Learning Organisation

Organisational Structure and Design - Second Assignment

Submitted To
Dr. G. Muruganandham

Submitted By
RAMESH P L
Roll no : 215109008

Submitted On
th
25 September 2009

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

TIRUCHIRAPALLI
 Contents

Contents 1
1.INTRODUCTION 3
1.1 Definition of learning organisation 4
1.2 History 5
1.3 Organisational Learning and Learning Organisation 6
2.BENEFITS OF LEARNING ORGANISATION 7

Learning Organisation
2.1 Peoples benefits 8
2.1.1 Greater motivation
2.1.2 The workforce is more flexible
2.1.3 People are more creative
2.1.4 Improved social interaction
2.2 Teams benefits 9
2.2.1 Knowledge sharing " Openness Creates Trust "
2.2.2 Interdependency
2.3 The Company Benefits 10
2.3.1 Breakdown of traditional communication barriers
2.3.2 Customer relations
2.3.3 Information resources
2.3.4 Innovation and creativity
3.FIVE DISCIPLINES 12
3.1 Systems Thinking 12
3.2 Personal mastery 13
3.3 Mental models 14
3.4 Shared vision 14
3.5 Team learning 15
3.6 The Fifth Discipline 16
3.7 The Laws of the Fifth Discipline 17
4. BUILDING A LEARNING ORGANISATION 19
4.1 Building Blocks 19
4.1.1 Awareness
4.1.2 Environment
4.1.3 Empowerment
4.1.4 Learning
4.2 Leadership 21
4.2.1 Leader as designer.
4.2.2 Leader as steward.
4.2.3 Leader as teacher.

1
 4.3 Implementation Strategies 22
4.3.1 Accidental
4.3.2 Subversive
4.3.3 Declared
4.4 Problems that may be encountered in a Learning
Organisation 23
4.4.1 Organisational barriers to learning
4.4.2 Individual barriers to learning
5. CASE STUDIES ON ABN AMRO 25
5.1 Innovation & Creativity 25

Learning Organisation
5.1.1 Social and Environmental Innovative Sustainability
5.1.2 Common Office Environment (COE) Deployment Project
5.1.3 Pathlore Learning Management Solution
5.2 Culture 27
5.3 Continuous Improvement 28
5.4 Conclusion 29
6. CONCLUSION 30
References 31

2
 1
INTRODUCTION

Learning Organisation
Without learning, the wise become foolish; by learning, the foolish
become wise

- Confucius

You live to learn or you don’t live long

- Lazarus Long

Learning is knowledge acquired by study. The underlying cause for recent emphasis on
organisational learning is because of the increased pace of change. The organizations that will
truly excel in the future will be those that find how to tap people’s commitment and develop the
capacity to learn at all levels in an organization.

A Learning Organization is the term given to a company that facilitates the learning of its
members and continuously transforms itself. It is a concept that is becoming an increasingly
widespread philosophy in modern companies, from the largest multinationals to the smallest
ventures.

1.1 Definition of learning organisation

There are varying definitions of a Learning Organization in published literature, although the
core concept between them all remains clear.

According to Peter Senge

3
Organizations 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.

According to Pedlar, Boydell and Burgoyne

An organization that facilitates the learning of all its members and consciously transforms itself
and its context

According to Mayo and Lank

Learning Organisation
A learning organisation harnesses the full brainpower, knowledge and experience available to
it, in order to evolve continually for the benefit of all its stakeholders

According to Nancy Dixon

An organisation 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 organisation where people will accept and adapt to new ideas and changes
through a shared vision

To summarize the learning organisation is one in which

 Learns about internal and external environment

 Learning is continues
 Easily adopts to change and new ideas
 People learn together
 Learning is also between employees

1.2 History
Major research into `the art of learning' did not actually start until the 1900's. In the 1950's, the
concept of Systems Thinking was introduced but never implemented.

One of the systems used was called Decision Support Systems (DSS). This was for the use of
corporate executives to help them make decisions for the future. One benefit of DSS was that it
made implicit knowledge explicit. This makes extra knowledge available to the organisation and
will tend to allow the organisation to learn better because explicit knowledge will tend to spread
faster through an organisation. In the 1970's, the same idea was renamed to Organisational
Learning. One of the early researchers in this field was Chris Arygris from Harvard. He
published a book on the subject in 1978. Even with this published information the concept still
wasn't physically taken on by any companies.

4
In the 1980's, companies discovered time as a new source of competitive advantage. This lead to
`capabilities-based competition' which included the capability of learning. Many other people
have continued along this line of research, such as Peter Senge, M. Pedler, J. Burgoyne and Tom
Boydell.

The term learning organisation was first keyed by Peter Senge in his book “The Fifth Discipline:
The art and practice of the learning organization” published in 1990. Later the term was defined
further by Pedler et all in the year 1991. Implementation of the learning organization has its
origins in companies like Shell, Toyoto, Abm AMRO. Nowadays many organisations are turning
out to learning organisation.

Learning Organisation
1.3 Organisational Learning and Learning Organisation
Organizational learning is an area of knowledge within organizational theory that studies models
and theories about the way an organization learns and adapts. While learning organisation uses
the theoretical findings of organizational learning (and other research in organisational
development, system theory, and cognitive science) in order to prescribe specific
recommendations about how to create organizations that continuously and effectively learn.

5
 2
BENEFITS OF LEARNING

Learning Organisation
ORGANISATION

In the long run, the only sustainable source of competitive advantage is

your organization's ability to learn faster than its competitior

-Peter Senge

Organizations do not organically develop into Learning Organizations; there are usually factors
prompting their change. It has been found that as organizations grow, they lose their natural
capacity to learn as company structures and individual thinking becomes rigid.When problems
arise in the company, the solutions that are proposed often turn out to be only short term and the
problem re-emerge in the future. To remain competitive, many organizations have restructured,
which has resulted in fewer people in the company. This means those who remain need to work
more effectively. To create a competitive advantage, companies need to be able to learn faster
than their competitors and also develop a customer responsive culture.

2.1 Peoples benefits

A Learning Organisation encourages its members to improve their personal skills and qualities,
so that they can learn and develop. They benefit from their own and other people's experience,
whether it be positive or negative.

2.1.1 Greater motivation

6
People are appreciated for their own skills, values and work. All opinions are treated equally and
with respect. By being aware of their role and importance in the whole organisation, the workers
are more motivated to "add their bit". This encourages creativity and free-thinking, hence leading
to novel solutions to problems. All in all there is an increase in job satisfaction.

2.1.2 The workforce is more flexible

People learn skills and acquire knowledge beyond their specific job requirements. This enables
them to appreciate or perform other roles and tasks. Flexibility allows workers to move freely
within the organisation, whilst at the same time it removes the barriers associated with a rigidly

Learning Organisation
structured company. It also ensures that any individual will be able to cope rapidly with a
changing environment, such as those that exist in modern times.

2.1.3 People are more creative

There are more opportunities to be creative in a learning organisation. There is also room for
trying out new ideas without having to worry about mistakes. Employees' creative contribution is
recognised and new ideas are free to flourish.

2.1.4 Improved social interaction

Learning requires social interaction and interpersonal communication skills. An organisation
based on learning will ensure members become better at these activities. Teams will work better
as a result.

2.2 Teams benefits

Learning Organisations provide the perfect environment for high performing teams to learn,
grow and develop. On the other hand these teams will perform efficiently for the organisation to
produce positive results.

2.2.1 Knowledge sharing " Openness Creates Trust "

A team is composed of highly specialised members who cannot and are not expected to know
everything about a job. In this case the sharing of common knowledge is quite important for the
completion of a job. Within learning organisations in general, and teams in particular,
information and knowledge flows around more freely. This makes for higher productivity within
teams and between teams as they build on each other’s strengths. Trust between team members
increases and hence they value each other’s opinions more.

2.2.2 Interdependency

7
In any organisation people depend on each other for the completion of their jobs. Learning
Organisations will increase this awareness, and improve relations between people at a personal
level. By knowing more about other people's roles, needs and tasks, members can manage their
time better and plan their work more efficiently. This dependency is decreased as learning is
enhanced, letting people get on with their own job better as they rely less on others.

2.3 The Company Benefits

An active learning organisation will have at its heart the concept of continuous learning.
Therefore it will always be improving in its techniques, methods and technology.

Learning Organisation
2.3.1 Breakdown of traditional communication barriers
The old hierarchical communication barrier between manager-worker has devolved into more of
a coach-team member scenario. Leaders support the team, not dictate to it. The team appreciates
this which in turn helps them to be highly motivated.

All workers have an increased awareness of the company's status, and all that goes on in other
departments. Communication between and across all layers of the company gives a sense of
coherence, making each individual a vital part of the whole system. Workers perform better as
they feel more a part of the company; they are not just pawns in a game.

2.3.2 Customer relations

A company's first priority is its customer's needs. A Learning Organisation cuts the excess
bureaucracy normally involved with customer relations allowing greater contact between the
two. If the customer’s requirements change, learning organisations can adapt faster and cope
more efficiently with this change.

2.3.3 Information resources

Over time a company builds up a pool of learning, in the form of libraries, and human expertise.
This pool of knowledge within learning organisations is larger than average. New problems and
challenges can be met faster using this increased resource.

2.3.4 Innovation and creativity

As more people in every level of a company engage in continual learning a valid contribution
can come from any member of the company, and from any part of the company. Being
innovative and creative is the responsibility of the whole workforce and allows learning
organisations to adapt to changes in the state of the market, technology and competition
efficiently.

8
Moreover, this creativity gives rise to an increased synergy. The interaction between high
performing teams produces a result which is higher than was planned or expected of them.

Learning Organisation
