motivational analysis of organizations

The Learning Model for Managers assumes that the difference in a preference on
the affective-cognitive dimension of learning is a key factor in how a person learns. This
assumption is based on the idea that the affective and cognitive end points can be
defined so that they correlate with a people-versus-task orientation (Blake & Mouton,
1984). Although empirical research may not show a strong correlation between a
preference for the cognitive style of learning and task orientation, they seem to be
closely related because of the similarity in their definitions.
This task-person and cognitive-affective correlation provides an opportunity to use
this learning model for stressing the relationship of learning style and personality type to
the behavior of a manager. Although managers, like other people, probably prefer
learning in a particular way, it is important for them to develop the ability to learn by
both thinking and feeling. The model can be used to illustrate this importance. In
training managers, the trainer should thoroughly discuss this issue and show how the
model correlates with the career changes the managers may expect to face.
The model’s second dimension (the vertical axis) uses, as did Kolb, a
concreteabstract continuum. However, this model reverses the positions of the end
points in order to place concrete (the “down-to-earth” point) on the bottom and abstract
(the “in-the-air” point) on top. A preference for the concrete reflects a person’s desire to
come into contact with the real object, to touch it, or even to physically manipulate it.
The abstract end of the continuum reflects a preference for dealing with the world in
terms of thinking about it and for manipulating ideas or thoughts. The vertical axis
represents the way people tend to experience life and is loosely associated with the
psychology of Jung (1924). The preference for experiencing life in the concrete
indicates a desire to experience through the direct senses.
The Learning Model for Managers, therefore, contains two primary axes, ranging
from cognitive to affective in the horizontal dimension and from concrete to abstract in
the vertical dimension. The axes divide the model into the following four domains: I,
thinking planner; II, feeling planner; III, task implementer; and IV, participative
implementer.
THE INSTRUMENT
The Learning-Model Instrument can be used in the following ways:
1. To give feedback to individuals on their own preferred styles of learning and
domains of strength;
2. To help a new group of trainees or students to learn more about one another in
order to work together more effectively; and
3. To provide an overall explanation of the learning environment so that
participants will gain a conceptual understanding of the experiential approach to
learning.
60 ❘❚
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 19, 2nd Edition. Copyright © 1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer