The Organizational Learning - Report Example

Organization learning Name: Course Professor’s name University name City, State Date of submission Introduction Dierkes, et al. ( 2003, p. 7) defines organization learning as the process through which knowledge is created and passed from one level of the organization to another. Further, according to Dierkes, et al. ( 2003, p. 7) organization learning in an organization are determined by the social constitution of the organization that shapes and triggers this process. Therefore, it can be argued that Organization learning helps in the growth and development of an organization through experience and development of skills. The concept of organization has been based on the assumption that organization have the capacity of creating and mounting intelligent knowledge within the organization. Therefore according to Easterby Smith & Lyles (2011) there exists a system in organizations that is based on the understanding of the various activities of the organization and help integrate the acquired knowledge to all members of the organization According to Dierkes, et al. (2003, p. 16) organization learning has been regarded to have a psychological aspect since it is often affected by the state of the brain whereby cognitive, motor and perceptual skills are commonly applied. The cognitive skills consider the ability and capacity of an individual to acquire, process and apply the information gained[Ste09]. Perceptual skills revolve on the factors such as the interpretation ability of an individual, the values a person holds, and a person’s attributes, ethics and identification. Motor skills are based on factors such as the movement of an individual, dexterity, hand –eye coordination ability, acting and driving. This paper will provide an analysis of two case studies and relating them to organizational learning. Case study analyzes Case 1 involves the study of a State Government agency. This agency comprises of 3000 employees. With appropriate managerial skills, this number of employees can be easily be managed in drilling in learning: the structure of the agency demands routine supervision of their daily work. The Agency has been involved in annual hiring of graduates. The aim of hiring graduates is to make them undergo two year period training in the organization. Therefore, an analysis of the hiring process of the graduates indicate that learning skills is instilled in them through the two-year training. Since the graduates are usually fresh from learning institutions, it can be argued that their brain status, reasoning and thinking abilities and hand –eye coordination are usually intact thus making it easier and faster for them to learn. Case study2 involves analysis of the Global Professional Service firm that offers accounting services to its clients. The company is also involved in regularly recruiting fresh graduates from learning institutions who are equipped with business skills. The hired graduates according to the firm's policy undergo through a training process that takes about two or three years. Since the graduates are fresh from school, then, their perceptual and motor skills are intact making it easier for them to learn. Differences in the approaches used The analysis of case study 1 and 2 indicate that there is a difference in the models used by both organizations in practicing organization learning. The State Agency usually depends on their skilled and experienced employees to pass information to the graduates on the necessary skills and knowledge necessary for them to work effectively in the organization. On the other end, the accounting firm usually hires coaches and mentors to train and help instill learning to their employees. The various models that have been adopted by both organizations have led to the achievement of different levels of results. In the case of the State Agency, they have achieved a low staff turnover. This is due to the sequence of behavior in the organization. While the accountancy firm has experienced a high staff turnover. In this regard, Collective and group learning are usually defined and associated with companies that have a culture of conducting their operations in a particular manner and capacity. The culture of these organizations provides room for new individuals to learn and be at par with the rest of the employees. Therefore, the capacity of these companies to enable learning to take place are determined by the size of the company, structures of the company, membership, behaviour patterns in the company, task complexity and the level of interdependence among the staff members. It has been argued that in a group setting where learning takes place, the notion of group thinking decreases the level of learning due at times due to a decrease in moral judgment, quality as a result of reduced pressure to be innovative[CZa06]. This means the group members reduce their efforts and tend to rely on specific individuals in the group to help in solving their workload problems. Such behavior reduces the level of organization learning and can lead to tension and resentment in the group. On the hand, collective learning has been regarded as a complex combination of interactions among group members which is based on inter –relationships. These relationships can lead to the generation of unique behavior patterns hence resulting in unique learning configurations. Member of each group can contribute their specialized set of skills and pass that knowledge to their fellow employees. In this way, the organization can be able to achieve all rounded skilled workers who can propel it in achieving its goals. Organization learning linkage to strategies Learning is a process that can be classified as formal and informal learning. Formal learning occurs in learning institutions following a decided process while informal learning takes place through experience or discoveries. Organizations are regarded to represent a social-cultural place of work where learning takes place through work and other activities such as training. It is due to this argument that learning in an organization is considered to happen in single and double loops. A Single loop occurs when actions lead to learning hence shaping future actions while double loops occur through the guideline of actions whose results shape future action[Tho01]. Frameworks guiding learning in organizations are seen to be a match between design for action and the definite action. In order to develop a learning framework in the organization, there is the need to make a tactic explicit way that will aid in developing better reasoning skills among employees [Tho14]. Therefore, organizations need to self-reflect to establish ways of promoting learning. The organization can also hire external coaches who can aid in developing and improving learning practices within an organization. It is worth to note that a strong culture that promotes organization learning exists on scenarios whereby staff can respond to stimuli as a result of their actions and align them with the values that the organization holds. A week culture exists where staff do not react to the results of their efforts thereby reducing the level of learning within the organization. Under a weak culture, the structure of the organization is not usually in line with the belief and value held by the staff. This causes them not to respond to stimuli resulting from their actions. In this regard, the accounting firm has aspired in developing a young generation of individuals who are technically skilled in advancing the strategies of the firm. This is why the organization resorted on recruiting external mentors who would be tasked with equipping new employees with the necessary skills. In regard to the State Agency, the model is in line with their strategies of ensuring they lower their cost while aspiring to produce high-quality services to their clients. In this regard, knowledge is easily transmitted from the experienced and technically advanced employees to the juniors of the organization. Similarities in approaches In both case studies, learning in groups concept has adopted. Previous research indicated that Learning within groups is a way through which knowledge can be re-created and re-distributed collectively with the group. This can be done through group composition, membership, behaviors, dynamics, roles of individuals in the company and the relationship shared in the organization. However, this form of learning should be structured in such a way employee learn from the aggressive workers but not taking advantage of them since it will decline the level of learning in the organization. Both organizations recognize the benefit of initiating learning immediately and the individual is recruited into the organization. The organizations can pass its culture and way of doing things to a recruit by initiating organization learning programs. Organization learning should, therefore, be developed on the needs of the organizations in consideration of the ideal performance expected and the current performance of employees in the organization. These needs result in a gap that expose the traditional and proactive needs of the organizations. If the organization experiences poor planning, interference in its operations politically, lack of adequate resources and happening of unexpected events can lead to failure of organization learning. This will in turn affect the pace at which knowledge is passed in the organization resulting negative results for the organization [Mei031]. A critical evaluation of case 1 and case2 of the study indicate that both organizations have embraced organizational learning in the passage of skills among their employees in a bid to increase the quality of services in their respective operations. They have both adopted the concept of organizational learning in order to grow and develop and be able to achieve their objectives. This can be seen by the various structures that have been put by both organizations to promote learning. For example, the State Agency under the human resource department have learning officers who ensure there is passage of knowledge and skills within the organization while on the other end the Accountancy firm has a whole department whose responsibility is to ensure that there is learning within the organization especially with the recruitment of new employees. Generation learning and benefits of organization learning Analyzing case study 2 indicates that the firm has median aged staff with an average age of 32 years. This indicates that the company has a young working force that are receptive to changes and can be able to learn quickly from the implementation of the concept of organizational learning. The firm’s policy of making every recruit to undergone training once hired has a developed a culture among their workforce of always yearning to learn to develop their skills and acquiring more knowledge. The company’s mission in setting up a department that is concerned with organizational learning was to develop highly skilled workforce always to develop their quality of work. They have achieved this through hiring of external trainer and coaches. This approach has been of benefit to the long term objectives of the company. Therefore, the organization focus on young generation ensures that the firm has secured its future as part of its strategies to experience robust growth as well as delivering high-quality services. The state agency, on the other hand, has put emphasizes on experience in order to ensure that they deliver services of high quality. The model adopted by the Agency ensures that experience is passed down through the entry ranks of the organization to ensure that their objectives are achieved continuously. Organization is learning despite its numerous benefits to an organization; there are several factors that affect it negatively. For example in case study 1, the State Agency was faced with a high percentage presence of baby boomers in their workforce who led to the existence of discrepancies in their organization learning process. This also can be seen when most staff attend compulsory organizational learning process to gain promotion rather than the need to improve their skill levels hence increasing the quality of their work. The model also adopted by the State Agency has resulted in a low turnover rate. This has affected the level of effectiveness of the Agency in its operations. In case study 2, the same culture has been adopted whereby employees are engaged in organizational learning as a way to gain promotion and salary negotiations upon completion of the training. Human resource departments have been regarded as a critical aspect of ensuring organizational learning takes place[Jaa08]. They have played a significant role in developing, and implementation of strategies that ensure organizational learning occurs since they are involved in managing the affairs of employees. In order to make this possible, human resource departments need to transform itself on insisting on value rather than the count of activities. For example under case study 1, the human resource has been given the mandate of ensuring that organizational learning takes place in the organization. In case study 2. Human resource has been involved in the recruitment of graduates as well as ensuring they undergo the firms various training programs. Conclusion In regard to case study 1 and 2 respectively, the organizations have achieved several benefits a result of embracing organizational learning practices among themselves. The State Agency through the adoption of their model has been able to maintain a high number of employees in its ranks since hiring them as graduates. However, there are disadvantages arising from retaining workers for a long time in the organization. These workers will resist any change and learning that can be introduced in the organization since they will want to do things the way they have learned and done for a long period. Managing them to embrace a new way of learning will take time and be costly to the organization. Organizational learning is a program that ensures the continuous development of the organization in the production of high-quality goods and services. Organizational learning ensures that employees can develop their skills and knowledge in the various roles that they are expected to manage. Organizations should reflect and decide on models that they can adopt for ensuring that organizational learning takes place. The State Agency implemented the model through which freshly recruited workers learned from the current employees who were more experienced and knowledgeable. The accounting firm on the other end hired trainers and coaches externally who trained their employees to the desired level. In conclusion, there are benefits associated with organizational learning. Knowledge and skills can be passed to the various levels of the organization. Therefore, appreciate models of organizational models should be adopted to ensure full benefits are realized. Reference Ste09: , (Kozlowski & Salas, 2009, p. 9), CZa06: , (Zarate, 2006, p. 45), Tho01: , (Weitlaner, 2001, p. 54), Tho14: , (Cummings & Worley, 2014, p. 33), Mei031: , (Dierkes, et al., 2003, p. 67), Jaa08: , (Boonstra, 2008), . Read More