Success of Learning Organisations

 


Introduction

The business environment is constantly changing now, unlike ever before.  With technological advances bringing in constant changes in the way how people and businesses operate, in order for an organisation to continue to stay appealing to customers, it is important to keep adapting to new ways of doing things (Smith, 2016).  A notable issue in HRM is when an organisation and its people are not continuously adapting to the changing environment, therefore making it challenging for an organisation to remain competitive and appeal to customers. 

The importance of learning organisations

In order for the business and its processes to remain relevant in the context of changing environmental circumstances, it is important for the organisation to engage in continually learning in order to adapt to the changing environment.  While it is not sufficient for only individuals within the organisation to be learning new skills, the organisation as a whole needs to be learning and adapting for long term success (Lyle, 2012).  Learning organisations are successful because their learning provides a competitive advantage enabling them to think and act ahead of their competition; moreover they tend to have brand equity which their competitors cannot match, and they are capable of attracting and retaining the best talent.  Examples of learning organisations include General Electric, Apple and Microsoft all of which are encouraging ingenuity, teamwork building and independent thinking (Smith, 2016)

Key traits of learning organisations

Learning organisations are characterized by five key traits as identified by Senge (1990):

·         Systems thinking – the organisation is supported by a culture of collaborative learning, where learners need to understand the system as a whole, as well as the individual components involved

·         Personal mastery – learning organisations comprise forward-thinking mindsets, that are focused on lifelong learning and continual growth

·         Mental models – learners assess and evaluate their cognition through self-reflection, and they are encouraged to test new approaches and theories

·         Shared vision – learning organisations are headed by forward-thinking leaders, with commitment from supervisors, managers and team members below all having a shared vision

·         Team learning – learning organisations have a knowledge-sharing infrastructure and ongoing collaboration

Promoting organisational learning

Learning involves managers and staff seeking to uncover knowledge about business processes, customers, the market, etc. This knowledge is then retained within the organisation and shared amongst employees and teams, whereby the knowledge is then used to change organisational practices (Kearns, 2014).  As such, the organisation adapts to changing environmental conditions, and would thrive in the long-term.





 

References

Kearns, P. (2014). Organisational Learning and Development: From an Evidence Base. London: Routledge.

Lyle, E. (2012). Learning organizational learning. International Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 3(6), pp.217-221.

Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday Business.

Smith, R. (2016). Organisational Learning: An integrated HR and knowledge management perspective. Oxon: Routledge.

 

 

 

Comments

  1. Ruwan Herath19 April 2021 at 02:48

    Strengthened community and improved collaboration, Productivity improvement, Innovation,
    Higher Efficiency, Continuous improvement will be few benefits to the organization of creating a learning organization culture.

    Apple Inc is one of the business which is a giant It corporation over the world used the methods of “learning organization” to overcome difficulties in today market.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nuwan Buddhika1 May 2021 at 05:07

    Learning and development within an organization is much important today than ever. It leads innovation and new product development to improve market share and retain existing revenues while bringing new revenues.

    ReplyDelete

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