of understanding the
frameworks of meaning-making.

Action learning is developed around various elements such as

Set- a small group of people

Learning Vehicle-the real time project on which the individual or the set lays focus

Set Adviser-A person who learns and helps the group in its work.

In our subject, let us consider the lecturer as the set adviser.

Action learning is built on the equation L=P+Q

Where L= Learning through questioning and gaining knowledge

P= Programmed language i.e personal or input language

Q= Questioning insight

As the Action learning process is based on experiential learning, for Q –Questioning insight to be
effective, a cycle of learning is required.

Further, within the action learning cycle, different learning styles have to be adopted for the
learner to reach to a new and different place of knowledge.

So, reflection should occur in all stages in the cycle for understanding an action and also for
planning a new one.
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New
Activity/Event/Exp
Activity/Event/Exp

Reflections &
New Actions decision to exp

Hypothesis &
experiment
Reflections &
Analysis

2. Action learning is built on problem and not puzzles solving

‘Puzzles' have a single solution to the question which is to be found. ‘Problems' are those issues,
challenges, and opportunities which have many right ways of doing things and hence more than
one solution.

In the simple equation:

L=P+Q

Programmed knowledge (P) is probably sufficient to answer ‘puzzles'. But it is insufficient to

solve ‘problems' where there are no right answers:

To deal with problems and to make precise decisions, you need questioning insight in addition to
the programmed knowledge. In finding a solution to a problem, a holistic approach of learning
has to be followed where complexity is taken into consideration while making decisions.

4. Learning as a Social Process

Action learning is a social framework for individuals who aim to solve a problem where the
individuals pool their ideas and take action. Here, the learners take the responsibility for their
decisions and actions thereby managing the situation by actively interacting with the world. At
the self development level, being involved in this process strengthens the individual’s ongoing
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learning and builds their personal capacity. Whereas, at the group level, collaborative enquiry
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allows for “shared work, knowledge and ways of knowing where new social meanings and
realities are collectively constructed”.

5. The set adviser

The role of an adviser is important and also dangerous if entered into with preconceived
outcomes. In other words, facilitator establishes and maintains an environment to learn and also
to ensure the participants identify and consider their learning.

Action Learning Model

1. The Challenge. Participants are given an unstructured situation without any prior preparation
in the form of a problem, a question or a project. Initially, it can be presented informally, but is
always formalized into a charge.

2. Issue Identification. Participants consider the issues they must confront and manage in order
to produce the deliverable required by the charge.

Two types of issues are identified. (1) Project Issues where information and data needs are
unique to the project situation, but must be collected and analyzed for deliverable. (2) Learning
Issues where knowledge of concepts and techniques to be presented or developed in order to
develop the deliverable.

3. Inquiry. Participants engage in inquiry based on the identified issues. They research to collect
information and data necessary for the project. They also engage in learning activities
independently with experts, and/or interactive learning modules which are developed and
provided for their use.

4. Action. Participants analyze the data collected using the learning developed, and make
decisions regarding the deliverable. This process frequently involves iteration with point 2 and 3
as more information leads to the identification of additional issues and to the need for more
inquiry. However, at some point, the iteration must stop (usually caused by a time deadline) and
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the deliverable must be prepared and delivered.

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5. Reflection. Participants engage in reflection after the deliverable is presented and feedback is
received. The process of reflection focuses on making learning explicit and the abilities to recall
and make use of the content learnt in other situations.

Action Research
Action research is a self-reflective enquiry conducted which is conducted by the participants in
social situations.

Action Research helps the participants to improve their

• Social and Educational practices

• An insight and deeper understanding of these practices

• To apply these practices in a new situation.

The essential element of action research is experimenting with new ideas to improve and
increase knowledge. Action learning follows a series of cycles to increase the knowledge.

Each cycle is carried out in four steps

1. Planning: involves analyzing a complex situation and building a new strategic plan

2. Action: The implementation of the developed plan

3. Observing: The monitoring of the outcomes of the plan

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4. Reflecting: Evaluating the results obtained from the whole action process.
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The final outcome of the Action research is ‘Looping’ and moving the cycle forward to improve
practice.

Task 3

Wild cat Strikes:

Wildcat strikes have spread to power stations across Britain today with more than 2,000 workers
at 17 different sites. The government has called independent mediator Acas to look into claims
that British workers are allegedly excluded from engineering and construction projects.

The workers were brought to that place on worse terms and conditions to get jobs in front of
British workers. There are jobs in the country but there is a need for people with the skills.

So, people started to worry that their jobs could "certainly look to the Conservative Party to do
more to promote employment and combat unemployment than is being done in this country at
the moment".

The various judgments that have been made distorted the original intention and there is a need to
bring in fresh directives to make it absolutely clear that people cannot be undercut in this way.

A true understanding of industrial strife demands consideration of related, less-spectacular

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manifestations as well. The object of study is not the labor dispute, the strike or the lockout but
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the total range of behavior and attitudes of opposition and divergent orientations between
industrial owners and working people

The demand for a change in EU law to protect the interests of British workers has led to the need
for a clear understanding for the call off of the strike. Rather than focusing on wildcat strikes
only, it is necessary to place them in relation with the behavior that leads to and that which
results from them.

Perception

Perception includes the processes associated with the recognition, transformation and
organization of sensory information. It is closely related to all higher-order cognitive functions
(such as reasoning, concept formation, problem-solving, memory, etc.) as well as sensory-motor
behavior.

Attention is a fundamental component of perception that is often used to differentiate higher-

order cognitive processes from are purely sensory processes. Some theories of memory, such as
Paivio, Craik & Lockhart, distinguish various levels of processing based upon perceptual
phenomena.

Perception (Theories):
Two major classes:

1. Bottom-up: Perception builds up a set of primitive "features" in a hierarchy to our

internal representations.

2. Top-down: perception starts with a set of primitives. But, our perceptual experience is
influenced by higher-level processes, such as knowledge and context.

Five main theories:

Direct perception: Perception

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Direct perception
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Perception is a direct result of stimulus energy affecting receptor cells. No higher cognitive
processes or internal representations are necessary

Template/Exemplar theory

We store examples of all the objects we have seen as exemplars or templates.

We compare a perceived object to this set of exemplars until we find a match.

Prototype theory

Instead of storing many exemplars or rigid templates, we store a prototype, which is like the
average of an object.
We compare a perceived object to these prototypes until we find the closest match.

Feature theory
Perception starts with the identification of basic features that are put together into more complex
objects, which are put together into more complex objects, etc. until we identify an object.

Example: Pandemonium

Neural basis for feature theory

Using single-cell recording the neurons in the primary visual cortex (occipital lobe) respond to
visual features such as lines and corners.

These feature detectors are a result of how the early visual system is wired.

Constructive and Defensive behavior:

It is essential to understand emotions in order to understand constructive thinking. Many feel that
their emotions are a way in which makes them to automatically react to circumstances.

Most of the people are aware that it is possible to control their emotions and also their
expression. Constructive thinking is as a way in which you think constructively about the world
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around you.

Defensive Behavior:
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Defensive behavior is a method which is used by most of us to protect our self-esteem. People
often exhibit such behavior to hide the parts of their personality or emotions that they don’t want
to expose to others.

Defensiveness is observed in people who are excessively concerned with guarding against the
real.

A defensive behavior is a “knee jerk reaction.” You can be defensive about certain subjects,
people or emotions and do not realize it. Defensiveness can become emotional destructive when
it becomes a day-to-day way of life.

Firstly, you must become aware of defense mechanisms if you want to deal and understand them.
Here are a few common signs of defensive behaviors:
~ Not talking about certain subjects;
~ Becoming defensive when challenged;
~ Negatively misinterpreting what others say;
~ Finding yourself easily irritated, especially by certain people or topics;
~ Feeling as if no one understands you;
~ Overly self-critical; and also
~ Finding it difficult to listen to the opinions of others.

Sometimes, defensive behavior can be sarcasm, diminishing silence, shaming or blaming, denial,
anger, inflexibly sticking to one way of thinking, without listening to others, and not thinking at
all.

Interpersonal skills:
Interpersonal skills can be defined as “the skills which are needed for effective communication
with the opposite person or group”. Even though there is literal variation over the exact skills
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which falls under this heading most authors tend to agree on a number of core areas in which
competency is essential for effective interpersonal interactions.
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. These include the following:

• Self-awareness: Self-awareness can be a pre-requisite for the type of “other-awareness”

or empathy assumed to achieve effective communication.

• Effective listening: The proficient listening ability is a core skill in a range of

interpersonal situations .Some of the features that underpin effective listening and its role
in oral communication.

• Questioning: The ability to question on a particular instance can lead to an efficient

Interaction, can increase the amount of relevant information and can also increase the
time span.

• Oral communication: Some particular processes must be involved in effective oral

presentations. The topic of oral communication is addressed in greater depth by the
corresponding Learn Higher learning area.

• Helping or facilitating: Being an efficient helper is considered an important aspect of

interpersonal competence. Ideas about helping behavior from Humanistic psychology
have also had an important influence in terms of generating research and developments in
the area of interpersonal skills teaching, an issue which is explored.

• Reflecting: A skill that is closely related to the psychological sciences or counseling

more specifically is the ability to reflect or present reflections. Define reflections as
“statements in the interviewer’s oral words which build and re-present the essence of the
interviewee’s oral words”.

• Assertiveness: Being assertive is an important interpersonal skill for interactions

regarding domains. Asserting oneself can serve many different communicative functions
including allowing the views to be expressed clearly and openly and the dismissal of
negative conflicts.

• Non-verbal communications: A number of communicative activities also involve in

non-verbal behavior and an ability to point and portray messages through this medium is
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also seen as a vital interpersonal skill. Messages can be communicated through the
following non-verbal channels:
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• Facial Expressions: The Facial expressions are an important evidence to convey the
information about an individual’s emotional state. They can also be used to regulate the
interactions by synchronization of the conversations.

• Gaze: Gaze is one of the useful means of communication of emotional information. For
example, staring for a longer time is often considered as a symbol of hostility or
aggression. Gazing helps to initiate and regulate interpersonal interactions. It can also be
used to access the reactions of others at the time of oral presentations and conversations.

• Gestures: Gestures are considered to be a replacement for words at certain times. In

addition to the verbal message, they can be used as symbols to indicate the beginning or
ending of an interaction.

• Posture: The posture often reveals the feel and attitude of an individual towards the
involvement of others in the interaction. Postures of an individual automatically vary
according to the situation. For example, a person can give more relaxed postures in less
formal situations than in formal ones.

• Paralinguistic cues:
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Conclusion
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References
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