Creating Learning Organizations Research Articles

Modeling the Effects of Reducing Barriers to Creating Learning Organizations Using Structural Equation Modeling (Case Study of Al-Qadisiyah and Kufa Universities, Iraq)

Objective: The objective of this research was to model the reduction of barriers to the establishment of learning organizations at Al-Qadisiyah and Kufa Universities in Iraq. Methodology: The current study is an applied research and utilizes a mixed-methods (qualitative-quantitative) approach. The research population consists of 12 experts whose opinions were used to identify the effects in the qualitative part, and the population for modeling included a group of faculty members from Al-Qadisiyah and Kufa Universities. The precise sample size of 91 individuals was obtained using Cochran's formula. The sampling method employed in this research was simple random sampling. The modeling of the effects of reducing barriers to creating learning organizations was initially identified using the Delphi technique, and then modeled and ranked using structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis. Findings: The research results demonstrated that the model of the effects of reducing barriers to creating learning organizations is underpinned by 10 causal conditions, 5 contextual conditions, 4 intervening factors, and 6 strategies, resulting in 6 major outcomes for the universities of Al-Qadisiyah and Kufa, Iraq, which include: development of organizational learning in universities, organizational outcomes, collective experiential learning, social learning, knowledge enhancement, and organizational entrepreneurship. Conclusion: As the results indicate, communications play a crucial role in reducing barriers, being one of the most important causal conditions in this area. As it is evident, communication refers to all the means of connection among employees within Al-Qadisiyah and Kufa universities. Having internal communications will ensure that the cycle of knowledge and learning flows within the organization in an orderly manner. Possessing a wide array of communication tools such as telephones, email, the internet, and clear verbal communications between employees and various organizational departments is a pathway to reducing learning barriers.

Forgetting to learn and learning to forget: the call for organizational unlearning

PurposeThe purpose of this conceptual paper is to provide a foundation for human resource development (HRD) scholars in attempts to devise mechanisms for establishing and facilitating actionable pathways through which unlearning can be acknowledged and serve as a contributing agent for HRD interventions. This paper concludes with a call to action for our HRD colleagues to join us in further examination of unlearning interventions within the organizational context.Design/methodology/approachThis paper narratively details the literature associated with the myriad social science domains that have investigated the unlearning process. Additionally, a cross-disciplinary literature review provides the basis for an operational definition of unlearning provided herein.FindingsThe field of HRD is devoted to creating learning organizations as well as utilizing change initiatives to develop organizations. However, unlearning has been largely ignored within the field of HRD.Originality/valueThe first contribution is by answering the call of scholars across varied disciplines to further investigate unlearning within the organizational context (Bettis and Prahalad, 1995; Hedberg, 1981; Nystrom and Starbuck, 1984). Additionally, this paper seeks to specifically address the role that unlearning holds within the field of HRD as it builds upon the definition provided by Wang et al. (2017) and offers its own operational definition. Finally, this paper provides the only known review of cross-disciplinary research pertaining to unlearning.

The Effect of Human Resource Development Practices on Creating Learning Organizations: An Empirical Study on the Banking Sector in Egypt

This paper aims to investigate the effect of human resource development practices on creating a learning organization. More specifically the effect of each one of the HRD practices (training and development, organization development, and career development) on creating learning organizations (through Peter Senge’s five disciplines) will be investigated. The study is conducted in the banking sector, in Cairo-Egypt, as one of the most challenging sectors in driving the economy. A mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches is used in this study. Semi-structured in-depth personal ten interviews are conducted with senior HR managers to get an insight of the relationship between HRD practices and the learning organization which will eventually assist in the interpretation of the employees’ self-administered questionnaire analysis. The questionnaire sample consists of 285 participants who were drawn from different private banks working in Cairo-Egypt. A convenience sampling procedure was applied to reach the participants in their workplace. The study indicates that HRD has an impact on the overall learning organization in the banking sector; as it affects System Thinking and Mental Models the most; followed by Shared Vision, Team Learning and Personal Mastery respectively. The study also found that the three dimensions of HRD affect LO; where Training and Development is the most effective HRD practice, as it is the only one that has an impact on all of Senge’s five disciplines. Organization Development is the second HRD practice affecting Learning Organization and Career Development is the third; as both practices affect only three of the five disciplines.

Integrative ambidexterity: one paradoxical mode of learning

PurposeOrganizational ambidexterity brings together the paradoxical tensions between exploration and exploitation. Embracing such paradoxical tensions depends on both separating the poles to appreciate their distinct elements and integrating them to appreciate their synergies. This paper explores integrative ambidexterity that focuses on the synergies between exploration and exploitation and theorizes these as a single, paradoxical mode of learning.Design/methodology/approachThe authors provide conceptual commentary that aims to expand the attention within the ambidexterity literature from emphasizing separation to further accommodating integration.FindingsThe authors outline that attention to separating exploration and exploitation needs to be complemented with a focus on integration, hence, the notion of integrative ambidexterity.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors surface three processes that advance integrative ambidexterity – novelty via memory; agility via focus; and the potential for improvisation. Together, these dynamics enable organizations to achieve an alternative approach to learning and adaptation.Practical implicationsUnderstanding “integrative ambidexterity,” stressing the synergies between exploration and exploitation, extends the understanding of the nature and approaches to creating learning organizations. The authors three practices offer a potential blueprint to do so.Originality/valuePrevious scholarship emphasized how leaders can separate exploration and exploitation by allocating these learning modes to distinct organizational units or addressing them in different time horizons. However, extant authors have less insight about the integration and synergies between exploration and exploitation, and the organizational factors that advance such integration.

An Examination of the Self-directed Online Leadership Learning Choices of Public Health Professionals: The Maternal and Child Health Public Health Leadership Institute Experience.

To assess the self-selected asynchronous leadership module-based learning choices of public health professionals participating in the Maternal and Child Health Public Health Leadership Institute (MCH PHLI). Online module completion and evaluation data were used to determine the topics most utilized by the Fellows; whether the topics and mode of training were acceptable, relevant, and practical; and whether participant characteristics explained any usage patterns. A total of 109 enrolled Fellows in the MCH PHLI program. Module frequency of selection by Fellows; Fellows' rating scores in regard to relevance, practicality, and acceptability of module topics. All program titles were highly rated. The 5 most frequently selected module topics were employee engagement (87.2%), talent acquisition strategies (84.4%), employee motivation (79.8%), emotional intelligence (78.9%), and workforce development strategies (68.8%). The least accessed topics focused on cultural competence (15.6%), social marketing (25.7%), effective communication and advocacy (25.7%), family partnerships (25.9%), and creating learning organizations (31.2%). All module topics provided were rated as relevant, practical, and acceptable to these public health leaders. Self-directed computer-based learning was rated strongly by the MCH public health leaders in this study. Such an approach can be used to customize training to individual needs and interests. These findings suggest that inclusion of skills that enable public health leaders to effectively work with and through others was of core interest in the MCH PHLI. The finding of higher usage of topics related to workforce management can provide guidance for those developing leadership development programs for maternal and child health professionals. In addition, leadership needs and interests should be assessed regularly to ensure that competency-based leadership development guidelines are adapting to the evolving and complex challenges faced by leaders. While these results were tested in MCH professionals, they may be generalizable to other disciplines within the field of public health.

An investigation of the effect of the components of the learning organization on knowledge application at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: The need to create learning organizations results from the fact that with the increasing complexity and speed of developments, the uncertainty increased in organization environments. Learning is the most important way to improve long-term performance. The main objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of learning organization initiatives on application of knowledge in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Methodology: This study is descriptive and survey to collect information on the literature the library method and to analyze and test the hypotheses; a questionnaire was used, the validity and reliability (89% of the learning organization and 86% knowledge) of which is verified by a number of teachers and experts in the field. The study population consisted of 623 university faculty members, using a simple random sampling, 155 questionnaires were distributed among them. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software, using the mean, standard deviation, one sample t-test, correlation, and multiple regression. Results: There is a relationship between the components of the learning and application of knowledge in university under study. Among the components of a learning organization, the best predictor of knowledge application, according to the results of multiple regression, is a teamwork with an average of 2.65 and a standard deviation of 0.754 and led with an average of 2.61 and standard deviation of 0.519. Based on the coefficient of determination, teamwork alone explained 20% of the variance of application of knowledge and with the introduction of the leadership variable rate of variance explained increased to 25%. Conclusions: The results support the idea that all the components of a learning organization have a positive impact on the university's application of knowledge, and a significant relationship also exists between them. Further, greater emphasis should be placed on the strengths of the relationship, such as great support of faculty members of missions and goals of university, as the average response from all relations is more than any relationship and also have a huge impact on the application of knowledge. The results showed that the lowest correlation belongs to the shared vision of senior management, faculty, and staff to do what needs to be done.

Holistic Mentoring and Coaching to Sustain Organizational Change and Innovation

<p>Collaborative problem solving, creativity, innovation, and continuously improved performance outcomes are the normative expectations for organizations in the early 21st century. At the same time, workers seek not only equitable compensation for their efforts, but also opportunities for professional growth and development as well as acknowledgement and valuing of their contributions. As a result, more than ever, leaders face the challenge of creating learning organizations, communities of practice, and systems that promote the full potential of each worker, while attaining or exceeding organizational expectations and goals. An integrated, holistic model of mentoring and coaching consisting of four well researched theoretical frames is described: strengths based leadership, Emotional Intelligence, courageous conversations, and Appreciative Inquiry. The rarely acknowledged, imperceptible, but significant and indelible, neurological and biochemical links that connect the theoretical frames as well as the impact of self-efficacy beliefs and the thoughts and emotions of both mentor/coach and mentee/coachees are discussed. Recommendations for practice and implementation are presented.</p>

A learning approach to the ethical organization

Purpose – This review explores the parallels between the characteristics of learning organizations and the characteristics of ethical organizations. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature was conducted to examine the characteristics of learning organizations and those that encourage and support ethical behavior. Findings – There are significant parallels between the characteristics of learning organizations and those of ethical organizations. These include leadership, culture, communication, systems thinking, and problem-solving orientation, which are important in creating learning organizations and in encouraging ethical behavior. These parallels encourage social network stimulation, acceptance of new ideas, open discussion, the ability to disagree without rancor, a lessening of hierarchy, employees seeing themselves as part of a larger whole. All of these elements create an environment wherein organizational members are able to contend with and resolve ethical problems. Practical implications – When endeavoring to foster an ethical organizational environment, managers can be aware of the benefits of creating a learning organization, as the two correspond closely. Additionally, managers in learning organizations can leverage this capacity to enhance ethical decision making and behavior. Originality/value – Research on learning organizations has often centered on their value in encouraging innovation and on strategies for implementing the changes needed to establish them. This paper identifies and discusses the parallels between the characteristics of learning organizations and ethical organizations. This is an area that has not been directly explored in the extant literature.

Employees’ acceptance of knowledge management systems and its impact on creating learning organizations

Many organizations are eager to become learning organizations that are known to contribute to increased financial performance, innovation, and the retention of workers who possess valuable organizational knowledge. For this reason, knowledge management systems (KMSs) in reality have been utilized as a means to foster the development of learning organizations. However, it remains questionable as to whether or not KMSs have any impact on the creation of learning organizations. Therefore, this study is designed to address this deficit and build a foundation for future research. Situated in theoretical frameworks pertinent to learning organizations and technology acceptance, a total of 327 datasets collected from three South Korean companies revealed that employees’ technology acceptances of KMSs could influence the creation of learning organizations in the workplaces of South Korea. The results showed that using KMSs influenced the development of learning organizations. To maximize the utilization of KMSs, the change management process should not be overlooked before and after the integration of technology.

Training and Development Strategy and Its Role in Organizational Performance

In the FMCG industry at global level, the business environment has changed with intense pressure on organizations, to become ‘Learning Organizations’ and stay ahead of their competitions by bringing innovation/reinvention in training and development strategy while emphasizing on planning, designing, implementing and evaluating the training programs. Carry out an analysis that the objective of training and development is to create learning organizations which ensure that employees through value addition can effectively perform their jobs, gain competitive advantage and seek self growth: this measurable performance resulting from good training and development, shall enhance organizational performance.

Creating learning organizations in higher education: applying a systems perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer an application of a system model for Senge's five disciplines in higher education (HE) institutions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilizes a conceptual framework for the analysis of antecedents and outcomes of Senge's five disciplines, focusing on specific factors unique to the HE sector.Findings – The explication of the model manifests its relevance and applicability for the HE sector: it represent how universities operate as learning organizations and posits the anticipated interactions among specific constructs associated with Senge's five disciplines within the HE sector.Practical implications – The paper manifests a causal model that links variables in the learning organization, a perspective that would be instrumental for HE institutions to achieve competitive advantage.Originality/value – The paper provides added value both for academics and executives interested in the analysis of the complexity of Senge's five disciplines for HE institutions.

Creating learning organizations: a systems perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer a theoretical contribution to explicate the various factors and aspects that influence Senge's five disciplines and their outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops a conceptual framework for the analysis of antecedents and outcomes of Senge's five disciplines, and offers moderators to explain the prospect associations, employing a multi‐level analysis to explore issues, from the individual level (personal mastery) through the collective level (team learning, mental model) up to the organizational level (shared vision, systems thinking). Based on this theoretical framework, the paper offers a set of propositions in the shape of a causal model that links the constructs of the model together.FindingsThe development of the model manifests wide areas of relevance to the learning organization and points out significant interdependences and interactions among the various constructs associated with Senge's five disciplines of the learning organization.Practical implicationsThe paper proposes a causal model that links variables in the learning organization that would be instrumental for organizations to achieve competitive advantage. For academia, it offers a further avenue for research, introducing a number of opportunities to test this model.Originality/valueThe paper provides significant added value both for academics and executives interested in the analysis of the complexity of Senge's five disciplines.

Rethinking the Measurement of Training and Development in the Professions

The 21st century is often called the “age of talent.” Globalization has influenced both organizational processes and employee training, creating an increased need for educated, skilled, and adaptable employees. Training and development has become an integral part of most organizations’ efforts to develop and maintain competitive advantage, with an emphasis on creating learning organizations. These changes in the methods, modes and quantity of training have made it challenging to quantify the amount of training occurring across workplaces. This article takes the view that in order to understand the impact of training on organizations, it is important to conceptualize where and through whom training activities occur. We can think of the training and development profession as consisting of a series of four tiers, with the T&D function occurring less centrally within each tier. Tier I members of the training and development profession occupy jobs in which training and development are paramount to their roles and occupy the vast majority, if not all, of their time. Tier II professionals may be the primary person within the organization responsible for training and development, but the training is often limited to a particular focal area. A whole host of supervisory occupations might be considered Tier III jobs because of the close relation supervisors often have with the employees they supervise. Tier IV training and development professionals may come from any occupational background, and this is where much of informal training occurs.

Structural barriers: redesigning schools to create learning organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on schools and address the structural dimensions of the organization as well as the hierarchical design of information flows between stakeholders. The paper highlights current structural barriers to creating learning organizations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper utilizes a conceptual model.FindingsThe analysis shows that the previous process and perception changes as they relate to learning are moderated by structure, and that success in building the learning organization is limited without redesign of the learning environment.Practical implicationsWhile restructuring is not the solution by itself (although some administrators like to think so), the restructuring of the school is a moderator of all the changes occurring in the path to creating a learning organization.Originality/valueThe paper provides a look at the barriers within schools and provides a practical agenda for action that enables the creation of learning organizations.

Towards a framework for organizational learning

PurposeMany tools exist to chart the progress of an organisation in its quest to become a learning organization or achieve organizational learning. Aims to expand a tool already developed to include learning organization conditions as they occur through dialogue between individuals within an organisation with an emphasis on social learning theory.Design/methodology/approachLiterature relating to creating learning organizations as well as undertaking organizational learning is reviewed and critiqued. An argument for a tool in identifying learning activity functions as they take place through dialogue is presented along with the argument for expanding the tool to incorporate learning organization conditions that have been identified within the literature. The tool this work expands is the DISCOUNT scheme as developed by Pilkington. The paper closes with a discussion on justifying the use of the scheme and the future work that is to be undertaken.FindingsDemonstrates that a tool can be expanded to take into account learning organization and organizational learning conditions and how they could be identified.Research limitations/implicationsIndividuals who use the tool need a number of hours practice to become familiar with the scheme and its structure.Practical implicationsA tool has been expanded to look at learning activities as they take place within an organisation. By identifying these activities, more successful approaches to learning may be encouraged by looking at an individual's behaviour, personal and cognitive factors and the environment as is stated to apply when viewed through social learning theory.Originality/valueThis paper offers a practical tool that can be used on dialogue and other speech acts to look at learning activities within organizations with a specific focus on organizations wanting to improve organizational learning or try to create learning organizations.

Victor R. Basili's contributions to software quality

This article deals with Victor R. Basili's contributions to software quality. Basili's contributions cover three broad areas: research in the 1970s and early 1980s on software measurement and the Goal Question Metric (GQM) model, research in the 1980s and 1990s on these measurement ideas' maturation into a software engineering model of empirical studies, including the development of the Quality Improvement Paradigm (QIP) and the influence of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Software Engineering Laboratory, and research since 1990 in the Experience Factory as a model for creating learning organizations for continuous software process improvement. Some of Basili's most important contributions are in measuring software development processes and products and gifted the community with an invaluable tool: the GQM approach. The GQM approach is based on the assumption that for an organization to measure its products and processes usefully, it must first specify goals for itself and its projects

From theory to practice: using new science concepts to create learning organizations

For the past ten years the management literature has increasingly discussed the concept of learning organizations. Yet, more that a decade later, few organizations have figured out how to create the structures and processes necessary to assure continuous learning. This article purports that this problem can be attributed to the mental models of those leading contemporary organizations. Learning organizations quite simply cannot be created by those who either consciously or unconsciously operate under the traditional, mechanistic organizational paradigm. If leaders are to create authentic learning organizations, they must adapt a new way of viewing reality – a new paradigm or mental model. The authors suggest that the new science theories of chaos, complexity, and quantum mechanics provide the foundation for a new way of thinking about organizations. They demonstrate the relevance of these theories for those who wish to create learning organizations and present a new‐science‐based skill set that enables twenty‐first‐century leaders to move beyond organizational adaptation to proactive change and continuous learning.

Increasing the organization’s IQ: public sector leadership in Southeast Asia

We live during an era in which the pace and scope of change are unprecedented. This is particularly true in the Asia‐Pacific region where rapid growth has challenged the capacity of people and organizations to adapt. It has become increasingly clear that learning is now the keystone to bringing about change at both the personal and organizational levels. This article examines the role which system‐level leaders in public sector organizations play in creating learning organizations. It discusses tools which system leaders may use to establish conditions that support development of a learning organization.

Organizational Learning: Diverging Communities of Practice?

This article provides an overview of current debates in the field of organizational learning through the device of examining key `divergencies' within the literature. Clear divergencies are noted in two areas: first, between the practitioner literature which is primarily engaged in creating learning organizations and the academic literature which is engaged in the study of learning processes in organizations; and, second, in the views of both academics and practitioners about the nature and essence of organizational learning. In addition, but with somewhat less significance, divergencies are noted in the preferred ways of investigating and researching into organizational learning, and ways of improving the ability of organizations to learn. The article then identifies power as an issue that has received limited attention in the literature, but which appears to underlie many of the above divergencies.

From Organizational Learning to the Learning Organization

This article reviews theories of organizational learning and presents a framework with which to organize the literature. We argue that unit of analysis provides one critical distinction in the organizational learning literature and research objective provides another. The resulting two-by-two matrix contains four categories of research, which we have called: (1) residues (organizations as residues of past learning); (2) communities (organizations as collections of individuals who can learn and develop); (3) participation (organizational improvement gained through intelligent activity of individual members), and (4) accountability (organizational improvement gained through developing individuals' mental models). We also propose a distinction between the terms organizational learning and the learning organization. Our subsequent analysis identifies relationships between disparate parts of the literature and shows that these relationships point to individual mental models as a critical source of leverage for creating learning organizations. A brief discussion of the work of two of the most visible researchers in this field, Peter Senge and Chris Argyris, provides additional support for this type of change strategy.