Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in ... - Webs

ijcrb.webs.com
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
JANURAY 2011
VOL 2, NO 9
v. System thinking correlates other rules with each other and plays a vital role, so that it
causes durability and life continuation of the learner organization as a whole. System
thinking has a key role in moving of "I" mentality to "we" mentality.
Pemberton and Stone (2000) state that organizational learning field or conditions is
constituted from three factors:
i. Organizational culture
ii. Structure
iii. Substructure
Moreover, they believe that these factors are a tool through which the organization could
improve effectiveness and efficiency of learning process and system and knowledge
management permanently. The first factor, i.e. culture is the most important element of the
learner organization. Culture of the learner organization is a major emphasis on learning and
knowledge and creates an atmosphere of confidence in which individuals feel they are allowed
to test and experience new approaches in business that are often resulted to establishment and
development of core competences. Pemberton and Stone (2000) call the following cases as
elements of learner culture:
� Obvious and clear organizational insight
� Leaders who are designers, instructors and supervisors
� Tendency to permanent progress
� Regarding knowledge as a valuable thing
� Encouraging of curiosity spirit, asking questions, testing and experiencing through
giving of freedom of action to individuals
� Creativity, risk acceptation and tolerating of mistakes
� Establishing of confidence in order to encourage knowledge sharing inside of the
organization and with selected friends
� Putting emphasis on having permanent and good relations
� Encouraging of socialization and establishing and creating of social concept
� Practical learning of implicit knowledge
� External insight with regard to learning from an environment in which the organization
has activity
The second element, i.e. structuring for learning and knowledge management requires flat
organizations along with reducing of interfunctional boundaries. Organizational knowledge
should be holistic to create this confidence that professional knowledge is completed perfectly
from related grounds. Having a matrix structure is a method for fostering of a holistic
viewpoint from knowledge. Quinn (1992) states that finally network organizational structures
are perhaps the most suitable structures to support a learner culture, since such structures have
little hierarchical features and have different forms. Also Stone and Pemberton (2000) have
said although there is no single structure to support learning uniquely but it appears that giving
freedom of action and authority to individuals along with a flat network structure could help
knowledge management facilitation. These structures could increase interfunctional relations
and decrease task obstacles.
The third element, i.e. substructure and communications are the integral part for creating of a
learner organization. Information developments especially in the scope of information and
communications technology (ICT) play a vital role in providing of the required substructure in
order to support from network structures and organizational learning. According to Stone and
COPY RIGHT © 2011 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 332