Organizational Learning Models And Strategies For Building Learning Organizations

Lesson One: Organizational Learning and its Importance

Discuss about the Mediating Roles of Organizational Learning.

ISE 5600 is an essential course to learn when you want to be a great leader in business activities. Since I started ISE 5600, I have learned a lot on organizational learning, its models and the significance of corporate education to an individual or an institution. In lesson one of the course, the term organizational learning was defined as the ability to respond to external and internal changes through an extensive, constant process that develops the ability to make sense of and accept the situations the way they are (Argote, 2012). The method of organizational learning requires an organized amalgamation and collaborative understanding of the current changes in the environment which leads to responsive actions that involve taking risks (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, 2012). Lesson one also discusses the importance of organizational learning. Lesson two of the course describes the models used during organizational learning. Lesson three of ISE 5600 course addresses organizational learning context the how the design action can be taken during the process. Lesson four helps in understanding the systems and complexities that improve our capacity and mental models during an organizational learning process. To appreciate my reflection on lesson one, two, three, and four of ISE 5600 course, reflection journal one I wrote has the details. The current reflection journal is discussing lesson five, six, seven and the workshops.

Lesson five was majorly about the types of organizational learning. The lesson introduced us to on non-traditional management approach toward organizational learning. In the reading, I learn that there are non-traditional learning practices that include storytelling, planning, and sense-making. At the end of the teaching, I was able to appreciate and understand different management models, how they are used, their benefits and disadvantages. After the lesson, I am now able to implement an organizational learning program or a scenario planning. I am familiar with the objectives of telling a story and how it is practiced in the organizational setting. Through completion of lesson five, I can use a method of sense-making in improving the user-centers organizational learning. I also understood the barriers to organizational learning and strategic policies for change in a learning situation.

During the discussion on the types of organizational learning two theories were explained which include Theory-in-use and Espoused theory. Espoused theory discusses the part of an institution that is formalized.  Every enterprise has their own methods ways their workers should carry themselves when in the firm conducting their various jobs, for example, solving problems (Santos-Vijande, López-Sánchez & Trespalacios, 2012).  The firms often provide specifics guidelines to specific individuals to set path. An example of the theory is if the system does not work; try refreshing it and the communications department. Theory-in-use states the ways which the employees of a given organization solve problems, and the methods include flowing, loose and social forms (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, 2012). The theory says that the organization defines the actual ways of solving problems (Noruzy et al., 2013). The types of organizational learning include single loop learning, double loop learning, and deuterolearning. The figure below shows the kinds of an organizational learning process (Li et al., 2014)

Lesson Two: Models Used in Organizational Learning

Lesson six discusses the concept “organizational forgetting and unlearning.” Organizational forgetting is essential in firm learning. After reading, I was able to understand the meaning of the organizational concept forgetting and the causes of the unlearning. I can now able to understand and identify the biological and social aspects of organizational forgetting and to unlearn.  Lesson six also taught me on how to manage the organizational unlearning and forgetting as a strategy for transformation. Lastly, I am now able to reflect my understanding of the concept in the development of new knowledge and then discarding.  Forgetting is ceasing to remember what you encountered earlier or to lose resemblance. The process of forgetting can either be detrimental, beneficial, purposeful, or accidental (BolíVar-Ramos, GarcíA-Morales & GarcíA-SáNchez, 2012). Unlearning can be described as the procedure of forgetting the already learned knowledge or discarding a habit (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, 2012).

There are some theories that explain the process of forgetting and unlearning (Flores et al., 2012). They include decay theory that states when time passes then memories also fade away considering how often we can remember the incidents. If memories are not used regularly, they can fade away. Second is cue-dependent Theory which states the long-term memory does not free information. However, it stores the incidents in a black spot behind the brain. Forgetting to be causing people do have important clues to assist them in remembering things. The third theory is the interference Theory which states that a person can disremember when the memory of earlier incidents is displaced with the memory of current occurrence (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, 2012). For example, if a person studies the subjects one after the other, he/she will not remember the details of the first subject. Lesson six is essential in understanding the reasons why people tend to forget things. The image below shows the modes of forgetting (Zahra, 2012)

Lesson seven concentrates on the building learning organizations. The lesson identifies the issues and topics that have been discussed before and how they can be combined with the development of a learning organization. I have learned the various matters that firms involve when making use of the terminology “organizational learning.” The lesson also makes us understand the importance of organizational learning, mental models required, how the inquiry process interact, the thinking methods and how people reflect the basic building blocks of organizational learning. The lesson helps in understanding the inquiring techniques used in affecting the individual, organizational change and how you can select and try the inquiry. Lesson seven also creates awareness of the theories used in assessing the organizational learning. The lesson also tackles the issues that should be known when building organizational learning. Lesson seven was exciting, and we learned a lot of the concept building learning organizations. Xerox came up with a problem-solving method according to Yu et al., (2013)as shown in the table below

Lesson Three: Organizational Learning Context and Designing Action

The small private online course includes the notion of blending learning which has the benefits of both face-to-face education and MOOCs learning (Lozano, 2014). The online courses are as a result of responding to changes in the technological systems. The courses address the lack of organizational knowledge by providing short lessons at a favorably lower price (Hao, Kasper & Muehlbacher, 2012). Small private online courses have been an excellent development in the learning industry. The Small private online courses have helped people from developing countries to get quality organizational learning from the best schools internationally (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, 2012). Theoretically, Small private online courses can be seen as educating slam dunk that allows many learners to the training sessions and interact from any place globally, at any particular time using minimum costs (Marsick & Watkins, 2015). However, most of the firms have missed the mark with a Small private online course in the past few years and have never fully realized and utilized this fantastic technological change.  The situation shows that the employees are not well trained when it comes to adapting to new changes in the environment (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, 2012). Therefore, the firms should make available organizational learning for its workers so that the employees can be equipped with strategies of facing challenges in that emerge in their line of duty.

Another exciting lesson was about the workshops where we learn and explore the mental models. The workshop was discussed by understanding how match games and knowledge café work.

I understood that match games are not just competing to see who is better in mathematical but, to test the ability mind and the mental model to observe things. The match game was used to test the individuals thinking capacity. The match game has levels and the people who cannot complete degree one are still doing single loop thing, the ones who past level three use double loop thing while those who pass level seven have unlearnt (Cheng et al., 2012). Most of the members of my team did not move level three because they were not thinking hard and out of the box. They were using double loop thing. People should not just believe ordinarily, but they should be creating, think carefully and explore what most of the persons cannot see.

A Knowledge café is where a group of persons sit together and has open communication on the matters of mutual interests, so they can understand the issues in detail and discover other meaning of the problem (Aragón, Jiménez & Valle, 2014).  The principles of knowledge café include create friendly space, find various opinions, share common ideas, exploring the issue and clarifying the matter in discussion. My perception of knowledge café was not good, but now after attending the workshop lesson, I realized that knowledge café is vital and people should embrace knowledge café. My view of the debate is that people should embrace knowledge café in organizational learning. When conflicting opinions are shared in the knowledge café, there will be a solution to the problem in different angles.

Lesson Four: Systems and Complexities that Improve Organizational Learning

Before I started to attend ISE 5600 classes I never thought that the course was vital to me, I always saw ISE 5600 as a waste of time, and it should be removed from the curriculum. But after attending few lessons, I started to like the subject, and it became my favorite subject with time. Today I love ISE 5600 so much until I cannot miss even one class. I have discovered that the course is vital to any person regardless of the profession.  ISE 5600 can help business people to learn the benefit of organizational learning how to conduct it so that it becomes successful. The workgroup model can help a business manager know how to tackle problems that arise in the firm through match game and knowledge café methods. Knowledge café method can encourage team building and thus the firm will benefit because different people will be putting their heads together to find a solution to an issue (Saunders, 2012). Teamwork also helps to improve the work product (Aragón, Jiménez & Valle, 2014). I believe that after finishing this course, I will have a better understanding of the organization learning process.

My perception of the subject as changed now because I used to hate the topic but currently, it is my best course. The course is not different from what I have learned before, in fact, it has improved my knowledge of learning organization. In the past, I had shallow expertise about workshops and excellent and wrong. However, currently, my understandings of the concepts have improved a great deal. I am most impressed with workshop part of the subject because it taught me that I should develop my thinking and think out of the box. Knowledge café has taught me the importance of teamwork. In my profession teamwork is everything, therefore, if there is no working as a team, nothing will continue. When people work as a team in a business firm, the production of the firm will be marvelous, and the enterprise will make a lot of profits. Knowledge café can be applied in my workplace when looking for solutions to problems.

Conclusion

ISE 5600 course is excellent, and the contents the subject is delivering are marvelous. Organizational learning is vital in any profession because any work needs people who can quickly change with environment and learn faster (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, 2012). The course also teaches workshops where the teamwork is addressed through the knowledge café. When a group of people sit together and think for a solution to a problem the answers will be found faster. ISE 5600 is an excellent course, and students should take it seriously.

Lesson Five: Types of Organizational Learning and Non-Traditional Management Approaches

References

Argote, L. (2012). Organizational learning: Creating, retaining and transferring knowledge. Springer Science & Business Media.

García-Morales, V. J., Jiménez-Barrionuevo, M. M., & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, L. (2012). Transformational leadership influence on organizational performance through organizational learning and innovation. Journal of business research, 65(7), 1040-1050.

Santos-Vijande, M. L., López-Sánchez, J. Á., & Trespalacios, J. A. (2012). How organizational learning affects a firm’s flexibility, competitive strategy, and performance. Journal of Business Research, 65(8), 1079-1089.

Noruzy, A., Dalfard, V. M., Azhdari, B., Nazari-Shirkouhi, S., & Rezazadeh, A. (2013). Relations between transformational leadership, organizational learning, knowledge management, organizational innovation, and organizational performance: an empirical investigation of manufacturing firms. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 64(5-8), 1073-1085.

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BolíVar-Ramos, M. T., GarcíA-Morales, V. J., & GarcíA-SáNchez, E. (2012). Technological distinctive competencies and organizational learning: Effects on organizational innovation to improve firm performance. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 29(3), 331-357.

Flores, L. G., Zheng, W., Rau, D., & Thomas, C. H. (2012). Organizational learning: Subprocess identification, construct validation, and an empirical test of cultural antecedents. Journal of Management, 38(2), 640-667.

Zahra, S. A. (2012). Organizational learning and entrepreneurship in family firms: Exploring the moderating effect of ownership and cohesion. Small business economics, 38(1), 51-65.

Yu, W., Jacobs, M. A., Salisbury, W. D., & Enns, H. (2013). The effects of supply chain integration on customer satisfaction and financial performance: An organizational learning perspective. International Journal of Production Economics, 146(1), 346-358.

Lozano, R. (2014). Creativity and organizational learning as means to foster sustainability. Sustainable development, 22(3), 205-216.

Hao, Q., Kasper, H., & Muehlbacher, J. (2012). How does organizational structure influence performance through learning and innovation in Austria and China. Chinese Management Studies, 6(1), 36-52.

Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (2015). Informal and incidental learning in the workplace (Routledge revivals). Routledge.

Cheng, B., Wang, M., Moormann, J., Olaniran, B. A., & Chen, N. S. (2012). The effects of organizational learning environment factors on e-learning acceptance. Computers & Education, 58(3), 885-899.

Aragón, M. I. B., Jiménez, D. J., & Valle, R. S. (2014). Training and performance: The mediating role of organizational learning. BRQ Business Research Quarterly, 17(3), 161-173.

Saunders, M. N. (2012). Organizational trust: A cultural perspective. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 26(2).