The Leader as a Social Architect: Organizational Learning
Running Head: The Leader as a Social Architect: Organizational Learning
Concept Integration Paper 3: Group 4, Question B
Introduction
The learning organization is an idea to which organizations have to evolve in order to be able to respond to the various pressures they face. This type of organization is characterized by recognition that individual and collective learning are key (Smith, 2001). Many of the concepts in organizational learning literature are rooted in metaphors about individual learning thus introducing some conceptual imprecision, tension, and even contradictions into the field, but also enriching it, and making it applicable to a wide range of phenomena (Schulz, 2001). In this paper we will take a closer look at what it means to say that an organization learns, the different levels of learning, how organizational learning is related to individual learning, planning, and organizational change, and finally we will address the the responsibilities leaders have for the learning of the organization and its individuals.
What does it mean to say that an organization learns?
According to Peter Senge (1990) learning organizations are:…organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together (Smith, 2001). A learning organization is an organization – or a network of organizations – that is continually expanding its capacity to create the outcomes to which it aspires (Darling, 2011). Theories of organizational learning attempt to understand the processes which lead to (or prevent) changes in organizational knowledge, as well as the effects of learning and knowledge on behaviors and organizational outcomes (Schulz, 2001). The concept of an organization that learns is not a new one. It started in the fifties and blossomed in the 1990’s,
Concept Integration Paper 3: Group 4, Question B
Introduction
The learning organization is an idea to which organizations have to evolve in order to be able to respond to the various pressures they face. This type of organization is characterized by recognition that individual and collective learning are key (Smith, 2001). Many of the concepts in organizational learning literature are rooted in metaphors about individual learning thus introducing some conceptual imprecision, tension, and even contradictions into the field, but also enriching it, and making it applicable to a wide range of phenomena (Schulz, 2001). In this paper we will take a closer look at what it means to say that an organization learns, the different levels of learning, how organizational learning is related to individual learning, planning, and organizational change, and finally we will address the the responsibilities leaders have for the learning of the organization and its individuals.
What does it mean to say that an organization learns?
According to Peter Senge (1990) learning organizations are:…organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together (Smith, 2001). A learning organization is an organization – or a network of organizations – that is continually expanding its capacity to create the outcomes to which it aspires (Darling, 2011). Theories of organizational learning attempt to understand the processes which lead to (or prevent) changes in organizational knowledge, as well as the effects of learning and knowledge on behaviors and organizational outcomes (Schulz, 2001). The concept of an organization that learns is not a new one. It started in the fifties and blossomed in the 1990’s,
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