Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ORGANISATIONS
What is learning?
Systems thinking-the fifth discipline that links the others together and
which he argues is missing in most organisations.
Personal mastery
Focus on being the best person
Developing one’s own proficiency
Pursuit of excellence by individuals
Organizations learn only through individuals who learn.
Jack Welch said “the individual is the fountain head of creativity and
innovation in organisation.
Senge argues that people who achieve high levels of personal mastery
tend to be committed and exude initiative, have broader and deeper
sense of responsibility in their work and learn faster.
A desire to do well.
awareness of one’s ignorance ,incompetence, and realise growth areas
(Stages of competency in knowledge acquisition, beginner, learner,
apprentice, expert).
Search for knowledge
Shared vision
Operating values. Common purpose, pictures that people
throughout the orgn carry
When there is a genuine vision as opposed to the all too
familiar vision statement or Cook books people excel and
learn, not because they are told to do so but because they
want to.
what do we really want to achieve?
Shared vision a blend of extrinsic and intrinsic visions.
When people truly share a vision , are connected bond
together by a common aspiration
Mental models
Deeply ingrained assumptions, generalisations, beliefs, pictures and images that
influence how people understand the world and take action.
Entrenched habits or defensiveness that lessens learning.
Organisations too, holds deep rooted belief systems and preconceived ideas.
Strong mental models create rigidity
In change management, the first step is to unfreeze patterns of behaviour and
dismantle negative mental models and shape new ones
Foster openness and the mentality prepared for a shift
ability to carry on “learningful” conversations that balance inquiry and
advocacy
Toby Tetenbaum “to be a successful manager in the 21st century calls for a new
mental model of manager one suited to a world of chaos”.
Team learning
achieve alignment in people‘s thoughts and energies.
aligning and developing the capacities of a team to create
the results its members truly desire.
People need to be able to act together
Genuine thinking together
David Bohm says a team “becomes open to the flow of a
larger intelligence”
allow members to challenge each others’ ideas.
build a star team not a team of stars.
Systems thinking (ST)
understanding how things influence one another within a whole
Seeing things as wholes and seeing interconnections
systems thinking (ST) is a discipline for seeing wholes, a framework for
seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of
change rather than static snapshots
In organizations, systems consists, of people, organization structures,
processes, technology, environment etc that work together to make an
organization healthy or unhealthy
systems best understood in the context of relationships with each other
and with other systems rather than in isolation.
Moving beyond blame
Senge says “ we live our lives in webs of inter-dependence
QUOTE FROM BILL CLINTON
“The greatest figures have always been independent
thinking individuals with open but not empty minds,
individuals willing to listen and learn.They exhibit a
readiness to re-examine their own premises as
thoroughly as those of others” My life the Presidential
years by Clinton 2004.To what extent does the
statement resemble Senge’ disciplines
Chris Argyris Learning Organisation
model
all organizations just do it better than others.
organizations learn.
a fundamental requirement for their survival.
However some
Stage 1: Single Loop Learning (SLL)
adaptive learning
detecting and rectifying errors and deceptions within an
organisation’s existing practices, policies, norms etc
Correction relies on past routines and present policies.
organisation responds to changes in the environment without
changing the core set of its norms, practices, values, policies.
Argyris model contd
Stage 2; Double Loop learning (DLL)
error is detected , corrected in ways that involve
modification of the organization’s objectives, policies and
standard routines (systems)
solving difficult problems
going beyond correcting variances, but challenging
appropriateness of norms, values, standards etc.
reconstructive learning which questions fundamental
objectives structures, processes, goals, strategies, etc.
members need to learn how to learn.
DLL calls for stewardship, transparency, internal
commitment, personal responsibility by employees in the
workplace.
cntd
Stage 3: Triple Loop Learning (TLL)
Self evaluation from top to bottom
Total/ radical transformation of the organisation
Questioning the rationale of the organization
Continuously challenging mission, vision, strategies,
culture, status quo, processes, structure
TLL representing the highest form of organizational
learning and self evaluation
JOHN DENTON LO MODEL (1998)
▪ proposed nine characteristics for an effective learning
organisation
Teamwork
Supportive atmosphere
Quality,
Knowledge creation and transfer
External awareness,
Blame-free culture
DENTON CNTD
Vision,
Flexible structure,
Learning strategy.
Building blocks for learning
organizations
❑ Awareness
aware that learning is necessary before developing into a learning
organization.
learning taking place at all levels.
company accepted the need for change.
create the appropriate environment for this change to occur in.
❑ Establish a strategy
Management make clear commitment to change, innovation and
continuous improvement.
❑ Redesign organization’s structure.
Formal structures can be a serious hindrance to learning.
Flatter structure promotes learning.
Building blocks contd
❑ Reshape the organisation’s culture
Management set the tone for the organisation’s growth by what it says
(strategy) and what it does (behaviour).
Management demonstrate by action, risk taking and admission to failure as
a desirable trait.
❑ Leadership
foster the system thinking and encourage learning to help both the
individuals and organizations in learning.
Management provide commitment for long term learning in the form of
resources.
The amount of resources available determine the quality and quantity of
learning.
Building blocks contd
❑ Human resource practices
Appraisal and reward systems designed for sharing , acquiring new skills
and knowledge through participative and practical learning
❑ Empowerment
Jack Welch “the best way to manage people is just to get out of their way”.
locus of control shifts from managers to workers
workers become responsible for their actions but managers do not lose
their involvement.
encourage, guide, enthuse, and co-ordinate the workers.
contd
Equal participation at all levels so that members can learn from each other
take criticism well and know when to use it to improve their performance
People with high degree of emotional intelligence know themselves well , able to
sense the emotional needs of others.
lower staff turnover among people chosen for their emotional intelligence (EI).
Characteristics of emotional intelligence
❑ Self awareness
understand their emotions don’t let their feeling rule them, are confident,
trust their intuition and don’t let their emotions get out of control
(emotional awareness)
Willing to take an honest look at themselves, know their strengths and
weaknesses, work on these areas so they can perform better (accurate
self-assessment)
❑ Self regulation (personal accountability)
❑ Empathy
Ability to identify with and understand the wants, needs
and view points of those around you,
excellent at managing relationships, listening and
relating to others /understanding others.
avoid stereotyping/ judging too quickly.
Live lives in a very open and honest way.
CONTD
❑ Social skills
easy to talk to others and like other people
People skills
Able to manage disputes, excellent communicators,
masters at building and maintaining relationships
emotional intelligence a good way to shows others the
leader inside you
Improving emotional intelligence in
Learning Organisations
❖ EI can be taught and developed
❖ Observe how you react to people.
❖ Do not rush to judgment/ conclude before you know all facts.
❖ Do not stereotype.
❖ Honestly look at how you think and interact with other people
❖ Look at your work environment
❖ Do a self evaluation, what are your weaknesses?
CONTD
❖ Examine how you react to stressful situations
❖ keep your emotions under control when things go
wrong.
❖ Take responsibility for your actions
❖ Examine how your actions affect others.
EI CRITICAL SKILLS IN LO
Decision making
Team work
Time management
Change tolerance
Stress tolerance
Empathy
Communication
Presentation skills
Social skills
Anger management
Customer service
Assertiveness
contd
Accountability
Flexibility
Trust
Competent
responsible
OTHER ORGANISATIONAL
MODELS
Within the shortest possible time , Japan achieved great strides in economic growth and prosperity.
Japanese super industrial power led Western businesses to question what they did and how they did it
Japan began to take command of international markets and making the west see the world and its place in it
from a new perspective.
aware that the days of the mass production of standardized products appeared to be over
new possibilities and challenges motivated western organization to undertake fundamental reassessment of
their objectives and operations.
Several paradigms among others have come to dominate western managerial thinking.
▪ Learning Organisation
Culture excellence approach
Post entrepreneurial approach
Emerging future organisations approach
Japanese management approach.
Culture-excellence approach
culture at the heart of competitive advantage
Tom Peters and Robert Waterman wrote the book “in
search of excellence; lessons from America’s best run
companies” offering the only way for western
companies to regain their competitiveness.
learning based on the McKinsey 7s framework.
Peters concluded that the four soft S (staff, style,
shared values, skills) held the key to business success
Strategy
Structure
Systems
KEY ATTRIBUTES TO ACHIEVE
EXCELLENCE
❑ Bias for action
Getting things done
Making decisions more quickly as opposed to prolonged decisions.
learn by doing
A reflection of the willingness to innovate and experiment
❑ Closeness to customers
Excellent companies get close to the customer.
Learn from the people served by the business
Learn customer preferences and cater to them.
Provide great products and services
contd
❑ Autonomy and entrepreneurship
Allow employees a high degree of freedom to think independently and
competitively
Foster entrepreneurial spirit in employees
Foster innovation and nurture “champions”
❖ blend of tight and centralised controls for protecting the company’s core values
NB Peters had this to say “large, bureaucratic organizations based on command and control systems are the
enemy of excellence. If things seem under control, you are just not going fast enough”.
Post entrepreneurship model
❑ Product of Rosabeth Moss Kanter
one of America’s leading business thinkers of the world (27 honorary doctorates).
came to prominence with her book( men and women of the corporation).
Believed that America was bureaucratic, unimaginative and uninspiring.
Placed emphasis on unleashing individual dynamism through empowerment and employee
involvement.
called for a revolution in business management to create what she called post –
entrepreneurial organizations.
Creating a marriage between entrepreneurial creativity and corporate discipline, cooperation
and team work.
faster action, more creative manoeuvres, more flexibility, closer partnerships with employees
and customers, more opportunities, removal of weighty procedures that impede action.
The post entrepreneurial strategies
❑ Restructuring to find synergies.
❖ Every part of the organization must add value, concentrate on core business areas,
remove obstacles that hinder effective efficient operations.
❖ Non core activities eliminated and authority dissolved to appropriate levels of the
business
❖ The organization is flatter, more responsive and less complex and has greater focus.
❑ Opening boundaries to form strategic alliances.
❖ pull resources together with other organizations/ bond together to exploit
opportunities and to share ideas and information
CONTD
❑ Creating new venture from within by encouraging
innovation and entrepreneurship
❖ Opportunities are sometimes missed because workers
are not given flexibility to pursue new ideas and
develop new products.
❖ Traditionally, strategic planners and R & D
departments were the sole domain.
❖ Old banners and restrictions must be eradicated and
innovative potential of employees tapped.
JAPANESE MANAGEMENT
APPROACH
❑ Lifetime employment (nenko)
employee attached to the company for life
❑ Consensus decision making (ringi)
total commitment for all
❑ Job rotation/Non specialised career paths
broader interpersonal relationship and versatile employees
❑ Slow evaluation and seniority based promotion system
appraisal based on long life time contribution
❑ Collective group responsibility (omikoshi)
employees think , work and behave as groups not individuals
❑ Paternalistic human concern
corporate concern for employees
❑ Profit based compensation system.
contd
remuneration linked to company performance
❑ Quality control circles
-quality given maximum possible attention
❑ Egalitarianism
❑ Emphasis on training
-employees hired on the basis of character , upbringing and family background not
experience and skills.
❑ Focus on self discipline and harmony
❑ Ethical conduct
❑ Long term strategy
Emerging Future Organizations model(
Charles Handy)
❑ Handy is a leading UK management thinker and a management consultant.
Authored the following books
Understanding organisations (1976)
The future of work 1984)
The age of unreason (1989)
stated that future organizations will have new knowledge based structures run by
smart people.
New organizations flatter, less hierarchical, smaller and more flexible.
Workers treated as assets to be developed and motivated.
Future companies face different circumstances and need to respond accordingly
postulates 3 types of organizations that will dominate the future;
Shamrock organisation
Organization like the plant has three distinct groups of
workers treated differently and have different
expectations.
▪ Professional Core workers- technocrats, specialists,
brain, the hub / nerve centre of the organisation
▪ Contractual fringe- contracting out to individuals or
service organizations
▪ Flexible labour force/experts- part time workers
The federal Organisation
Collection or network of individual organizations allied
together under a common flag or identity.
autonomy granted to shamrock while the federal centre offers
a common platform to integrate activities , generate and
collate ideas
supports the principle of interdependence , each part needs the
help of other parts as well as the centre in order to survive
maximize the innovative and creative potential of workers.
Triple i Organisation
invest in their workforce and build relationship of trust.
Shamrock’s core workers use intelligence to analyse the available
information and to generate ideas for new products and services.
The formula for success and effectiveness is three i =AV(added value) in
cash and kind.
both the shamrock and the federal centre contain the seeds to produce the
triple i organisation
The 3 i’ s must keep the skills, knowledge and ideas of staff up to date thus
the 3i must be a learning organization in which learning occurs at all levels
Knowledge management
❑ model of knowledge creation
Product of Ikujiro Nonaka and Takeuchi Hirotaka
Nonaka and Takeuchi indicate that Learning Organisation focus on the
importance of knowledge, the icon of new economy.
Corporate success and competitive edge in today’s economy comes from
acquiring ,codifying ,and transferring knowledge effectively and with
greater speed .
Proposed enablers for knowledge creation namely vision, strategy,
structure, system and staff.
tacit and explicit knowledge as the two main types of human knowledge
NONAKA’S SECI MODEL
spiral of knowledge where explicit and tacit knowledge interact with each other in a
continuous process.
process leads to creation of new knowledge
The spiral of knowledge/ amount grows all the time when more rounds are done in the model.