Organizational Behavior - What Is A Learning Organization - Assignment Example

Organizational Behavior - What Is A Learning Organization? Table of Contents Overview 3 Learning Organization 3 Characteristics of Learning Organization 4 Examples of ‘What Learning Organization Is’ 4 Significance of Learning Organization 6 References 8 Overview Organizations can be referred as a platform where members possess common objectives. It can be defined as the arrangement of relationships, collective objectives, activities, power, communication, as well as other components that tend to happen when a group of people work together (University of Washington, 1999). This paper intends to comprehend the meaning of the term ‘learning organization’ and tries to provide detailed knowledge on its significance in the modern day business context. Hereby, this study will intend to identify three examples as learning organizations and thus will provide with a comprehensive definition of the concept along with its rising importance in the current scenario. Learning Organization The organization that has the capability to acclimatize and change continuously is characterized as ‘learning organization’. Similar to the individual’s tendency to learn, organizations also learn from its surroundings. In general, organizations try to involve them in single-loop learning. After having detected the mistakes, the rectification procedure depends upon past routines as well as present policies. However, the learning organization generally makes use of the double-loop learning. In this case, the errors that are detected are corrected by means of adjustment of the goals of the organization, its strategies and the standard schedules (Robbins, 2007). Characteristics of Learning Organization There are five main features of a learning organization. The members of the organization have shared vision which is mutually agreed among them. People often do not follow their old ways of thinking and make use of the standard routines in order to resolve the problems or perform their task. It has been observed that the employees of the organization consider the organizational processes, interaction with the environment, activities as well as functions to be significant components of scheme of inter-relationships. It is often believed that people of the organization try to communicate openly with all the members of the organization without fear of criticism or punishment. People reduce their personal interests as well as portioned departmental interests to work together and attain the shared visions of the organization (Robbins, 2007). Examples of ‘What Learning Organization Is’ Advocates of the learning organization envisage such organization as a remedy for three basic problems intrinsic in traditional organizations, such as fragmentations, competitions as well as reactions. On the onset, fragmentation which is dependent upon the specialization creates “walls” and “chimneys” thus separating numerous functions into autonomous identities. Secondly, when there is too much emphasis upon the competition it weakens collaboration. Competition exists among the members of the organization in order to demonstrate who is right, who is more persuasive and who knows more. Divisions tend to compete with one another when they must cooperate and share knowledge. Thirdly, reactiveness or reaction misguides the management’s concentration to problem-solving instead of creation. To be elaborated, organizations acting as problem-solvers majorly intend to eliminate identified problems that in turn hinder the operational process in terms of learning. On the other hand, organizations performing as creators focus on introducing something new to the system avoiding reactiveness which tends to enhance the scope of innovation through learning process (Robbins, 2007). Learning organization must be thought of as a means to strive towards the achievement of the goals of the organization instead of realistic description of structured activity. Learning organization draws on preceding organizational behavioral concepts like boundary less organization, quality management along with other concepts such as organizational culture, transformational leadership and functional conflict. Learning organization is also featured by a specific culture that tends to value growth, directness and risk taking. It is learning organization that endorses the significance of disagreements, constructive criticism as well as different types of functional conflicts. It is quite significant to comprehend the fact that transformational leadership is required in a learning organization for executing the shared vision (Robbins, 2007). Significance of Learning Organization Learning organizations tend to provide the employees as well as the overall organizational structure with continuous learning opportunities. It interconnects individual performance along with organizational performance. The learning organization makes explicit use of learning in order to reach the determined objectives. A culture of enquiry and dialogue is fostered in the organization that makes the place more encouraging for people to distribute their ideas openly and therefore take risk. It is to be stated that the idea of learning organization offers the managers as well as other employees of the organization with a demonstration of how things can be implemented. The main benefits of learning organization to the business houses are that it fosters rapid changes which are apparently taking place in the organizations at a rapid pace. Therefore, the organizations are being forced to adjust work procedures maintaining the pace with the occurring changes (Aggestam, 2006). In context of learning organization, change is noticed as a scope to learn through problem-solving. Notably, there is change in the roles and responsibilities of traditional HR functions. In learning organizations, managers play a significant role as mentors to empower each single individual to be held responsible for their own learning activities. The companies embracing learning organization tend to have a culture where learning and innovation is supported by the individuals as well as the organization. Furthermore, the learning organization is arranged in such a way that it scans for significant information by itself. It also supports individuals to transfer their knowledge among other individuals in the group (Aggestam, 2006). The main reasons behind building up of the learning organization are to get superior performance in order to attain sustainable competitive advantage. Learning organization helps to improve the quality of work produced by the employees in the organization. It helps to manage the changes that take place on a regular basis within and outside the organization. It is through learning organization that the employers can have energetic and committed workforce. Therefore, there is requirement of skill sets by individuals in the learning organization. The individual must possess the capability to comprehend the culture of the organization effectively. He must also have the capability to encourage productivity and develop self-esteem. In addition, the individual should have the ability to grasp new things on a continuous basis. From an analytical viewpoint, it can be stated that organizational learning may get hindered to a large extent if the individuals of the origination are found to be reluctant to participate in the learning process. Thus, to involve the reluctant individuals in the learning process, an organization requires focusing on extensive motivation (Agarwal, n.d.). References Aggestam, L., 2006. “Learning Organization or Knowledge Management Which Came First, The Chicken or the Eggs”, Information Technology and Control. Vol: 35, Iss: 3A, Pp: 295-302. Agarwal, A., No Date. Learning Organization. Introduction to Learning Organization. Retrieved Online on November 10, 2011 from http://www.hrfolks.com/Articles/Learning%20Organization/Learning%20Organization.pdf Robbins, S. P., 2007. Organizational Behavior. Prentice Hall. University of Washington, 1999. Organization & Geography. What is Organization? 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