Title: Organisational Learning I
1Organisational Learning I
- The Acquisition of ExpertiseA Primer to
Learning in Organisations
2Lecture Agenda
- Session 9 (Morning)
- Theoretical foundations to learning in
organisations - Session 10 (Afternoon)
- Learning in Indian companies
3What is Organisational Learning?
- "the detection and correction of error" (Agyris
and Schön, 1978 2). - "the process of improving actions through better
knowledge and understanding" (Fiol and Lyles,
1985 803). - "the way firms build, supplement, and organize
knowledge and routines around their activities
and within their cultures and adapt and develop
organizational efficiency by improving the use of
the broad skills of their workforces" (Dodgson,
1993 377). - "if through its processing of information, the
range of its organization's potential behaviors
is changed" (Huber, 1991 89).
A "learning organization" is a firm that
purposefully constructs structures and strategies
so as to enhance and maximize organizational
learning
4Why is Organisational Learning needed?
- To increase competitive advantage, innovation and
effectiveness - To become more adaptable to change
- Important for the growth and development of
organisations - Learning increases information sharing,
communication, understanding, and the quality of
decisions made in organisations - The greater the uncertainty in the environment
the greater the need for learning
5What does Organisational Learning comprise?
- Learning form the bulk of an organisation but
organisational learning is more than the sum of
the parts - Individuals form the bulk of the organisation
they must establish the necessary forms and
processes to enable organisational learning - Learning systems not only influence immediate
members but also future members due to the
accumulation of histories, experiences, norms,
and stories
Managing Organisational Learning comprises
striking a balance between the exploration and
the exploitation of knowledge
6How Individuals LearnIndividual Learning
Capabilities/Types of Knowledge
- Verbal or declarative knowledge e.g. facts and
organised information - Intellectual skills e.g. the ability to apply
rules to specific instances - Cognitive strategies e.g. practices of
retrieving and thinking - Attitudes e.g. factors influencing personal
decisions towards knowledge assets - Motor skills e.g. muscular movements enabling
the precise execution of procedures
Source Dodgson, 1993
7How Organisations LearnTypes of Organisational
Learning I
- Single-Loop Learning
- Occurs when errors are detected and corrected and
firms carry on with their present policies and
goals - Activities that add to the knowledge-base or
firm-specific competencies or routines without
altering the fundamental nature of the
organisation's activities
Source Argyris Schön, 1978
8How Organisations LearnTypes of Organisational
Learning II
- Double-Loop Learning
- Occurs when, in addition to detection and
correction of errors, the organization is
involved in the questioning and modification of
existing norms, procedures, policies, and
objectives - Involves changing the organization's
knowledge-base or firm-specific competencies or
routines
Source Argyris Schön, 1978
9How Organisations LearnTypes of Organisational
Learning III
- Deutero Learning
- Occurs when organizations learn how to carry out
single-loop and double-loop learning - The first two forms of learning will not occur if
the organizations are not aware that learning
must occur - Awareness of ignorance motivates learning - this
means identifying the learning orientations or
styles, and the processes and structures
(facilitating factors) required to promote
learning.
Source Argyris Schön, 1978
10How Organisations LearnTypes of Organisational
Learning IV
- Double-loop and deutero learning are concerned
with the why and how to change the organization - Single-loop learning is concerned with accepting
change without questioning underlying assumptions
and core beliefs - The type of organizational learning also depends
on where in the organization learning occurs - Learning can occur in different functions of the
organization such as research, development,
design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing,
administration, and sales
Source Argyris Schön, 1978
11Organisational Learning Process
Knowledge Acquisition
Information Distribution
Information Interpretation
Organisational Memory
Source Huber, 1991
12Knowledge Acquisition Collective Learning
- Congenital learning the knowledge brought into
an organisation at its conception and foundation - Experimental learningthe knowledge accumulated
through experience and / or experiments - Vicarious learningthe knowledge acquired through
second hand experience - Graftingthe knowledge brought into an
organisation through hiring new employees or even
taking over complete companies - Searching and Noticingknowledge developed
through screening the external and internal
context and sensing actual problems
Source Huber, 1991
13Knowledge AcquisitionExperiential Learning
- Organisational Experiments
- Organisational Self-Appraisal
- Experimenting Organisations
- Unintentional or unsystematic learning
- Experience-based learning curves
Source Huber, 1991
14Knowledge AcquisitionSearching and Noticing
- Scanning
- Focused Search
- Performance Monitoring
Source Huber, 1991
15Organisational Learning Process
Knowledge Acquisition
Information Distribution
Information Interpretation
Organisational Memory
Source Huber, 1991
16Information DistributionIssues Arising in
Organisations
- Organisations often do not know what they know
- Except for systems that store hard information,
organisations tend to have weak systems to
retrieve soft (tacit) knowledge within the
organisation - The more widely such information is distributed
within an organisation - More likely to be retrievable
- More likely that organisation learns
The distinct feature of organisational level
information activity is sharing (Daft and
Weick, 1984, p.285)
Source Huber, 1991
17Information DistributionIssues Arising in
Organisations (contd)
- Combining information from different subunits
leads not only to new information but also to new
understanding - Information distribution is a precursor to
aspects of organisational learning that involves
information interpretation
Source Huber, 1991
18Organisational Learning Process
Knowledge Acquisition
Information Distribution
Information Interpretation
Organisational Memory
Source Huber, 1991
19Information Interpretation
- Cognitive Maps and Framing
- Cognitive maps (or belief structure/mental
representation/frame of reference) will shape a
persons interpretation of information - How an information is framed or labeled affects
its interpretation - Media Richness
- Determinant of the extent to which information is
given common meaning by the sender and receiver
of a message - Information Overload
- Overload of information distracts from effective
interpretation - Unlearning
- Process through which learners discard obsolete
and misleading knowledge
Source Huber, 1991
20Organisational Learning Process
Knowledge Acquisition
Information Distribution
Information Interpretation
Organisational Memory
Source Huber, 1991
21Organisational Memory
- Storing and Retriving Information
- Standard operating procedures define how a large
part of the organisational knowledge is stored - Knowledge sharing barriers through
specialisation, differentiation and
departmentalisation -gt Management Information
Systems - Computer-Based Organisational Memory
- Case-by-case foresight, smart indexing or
artificial intelligence can facilitate retrival
of information - Automatic capturing and sophisticated retrieval
of such information result in computer-resident
organisational memories which can be superior to
human components of the organisational memory
Source Huber, 1991
22Organisational Learning and its Context
Strategy
Environment
Structure
OrganisationalLearning
Technology
Culture
23Influences on Organisational Learning
- Strategy
- Structure
- Centralised, machanistic structures tend to
reinforce past behaviours and singe-loop learning - Decentralised structures promotes double-loop
learning - Environment
- For learning to occur, organisations must align
themselves with the environment as to remain
competitive and innovative - Learning can occur only when there is a balance
between change (the new) and stability (the old) - Technology
- Culture
24Readings
- Dodgson, M. (1993). Organizational Learning A
Review of Some Literatures, Organization
Studies, 14 (3), pp.375-394. - Huber, G.P. (1991). Organizational Learning The
Contribution Process and the Literatures,
Organization Science, 2 (1), pp.88-115. - March, J.G. (1991). Exploration and Exploitation
in Organizational Learning, Organization
Science, 2 (1), pp.71-87.