Cultivating a Learning Organization- Principles, Practices, and Examples
What is a learning organization?
A learning organization is one that continuously transforms itself by always facilitating learning opportunities for its members. This form of organization is made up of people who are always working together to enhance their skills and competencies for the benefit of advancing the organization (Marquardt, 2011). Such organizations are able to develop their learning through both personal and purpose mastery. The members get to understand their personal limitations and strengths so that they can capitalize on the strengths and work on the limitations in the learning process. They also understand their purpose, hence, determining what they need to learn to achieve it.
Three ways that an Organization might learn
There are various strategies that can be employed to adapt changing conditions through learning in an organization. All of these learning techniques require the creation of a work culture that encourages and rewards learning. The following are three ways that an organization might learn.
Progressive Learning
An organization can learn progressively by evaluating the mistakes they have made to improve. If an organization is experiencing an issue that is affecting its performance, it can perform a progressive inquiry to determine the root cause of the problem and find solutions. When performing a progressive inquiry, an organization technically asks questions about what has caused the problem being experienced and continues deepening the questions until they find the root problem (Marquardt, 2011). This form of learning is always helpful for an organization that wants to create a continuous learning environment since every issue experienced is evaluated and improved.
Shared Expertise
Another strategy that an organization can use to enhance its learning is through shared expertise. Shared expertise is a system where the members of the organization learn from each other. In a single team, where people do not have shared competencies, the members get to learn from each other. Thus, in the end, they end up enhancing their overall competencies as an organization (Rijal, 2010). A company that depends on this strategy to be a learning organization creates teams that are multitalented. For instance, in one team they may include someone who is a good problem solver, another who is a good communicator, and another with good management skills. In the end, the team members get to learn from each other, and each ends up with these skills.
Benchmarking
Some organizations learn through benchmarking. Benchmarking is a learning strategy where one organization gathers information from exemplary organizations and uses it for improvement. For instance, if there is another company that has been able to create a motivated workforce, one company may study it to determine what they do differently (Rijal, 2010). After investigating the other business, a company uses the data to change its operations or strategy in a manner that resembles that of the successful organization. In essence, benchmarking is a strategy that allows organizations to learn from others.
The benefits of an Organization being a Learning Organization
One of the main benefits of being a learning organization is that it increases a company’s competitiveness. Continuous learning makes a business investigate the ways in which they can improve. By improving their strategy and processes, they get a chance to enhance the value that they provide for their stakeholders (Rijal, 2010). The additional value makes the business more competitive. Another advantage of being a learning organization is the improvement in efficiency. With new information, a business can know how they can adjust their business to improve their business efficiency. Learning also makes a business flexible. A business that learns continuously is always flexible to changes, both in the internal and the external environment, that affect their business performance (Sackmann, Eggenhofer-Rehart & Friesl, 2009). Lastly, continuous learning enhances the sense of community since the employees get to participate in learning activities together.
Disadvantages to an Organization Being a Learning Organization
The disadvantages of being a learning organization are associated with the challenges that are experienced by organizations that try to develop this culture. One of the challenges is the loss of resources to learning activities that do not create value for the organization. Being a learning organization is not just about acquiring new information but also finding ways to use the information to gain some value (Sackmann, Eggenhofer-Rehart & Friesl, 2009). This is why it is important for business organizations to investigate their learning needs before executing any learning plans. Another challenge is the poor execution of learning plans. Learning programs may be hard to execute, especially for the larger organizations. In such cases, a business may find it hard to efficiently create a learning plan that benefits all its members. Thus, the business does not benefit from the learning.
Conclusion
Developing a learning organization is essential for organizational excellence. A business that has a learning culture is always improving, thus has a higher chance of maintaining productivity for a long time. While it is important to always be on a rising learning curve, it is important to note that it is a challenging process that requires a lot of planning and proper execution.
References
Rijal, S. (2010). Leadership style and organizational culture in learning organization: a comparative study. International Journal of Management & Information Systems (Online), 14(5).
Marquardt, M. J. (2011). Building the learning organization: mastering the five elements for corporate learning. Hachette UK.
Sackmann, S. A., Eggenhofer-Rehart, P. M., & Friesl, M. (2009). Sustainable change: Long-term efforts toward developing a learning organization. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 45(4), 521-549.
ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE
We’ll write everything from scratch
Question 
The Learning Organization
Overview
Like people, healthy organizations learn. An organization becomes a learning organization when it develops processes, systems, and human resources that are capable of sharing knowledge, innovating continuously, and benefitting from mistakes and failures as well as successes. This process leads to a corporate mindset of continuous improvement, always striving for perfection along the way, while understanding that perfection is a state that will never be fully achieved. For this assignment, you will gather ideas and examples about what a learning organization is and how it works.
Cultivating a Learning Organization- Principles, Practices, and Examples
Instructions
Research the Capella library for articles on the concept of a learning organization. In a 3-page paper:
• Explain what a learning organization is.
• Describe at least three ways that an organization might learn.
• Describe the benefits of an organization being a learning organization.
• Describe any disadvantages to an organization being a learning organization.