Organization Learning Disabilities - Essay Example

Topic: Organization Learning Disabilities Organization Learning Disabilities Introduction Competitive advantage that can be sustained originates from the ability of the organization to be faster than its competition and companies should eliminate any disabilities that affect their efficiency and effectiveness. Free markets, technological advancements and increased competition have resulted in a rise in the pace of change and identifying strategies to avoid decline, surviving and excelling requires adaptive behaviour in regards to external and internal dynamics.

Organizational learning needs an awareness of the learning areas as well as management of human resources(Senge, 2006). Limitations and opportunities of organizational learning should be considered in learning organizations which are those where individuals continually broaden their capability to achieve the results they seek while nurturing new and expansive thinking patterns. Organizational learning disabilitiesThe creation of a competitive advantage for companies is dependent on learning at the individual and the organizational level and people but there are a number of barriers that result in organizational learning disabilities which may hinder this.

Some organizational learning disabilities that are faced by various organizations include:I am my position: In this case individuals have a tendency to connect to their positions, for instance, a janitor will think that he is a janitor while a teacher will also have the same line of thinking. In this situation of organization learning disability, people have a propensity to forget that they are human beings. Their specialization into their positions results in the people losing their human aspects in the organization.

The enemy is out there: This is a familiar case where the people in the organization always blame someone else for problems. For instance, the marketing department may blame their production counterparts, while the production department may blame the purchasing department for problems being faced in the organization. This has resulted in the development of cross functional teams and individuals across supply chains are collaborating more closely(Wallace, 2007). The fixation on events: In this case, the people in the organization find themselves thinking only in terms of specific events such as when sales dropped by a particular margin, when they have a shortage of staff or when the number of customers is declining.

This creates a scenario where people concentrate on specific issues at any particular time. This form of near sightedness results in reactionary policies that eventually lead to worse situations and a systems-view is supposed to counteract this disability.ConclusionLearning organizations are built through time to achieve commitments, cultivated perceptions and management process slowly over time(Beckford, 2002). However, there are changes that can be made immediately and companies that seek to become learning organizations may start by fostering an environment that is favourable for learning through allowing time for analysis and reflection among others.

Companies should also open limitations and boundaries so that the exchange of ideas can be stimulated since boundaries act as barriers to the information flow. When open and more supportive environments have been created, learning forums with explicit learning goals should also be created. Cumulatively, these efforts assist in the elimination of barriers that result in companies being considered as having organizational learning disabilities.ReferencesBeckford, J. (2002). Quality. London: Routledge.Senge, P. (2006).

 The fifth discipline. New York: Broadway Books.Wallace, D. (2007). Knowledge management. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.