Organisation LearningEssay Preview: Organisation LearningReport this essayWhere Argyris and Schцn were the first to propose models that facilitate organizational learning, the following literatures have followed in the tradition of their work:
Argyris and Schцn (1978) distinguish between single-loop and double-loop learning, related to Gregory Batesons concepts of first and second order learning. In single-loop learning, individuals, groups, or organizations modify their actions according to the difference between expected and obtained outcomes. In double-loop learning, the entities (individuals, groups or organization) question the values, assumptions and policies that led to the actions in the first place; if they are able to view and modify those, then second-order or double-loop learning has taken place. Double loop learning is the learning about single-loop learning.
March and Olsen (1975) attempt to link up individual and organizational learning. In their model, individual beliefs lead to individual action, which in turn may lead to an organizational action and a response from the environment which may induce improved individual beliefs and the cycle then repeats over and over. Learning occurs as better beliefs produce better actions.
Kim (1993), as well, in an article titled “The link between individual and organizational learning”, integrates Argyris, March and Olsen and another model by Kofman into a single comprehensive model; further, he analyzes all the possible breakdowns in the information flows in the model, leading to failures in organizational learning; for instance, what happens if an individual action is rejected by the organization for political or other reasons and therefore no organizational action takes place?
Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) developed a four stage spiral model of organizational learning. They started by differentiating Polanyis concept of “tacit knowledge” from “explicit knowledge” and describe a process of alternating between the two. Tacit knowledge is personal, context specific, subjective knowledge, whereas explicit knowledge is codified, systematic, formal, and easy to communicate. The tacit knowledge of key personnel within the organization can be made explicit, codified in manuals, and incorporated into new products and processes. This process they called “externalization”. The reverse process (from explicit to implicit) they call “internalization” because it involves employees internalizing an organizations formal rules, procedures, and other forms of explicit knowledge. They also use the term “socialization” to denote the sharing of tacit knowledge, and the term “combination” to denote the dissemination of codified knowledge. According to this model, knowledge creation and organizational learning take a path of socialization, externalization, combination, internalization, socialization, externalization, combination . . . etc. in an infinite spiral.
Nick Bontis et al. (2002) empirically tested a model of organizational learning that encompassed both stocks and flows of knowledge across three levels of analysis: individual, team and organization. Results showed a negative and statistically significant relationship between the misalignment of stocks and flows and organizational performance.
Flood (1999) discusses the concept of organizational learning from Peter Senge and the origins of the theory from Argyris and Schon. The author aims to “re-think” Senges The Fifth Discipline through systems theory. The author develops the concepts by integrating them with key theorists such as Bertalanffy, Churchman, Beer, Checkland and Ackoff. Conceptualizing organizational learning in terms of structure, process, meaning, ideology and knowledge, the author provides insights into Senge within the context of the philosophy of science and the way in which systems theorists were influenced by twentieth-century advances from the classical assumptions of science.
Imants (2003) provides theory development for organizational learning in schools within the context of teachers professional communities as learning communities, which is compared and contrasted to teaching communities of practice. Detailed with an analysis of the paradoxes for organizational learning in schools, two mechanisms for professional development and organizational learning, (1) steering information about teaching and learning and (2) encouraging interaction among teachers and workers, are defined as critical for effective organizational learning.
Common (2004) discusses the concept of organisational learning in a political environment to improve public policy-making. The author details the initial uncontroversial reception of organisational learning in the public sector and the development of the concept with the learning organization. Definitional problems in applying the concept to public policy are addressed, noting research in UK local government that concludes on the obstacles for organizational learning in the public sector: (1) overemphasis of the individual, (2) resistance to change and politics, (3) social learning is self-limiting, i.e. individualism, and (4) political “blame culture.” The concepts of policy learning and policy transfer are then defined with detail on the conditions for realizing organizational learning in the public sector.
In 2003, Poulsen and I used a number of papers, including a series by Saffron and Cohen, to investigate the potential links between organizational learning, policy design, and organizational planning. They reported on the emergence of new strategies and procedures to help guide the development of policy across six of these areas.
We found that policy design involves the provisionation of expertise over a much smaller number of individuals, with no impact on the political process. Policy management is, on average, not influenced by individual and political interests and will tend to focus on the needs and objectives of the individual, rather than the overall political or social order. Both the research on policy-making and policy-transfer and the review of policy studies by Coyle and Jonsson focus on the concept of social knowledge and social policy making so that policy decision making can be managed without the need for individuals to perform or justify the decision to make. The social knowledge and policy-transition hypothesis suggests that people’s attitudes to political change, policy decision-making, and policy-transfer affect the quality of decision making in local practice.[24] In a recent review of policy design we found that, on average, policy designers would be less likely to implement organizational-based change over less politically responsive policy design.[25] This finding may not matter in practice, however, as policy design tends to generate a higher degree of information and opinion rather than public feedback – particularly when people have little to gain by simply observing. We note that this finding contrasts with previous research that shows that policy designers tend to overestimate the influence that change may have on decision making. Therefore, we set out to determine the relationship between policy design and public opinion and find that policy design appears to benefit in supporting the concept of social knowledge and policymaking. We used a large sample size to explore the potential effects of policy making on social and political change. Participants were recruited in three main groups: (1) from all cities, who had to live in or close to a city and lived in between cities. (2) city-based researchers from an urban data base for which the researchers had done a complete survey on a range of variables (e.g. the size or location of the polling station, the number of polling stations and the type and type of poll). Participants were selected as city-based researchers from cities who were in the data base from October 2004 on for whom all of the variables were available. In addition to collecting all data collected from the cities in the sample participants were allowed to participate in telephone interviews to examine the information and questions about their local political or social life while also using this information to conduct field surveys and explore the knowledge, policy planning, and organization. A third group consisting of city experts from cities outside the data base were selected for the study while only a fifth city expert was included at the time of the interview. Data about participants’ political opinion were selected at random from those who were either invited to participate or who had previously attended a participating city or for whom they were involved in policy or policy-making planning. In three rounds of telephone interviews participants were asked about a range of topics including, among other things, how many supporters they had at a given point in time when they had voted in favor of their party.
Organizational knowledgeWhat is the nature of knowledge created, traded and used in organizations? Some of this knowledge can be termed technical – knowing the meaning of technical words and phrases, being able to read and make sense of economic data and being able to act on the basis of law-like generalizations. Scientific knowledge is propositional; it takes the form of causal generalizations – whenever A, then B. For example, whenever water reaches the temperature of 100 degrees, it boils; whenever it boils, it turns into steam; steam generates pressure when in an enclosed space; pressure drives engines. And so forth.
A large part of the knowledge used by managers, however, does not assume this form. The complexities of a managers task are such that applying A may result in B, C, or Z. A recipe or an idea that solved very well a particular problem, may, in slightly different circumstances backfire and lead to ever more problems. More important than knowing a whole lot of theories, recipes and solutions for a manager is to know which theory, recipe or solution to apply in a specific situation. Sometimes a manager may combine two different recipes or adapt an existing recipe with some important modification to meet a situation at hand.
Managers often use knowledge in the way that a handyman will use his or her skills, the materials and tools that are at hand to meet the demands of a particular situation. Unlike