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INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
De Geus (1988) viewed learning as planning and states that the aim of effective
planning is not to make plans but to change the mental models that these decision makers
- as empowered people, carry in their heads. He, like Argyris & Schon (1978) says that
institutional learning can be accelerated by ‗changing the rule‘ or ‗suspending them‘ and
that upon sharing the individual knowledge and mental models a common language is
developed which he called as ―institutional learning‖ and how much and how fast this
model changes will depend on the culture and structure of the organization. De Geus
(1988) believes that teams build shared models and that ―… [t]he best learning takes
place in teams that accept that the whole is larger than the sum of the parts, that there is a
good that transcends the individual (p.74)‖.
4. Frameworks of Organizational Learning and Learning Organization
Garvin, Edmondson and Gino (2008) suggested three building blocks for organizational
learning and adaptability to take place: a supportive learning environment; concrete
learning processes and practices; and leadership behavior that provides reinforcement.
First, a supportive learning environment is explained through three subsumers i.e.
psychological safety, appreciation of differences, openness to new ideas, and time for
reflection. Psychological safety means employees must feel comfortable while
confronting the ideas of colleagues and seniors, and expressing their thoughts about the
work. Appreciation of differences means taking care of others‘ opinions. Openness to
new ideas means encouraging employee to take risk and apply their own ideas. Time for
reflection means managers are encouraged to think creatively.
Second, concrete learning processes and practices involve the generation,
collection, interpretation, and dissemination of information and experimenting with new
ideas. Knowledge should be shared systematically and in a clearly defined way among
individuals, groups or whole organizations, and should be disseminated laterally or
vertically within organizations.
Concreted learning processes and practices are further divided into five subcomponents:
experimenting, information collection, analysis, education and training,
information transfer.
Third, organizational learning is strongly influenced by the behavior of leaders.
People feel encouraged to learn when leaders provide opportunities to speak and facilitate
the promulgation of ‗dialogue and debate‘.
These three building blocks of organizational learning reinforce one another, and
to promote learning, in addition to leadership a cultural aspect must be given importance
when striving for improvement in organizational learning.
Senge (2006) gave five core disciplines that foster learning in organization.
First discipline is related with the personal growth and learning and is called as personal
mastery. Personal mastery is the discipline of ―continually clarifying and deepening our
personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality
objectively‖ (2006, p.7). Second, mental models are ―deeply ingrained assumptions,
generalizations, or even pictures and images that influence how we understand the world
and how we take action‖ (Senge 2006, p.8). Mental models are concerned with bringing
and challenging key assumptions about important business. Thirdly, teams are integral
part of an organization and is viewed as ―the process of aligning and developing the
COPY RIGHT © 2011 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 260
JANUARY 2011
VOL 2, NO 9