Unit 3: Organizational Design & Strategy

Lesson 8: Learning & Organization Strategy

What are Learning Organizations?

Organizations that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously

transforms itself.

Organization with an ingrained philosophy for anticipating reacting and

responding to change comple!ity and uncertainty.

Learning organizations de"elop as a result of the pressures facing modern

organizations and enables them to remain competiti"e in the business
en"ironment.

Organizations need to maintain #nowledge about new products and processes $

%nderstand what is happening in the outside en"ironment $ &roduce creati"e
solutions using the #nowledge and s#ills of all within the organization.
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4haracteristics of Learning
Organizations

Systems 5hin#ing

6n approach to problem sol"ing by

"iewing 7problems7 as parts of an
o"erall system rather than reacting
to specific part outcomes or e"ents

Learning organizations use this

method of thin#ing when assessing
their company and ha"e
information systems that measure
the performance of the organization
as a whole and of its "arious
components

Personal Mastery

4ommitment by an indi"idual to the

process of learning

5here is competiti"e ad"antage for an

organization whose wor#force can learn
more 8uic#ly than the wor#force of other
organizations

6c8uired through staff training &

de"elopment

Team Learning

6ccumulation of indi"idual learning $

-ndi"iduals engage in dialogue &
discussions 9Open communication &
Shared %nderstanding:
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4haracteristics of Learning
Organizations

.ental .odels

6ssumptions held by indi"iduals &

organizations

Learning organization needs to

challenge these mental models

%nwanted "alues need to be

discarded in a process called
;unlearning<

Organizations tend to ha"e

;memories< which preser"e certain
beha"iors norms and "alues= it is
important to replace confrontational
attitudes with an open culture

Shared Vision

-mportant in moti"ating the staff to

learn

Learning organizations tend to be

flat and decentralized structures
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5he Learning 4ycle
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Single & 1ouble Loop Learning
Systems
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Single Loop Learning
Organization re"iews
performance against targets &
ta#es correcti"e action
1ouble Loop Learning
Organization challenges
go"erning assumptions
@mployees reflect on
beha"ior identify ways they
inad"ertently contribute to
organization<s problems and
then change how they act
What is Anowledge .anagement?

,ange of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify

create represent distribute and enable adoption of insights &
e!periences.

Such insights & e!periences comprise #nowledge either embodied in

indi"iduals or embedded in organizations as processes or practices

Anowledge .anagement typically focuses on organizational obBecti"es

such as impro"ed performance competiti"e ad"antage inno"ation
sharing of lessons learnt and continuous impro"ement
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-mportance of Anowledge
.anagement in Strategy

.ar#et places are increasingly competiti"e and the rate of inno"ation is rising

4ompetiti"e pressures reduce the size of the wor#force that holds "aluable business
#nowledge

,eduction in staffing create a need to replace informal #nowledge with formal methods

5he amount of time a"ailable to e!perience and ac8uire #nowledge has diminished

@arly retirement & increasing mortality of wor#force lead to loss of #nowledge

4hange in strategic direction may result in the loss of #nowledge in a specific area

Ceed to manage increasing comple!ity as small operating companies are transDnational

sourcing operations
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Anowledge .anagement Spiral
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5acit Anowledge
-nternalized #nowledge that an
indi"idual may not be
consciously aware of such as
how he or she accomplishes
particular tas#s
@!plicit Anowledge
Anowledge that an indi"idual
holds consciously in mental
focus in a form that can be
easily communicated to others
Spiraling Anowledge &rocess 9S@4-:
Anowledge follows a cycle in which implicit
#nowledge is ;e!tracted< to become e!plicit
#nowledge and e!plicit #nowledge is ;reD
internalized< into implicit #nowledge.
Anowledge .anagement Spiral
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Socialization: &rocess that transfers tacit
#nowledge in one person to tacit
#nowledge in another person $ through
direct interaction with customers and
suppliers outside the organization and
people inside the organization
Externalization: &rocess for ma#ing
tacit #nowledge e!plicit $ 1uring faceDtoD
face communication people share beliefs
and learn how to better articulate their
thin#ing though instantaneous feedbac#
and the simultaneous e!change of ideas
Combination: @!plicit #nowledge
can be con"eyed in documents email
data bases as well as through meetings
and briefings
Internalization: &rocess of understanding and absorbing
e!plicit #nowledge in to tacit #nowledge
held by the indi"idual $ -nternalization is largely
e!periential in order to actualize concepts and methods
either through the actual doing or through
simulations.
4hallenges of 4reating Learning
Organizations

&roblems of Leadership

Leaders in the organization may already ha"e mental models that are
entrenched and must be o"ercome in order to foster the openness and
confidence re8uired

Learning Organizations re8uire leaders to be open to challenges about their

"ision and beha"ior and to be prepared to change when necessary

Learning Organizations re8uire a 8uestioning approach that is contradictory

to the cultural e!pectations of both leaders and the maBority of organizations

.ost leaders are promoted to their le"el because of their e!pertise at the
pre"ious le"el they then fall into the ;@!pert 5rap< telling people what to do
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4hallenges of 4reating Learning
Organizations

LongD5erm Gision

Learning Organizations must ha"e a longDterm "ision and be focused on the

learning and de"elopment of their wor#ers in order to achie"e de"elopment
of the whole.

5his re8uires many to ma#e large changes and in a results dri"en time
pressured business en"ironment the decision to loo# longDterm is a hard
one to ta#e.

5raining and 1e"elopment re8uired to mo"e towards being a Learning

Organization ta#es a lot of time that companies may not be able or
willing to spend at the moment.
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Thank you
Hardy Alexander
Founder & Director | Triune Global
Bangalore 560077
Contact !"# "6$6% %$6"$
&'ail (alexander)triuneglobal*co'
+y Blog day,core*-ord.re,,*co'
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