Organisational Learning Discussion Paper - Are you looking for one ...

has power over access to that knowledge. Unless we are careful, this can lead to an
extractive approach to knowledge acquisition which, in the context of South–North
partnerships may push partners further apart rather than enabling closer
collaboration.
Knowledge management provides a seductive answer by suggesting that learning
can be captured as a commodity that can apparently be easily managed (acquired,
distilled, shared, stored, retrieved and used). However, there is a danger that NGOs
are losing sight of the nature of knowledge and as a result managing knowledge
becomes an end in itself rather than a way of enabling organisational learning.
Table 1: Links between organisational learning and knowledge management
Organisational
Learning
Generates
Underpins
Knowledge
Management
Organisational Learning: Knowledge Management:
is the intentional use of collective and
individual learning processes to continuously
transform organisational behaviour in a
direction that is increasingly satisfying to its
stakeholders.
provides a purpose for the use of knowledge.
is always context-specific. The purpose of
learning is to solve problems or address
challenges and knowledge is selected
because of its utility in the specific
circumstances.
is usually demand led.
is the systematic processes by which the
knowledge required by an organisation is
acquired, distilled, shared, stored, retrieved
and used.
is a means to enable organisational learning.
can be context-independent. For example,
good practices can be developed and
disseminated without awareness of the
circumstances in which it may be used.
is usually supply driven.
Where knowledge management has made an important contribution it has usually
been because the NGO has taken a ‘second generation’ approach focusing not simply
on the technology of developing an organisational memory but also on the people
who are central to the organisation and the processes that help them share and use
their collective knowledge. Here there has been an important emphasis on the
development of such mechanisms as Communities of Practice and networking (both
tangible and virtual).
Praxis Paper 3: Organisational Learning in NGOs by Bruce Britton 8