Learning

Organizations
What is LEARNING??
A purposeful activity aimed at acquisition and
development of knowledge & skills and their
applications.

It is the product of experience and the goal of

education.
Types of learning..
Level 1.- Learning facts, knowledge, processes and
procedures.
Level 2.- Learning new job skills that are transferable
to other situations.
Level 3 - Learning to adapt..
Level 4 - Learning to learn.
Learning Organizations(LO)..
An organization that learns and encourages learning
among its people.
It promotes exchange of information between
employees hence creating a more knowledgeable
workforce.
This produces a very flexible organization where
people will accept and adapt to new ideas and
changes through a shared vision.
Features of LO..
Nurtures creative thinking and innovative ideas

 Encourages members to learn continuously and

enjoy sense of achievement.

Develops new capabilities and renews itself from time

to time.
Cont..
Learning is an ongoing process for it.

Employs learning as a competitive advantage.

Futuristic outlook
Need of LO..
To survive in the knowledge economy of the 21st
century.
To cope with rapid changes in economy.
To manage global competition in future.
To handle tomorrow's demanding and fragmented
market.
To build people based system.
To lead to holistic approach.
Creating Learning Organizations..
Start at the top
Start with a chronic problem
Initiate a Task Force
Start with an Organizational Diagnosis
Review existing systems and processes
New Product Development
Tools, Techniques & Skills
Inquiry - interviewing, seeking information
Creativity - brainstorming, associating ideas
Making sense of situations - organising
information and thoughts
Making choices - deciding courses of action
Observing outcomes - recording, observation
Reframing knowledge - embedding new knowledge
into mental models, memorizing
Tools, Techniques & Skills cont..
Communication, especially across organisational
boundaries
Listening and observing
Mentoring and supporting colleagues
Taking a holistic perspective - seeing the team and
organisation as a whole
Coping with challenge and uncertainty
Advantages of LO..
Achieving excellence both in quantity and quality of
performance.
Enjoys a sustainable advantage over its competitors.
Successfully face environmental challenges and
changes.
Does not face obsolescence of management practices.
Maintain good relations with stakeholders.
Why It Works???
The People Develop
Greater Motivation
The workforce is more flexible
People are more creative
Improved social Interaction

 Teams and group work better

 Knowledge sharing
 Interdependency
Cont..
The Company Benefits
Breakdown of traditional communication barriers
Customers relations
Information resources
Innovation and creativity
 Traditional Vs. Learning Organisation
BASIS TRADITIONAL LEARNING ORGANISATION
ORGANISATION

Vision Provided by top management Shared vision of entire

organisation.

Formulation and Top management formulates Both takes place at all the levels
implementation of and the rest implement
ideas

Responsibility Each person responsible for his Each person responsible for
job only their as well as other related
work

Conflict resolution Through the use of power and Through the use of collaborative
hierarchical influence learning
Critical appraisal of LO..
To be effective, the change must be drastic and not
introduced slowly as time is money.

 All employees do not want to learn and will resist the

change.

Emphasis on learning and not enough on getting the job

done.

Ignorance about proper learning cycle.

Critical appraisal
Too much freedom and information can create
misunderstandings.
Information overload, too much to absorb at once.
Openness endangers the trust between employees.
Conclusion..
Learning Organization provides a lot of information
to the employees to cope up with the changing world
and thus also is helpful for an organization if applied
carefully.