Chapter 9

Question 1

Why is lifelong learning a valuable asset?

Answer 1

In an age in which information is everything and knowledge is the key to success. According to management guru Peter Senge, the distinctive feature of successful companies is their ability to learn (Senge, 1990)

Question 2

Knowledge

Answer 2

Is the stock of ideas, meanings, understandings, and explanations of how phenomena of interest are structured and relate to other phenomena.

Question 3

Knowledge management

Answer 3

Is the process of managing knowledge – know-how and know-why – to meet existing and future needs.

Question 4

Organisational learning

Answer 4

is the process of detection and correction of errors.

Question 5

Learning

Answer 5

is the process of acquiring knowledge and capabilities in addition to those already known

Question 6

Which four sources of knowledge are important, according to Fulop and Rifkin (1999)?

Answer 6

1. Learning by doing. 2. Hearing stories. 3. Being exposed to popular accounts. 4. Being curious and doing research

Question 7

Learning by doing

Answer 7

a manager can learn most when they are involved in the work

Question 8

Hearing stories

Answer 8

story is a good format because it relates the core of an experience and takes the freedom to embellish it to make it more interesting. Stories can also communicate the message of how things are done in the organization

Question 9

Being exposed to popular accounts

Answer 9

stories that are printed and communicated through management seminars as exemplary cases drawn from a great organizational culture

Question 10

Being curious and doing research

Answer 10

well designed research and executed research drives out ignorance

Question 11

Tacit knowledge

Answer 11

Knowledge sed to do things that you cannot necessarily articulate. Ex. riding a bike. It is a personal cognitive map that helps you - consciously or not – though routines, practices and processes.

Question 12

Explicit knowledge

Answer 12

Knowledge consciously talked about and reflected on, usually elaborated, and recorded for learning. Consists of formalised, accessible knowledge that can be consciously thought, communicated, and shared.

Question 13

Four major movements by which knowledge is shared? (Nonaka 1991)

Answer 13

Socialization, Combination, Internalization, and Articulation

Question 14

Socialization

Answer 14

(The move from tacit to tacit): People implicitly learn codes of conduct and rules of behavior from other people without having to think too much about their meaning. “A good example are the rules of behavior in traffic: while the explicit traffic regulations and informal expectations in Ho Chi Min City and Hamburg seem similar on the surface, the tacit knowledge you need to master the traffic in those places could not be more different.

Question 15

Combination

Answer 15

(The move from explicit to explicit): People combine ideas they are already well aware of. When the UK government issued an urgent industry ‘call to arms’ to help the NHS fill the projected shortfall in ventilators to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, the likes of McLaren, Airbus and Rolls Royce, among others, joined forces by combining their explicit engineering knowledge to increase the production capability of ventilator devices from 55 per week to 1500. None of the organizations that formed the Ventilator Challenge UK consortium could have achieved this on their own.

Question 16

Internalization

Answer 16

(The move from explicit to tacit): Things that you learned once become a pattern in your repertoire; you begin to take them for granted and you forget that you learned them in the first place. Newcomers are often a valuable source of insight because they are not accustomed to these routines.

Question 17

Articulation

Answer 17

(The move from tacit to explicit): Through articulating and sharing within the organization, new knowledge becomes accessible and a part of official processes. It is very important for management to attempt to organize and manage tacit knowledge, and to try to transform elements of tacit knowledge into organizationally explicit knowledge – an idea that marks the birth of the concept of knowledge management.

Question 18

Tacit vs. Explicit knowledge

Answer 18

Management tries to learn from tacit knowledge. Developing this resource and aligning it effectively with change have become the domain of what is known as organizational learning. Innovation occurs through learning. Organizations that are inward focused have an optimal pattern of internal knowledge reuse that does not differ markedly from that of more outward-looking firms. However, inward-looking firms are more likely to become embedded in what they already know. Inward-looking firms are more likely to become embedded in what they already know, exploiting rather than exploring knowledge.

Question 19

Why should not only managers who should know what is happening?

Answer 19

Other members of the organization might also know and might even be able to think of better ways of doing things. The organization might learn from the tacit knowledge, short cuts, experience, and improvements introduced by its members. This can give them a competitive advantage

Question 20

Why is the hierarchy of power the exact reverse image of the hierarchy of ideas?

Answer 20

Employees who meet customers on a daily basis and gain their feedback often know more about present practices and potential new innovations than management teams embroiled in internal meetings and planning processes.

Question 21

What forms the character of an organization?

Answer 21

Its routines, processes, practices, and stories.

Question 22

What is typically assumed when someone knows something?

Answer 22

That they can stop learning about it. (This is not true)

Question 23

What was Nokia’s problem?

Answer 23

It already knew a lot, which made new learning seem like a waste of time. However, after the market and technology had changed, it was too late to learn the lessons that the competition had mastered. Nokia failed because it knew too much about what it did and had insufficient knowledge about competitors, technologies, and customers.”
“The consumer response to Nokia’s phones became increasingly negative between 2008 and 2010 because the improvements in product quality seemed modest compared with its challengers’ offerings.

Question 24

What is the “competency trap”?

Answer 24

It occurs when an organization does something well and learns more about it until it becomes so expert that it does not see the limits of its achievements. It cannot adapt in response to the changes in its environment because it has become so focused on doing things its way, even when it becomes evident that the old routines are no longer working. Example: Nokia. It failed because it relied on its competencies. Its competencies made it blind to what it did not know. What top managers failed to appreciate and vehemently rejected was that software innovations were outflanking their existing knowledge base. In common parlance, they were about to expire as the future consigned their technology to the junkyard.

Question 25

Single-loop

Answer 25

learning means optimizing skills, refining abilities, and acquiring the knowledge necessary to achieve a resolution of a problem that requires solving. Example: learning to use power point. Such learning happens within a given frame of reference: the parameters are given and clearly defined, and the learning experience focuses on how to optimize (or maximize or increase) your capacity within this frame. Single-loop learning involves learning the competencies necessary to play a certain game successfully, whereas double-loop learning requires thinking and learning about what is the most valuable game to play” this concerns acting according to the rules of a certain game. It focuses on optimizing problem solving behaviors and improve performance incrementally.

Question 26

Double-loop

Answer 26

Learning means changing the frame of reference that normally guides behavior. It involves rethinking the task and considering whether its accomplishment is beneficial or not. Managers involved in a weekend seminar discussion of the company’s mission and core values are engaged in double-loop learning processes when they redefine the market for their products, or the products themselves. Double-loop learning requires thinking and learning about what is the most valuable game to play. This involves learning the actual rules of a game and how they might be changed to make another game, it challenges the core assumptions, beliefs and values that frame the context. It questions the business and organization is in, the culture, and strategic vision. Does not engage in double-loop learning, could soon be in trouble.

Question 27

Double loop vs. single loop learning

Answer 27

Double-loop learning represents an ability to reflect on the single-loop learning processes and to understand when fundamental change is required.

Question 28

knowledge exploitation occurs

Answer 28

through the routinization, standardization and formalization of what is already known and done: doing it more cheaply, quickly and efficiently

Question 29

knowledge exploration

Answer 29

involves serendipity accident, randomness, chance and risk-raking, not knowing what one will find.

Question 30

march’s perspective

Answer 30

‘Organizations have to learn to balance search and action, variation and selection, and change and stability (March, 2002: 271)’

Question 31

Sustaining Organizational Rigidity

Answer 31

March (2002) emphasizes the necessity of nurturing uncritical commitment and persevering madness for sustained organizational and individual rigidity in a selective environment.

Question 32

Future of Organizational Evolution

Answer 32

According to March (2002), the future involves rapid incremental turnover in organizational forms rather than radical discontinuities. In an environment demanding flexibility, some organizations will be selected as efficient and adaptive, while others will be effectively disposable.

Question 33

Organizational Adaptability

Answer 33

Adaptability in March’s (2002) scenario occurs at the population level, with specific organizations serving efficiently but not necessarily surviving. Survival depends on the emergence of organizations capable of outperforming current ones.

Question 34

Avoiding Organizational Atrophy

Answer 34

Organizational atrophy is the result of inefficient exploitation or a lack of exploration (double-loop and single-loop learning). Successful organizing requires a balance between exploitation and exploration, embodied in ambidextrous organizations. Pursuing either excessively leads to atrophy.

Question 35

Success Trap in Organizations

Answer 35

In the success trap, where excessive success in exploitation can lead to failure. The trap arises when organizations rigidly repeat past successful actions, hindering exploration. Notable examples include General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford, which faced decline due to a failure to explore new technologies, unlike the successful adaptation by companies like Tesla in the auto industry.

Question 36

Risks in Success

Answer 36

Success can lead to organizational vulnerability, as established routines may hinder risk-taking. March warns that relying solely on past success is perilous, as tomorrow’s winning ideas may challenge past recipes for success, potentially undermining the organization’s hierarchy and culture.

Question 37

Ambidextrous Organization Design

Answer 37

To balance exploration and exploitation, the concept of the ambidextrous organization, developed by O’Reilly and Tushman, involves structurally separating exploratory activities from core exploitative ones. This allows parallel development, exemplified by Samsung’s Design Centers. Smaller organizations may struggle with this structural separation, and individual manager networks also influence the capacity for ambidexterity.

Question 38

Knowledge Management vs. Organizational Learning

Answer 38

Knowledge management deals with the creation, dissemination, and transformation of knowledge, while organizational learning involves the dynamic development of existing knowledge. In practice, these two can conflict: routine knowledge establishment may limit opportunities for learning and innovation, creating tension between established routines and learning opportunities.

Question 39

Driving Forces Behind Learning

Answer 39

Organizational learning is best applied to entities regularly monitoring and reflecting on their assumptions to adapt quickly. Learning, as analyzed by Levitt and March (1988) and Argyris and Schön (1978), involves self-reflection, with driving forces being communities of practice and collaboration. Social learning systems, as proposed by Wenger (1998), form when people collaborate to share ideas, transcending organizational boundaries and fostering continuous learning within and beyond conventional contexts.

Question 40

Competencies in Communities

Answer 40

Wenger (2002) highlights that competencies in communities are defined by a sense of joint enterprise, relationships of mutuality, and a shared repertoire. In a design firm, creativity and experimentation matter, while at an accounting firm, legal knowledge and business understanding are crucial.

Question 41

Social Learning System

Answer 41

Wenger’s concept of a social learning system involves the interplay between an individual’s institutional environment and personal experiences, triggering learning. Communities within organizations, marked by joint enterprise, mutuality, and a shared repertoire, serve as building blocks for continuous learning. However, shared assumptions can lead to homogeneity and groupthink, as seen in the case of Nokia.

Question 42

Evolving Boundaries in Surgery

Answer 42

Surgery’s evolution, incorporating robotic devices, alters traditional learning methods. Learning scientific knowledge from peer-reviewed sources is powerful, as seen in the adaptation of hospital boundaries for using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question 43

Walmart’s Collaborative Influence

Answer 43

Walmart exemplifies close collaboration with suppliers, leveraging its vast resources to enhance products and streamline logistics. The retailer’s influence extends to suppliers opening offices near its headquarters, as seen with Procter & Gamble in Bentonville, Arkansas, facilitating daily collaboration and continuous improvement.

Question 44

Managing Boundaries for Innovation

Answer 44

Challenging organizational boundaries, as suggested by Wenger (2002), can be managed through people, artefacts, and interaction. Brokers, who live in two worlds simultaneously, can infuse knowledge across organizations, while objects like tools and processes, as well as direct interactions, act as boundary spanners, triggering new insights and innovative processes.

Question 45

Learning Through Alliances and Collaboration

Answer 45

Alliances and collaborations, as seen in the airline industry with One World and Star Alliance, offer growth without direct competition. Through clever networks and reward systems, organizations in alliances leverage strengths, compensate weaknesses, and foster customer loyalty. However, skepticism exists in some companies, favoring mergers over collaborative approaches.

Question 46

Collaborative Relations and Organizational Learning

Answer 46

Collaborative relations involve sharing resources and knowledge between organizations, triggering innovation and organizational learning. Partnerships, like BMW and Sixt in exploring urban mobility concepts, bring together diverse expertise, encouraging mutual learning and knowledge transfer. Successful collaboration requires the intent to learn, transparency, and absorptiveness, emphasizing the importance of an open environment for idea growth.

Question 47

Embracing Mistakes for Learning

Answer 47

Organizational learning often involves trial-and-error, with mistakes and failures providing rich learning opportunities. IDEO, a product design firm, encourages employees to make mistakes quickly and learn from them fast. Embracing mistakes as opportunities for learning is crucial, contrasting with a negative mindset that blames individuals for failures and hinders the learning process.