The idea of `learning' was traditionally
concerned with individuals and across different settings, such as schools, etc.
More recently, however, learning has become more organization-related. This is partly
because global competition and technological advances, as well as a growing
knowledge-based economy, have pressurized organizations to try to respond more
quickly to changing environments. Consequently, organizations are seen as needing to
become better at learning and managing knowledge to sustain their competitiveness.
Such contextual trends have changed the focus of learning from a mechanism for
achieving individual aspirations towards being
more of a route for creating organizational
values. In other words, the organization not only facilitates learning for its employees,
but is also a `learner' itself.
The development of greater capacity to transfer knowledge across the
organization, the sharing of expertise and
information, as well as the emphasis on continuous adaptation, have all led to the
emergence of what is called `organizational
learning' (OL). This is also often linked to other
areas, such as the `learning organization'. The
key ideas in this developing management field and the depth, breadth, vision and
challenges inherent in organizations, can be seen in
the literature (Chawla and Renesch, 2006). A synthesis of the debates surrounding
OL and the learning organization can be seen in, inter alia, Easterby-Smith and
Burgoyne (1999). This book provides an integrated framework of concepts and theories
that draw on insights from management cognition, theories of knowledge and
learning, as well as work psychology. |
