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An organization
where people continually expand their
capacity to create the results they truly

Learning
desire,
where new and expansive patterns of
thinking are nurtured,
where collective aspirations are set free,

Organizations
and
where people are continually learning how
to learn together.
(Senge, 1990)

Learning Organization Learning Organization

is an organization is continually transferring itself for
better manage and use of knowledge
skilled at creating, acquiring and for corporate success; it empowers
transferring knowledge, and at people within and outside the
modifying its behaviour to organization to learn as they work,
reflect new knowledge and and it utilizes technology to
insights. maximize learning and production.
Marquardt (1994)
Gravin (1993)

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Five Characteristics Leader’s Role in

1. Systems Thinking Learning Organization
– Holistic view of the organization with identification of key
elements
1. Build shared vision
2. Personal Mastery
– Commitment by employees for the process of learning 2. Generate creative tension by showing
3. Mental Models the gap between future vision and
– Need to challenge the individual mental models in reaching a current reality
shared mental model 3. Challenge prevailing mental models
4. Shared Vision (paradigms)
– Clarity of organizational vision with awareness building
5. Team Learning
4. Foster systemic (holistic) pattern of
– Accumulation of individual learning with meaningful interactions
thinking
5. Design and create new things

Leader as Designer
Leader as Designer  Designing purpose, vision and core
values
Leader as Teacher  Designing policies, strategies and
Leader as Steward structures
 Designing effective learning processes

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Leader as Teacher Leader as Steward

Leaders as teachers help people restructure
 Subtlest role of leadership
their views of reality.

Systematic Structure  Dimension of Servant Leadership

Those who
(Generative)

Patterns of Behavior
(Responsive) serve
deserve
Events
(Reactive ) leadership.

Learning in Organizations Vision to Action

Creative New Vision
Learning Ideas
Where we want to be Innovation
Creative And
Organizational
Tension Learning
Learning
Current Reality
Adoptive Problem Where we are
Learning Solving

Senge (1990) Senge (1990)

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Instead of forcing the individual to conform

From to the company's policies and practices, the
overall objective is to capture and leverage the
Organizational knowledge and expertise that each
organizational member brings to the company.
Individual Thus the notion of “organizational individual” is
giving way to a concept we call “the
To individualized corporation” – one that
capitalizes on the idiosyncrasies and even the
Individualized eccentricities of exceptional people by
recognizing, developing and applying their
Corporation unique capabilities.
Bartlett and Ghoshal (1997)

Kao Corporation
Questions for Discussion:
1. Analyse Dr Yoshio Maruta’s role in organisational
experience of Kao Corporation.
2. Explain what effect Kao Corporation’s learning
experiences has had on organisation design,
innovation and HRD practices.
3. Identify the key elements of learning organisations
present in Kao Corporation and discuss their
strategic importance with examples.
4. Describe what lessons can organsations learn from
Kao Corporation.