Week 9: Organizational Culture, Change and Learning

Question 1

Argyris

Answer 1

1977

Learning: “a process of detecting and correcting error” Organizations learn through SINGLE and DOUBLE LOOP learning

Question 1

Kim

Answer 1

1993

Learning is acquiring ‘know-how’ (skill to do some action) and ‘know-why’ (conceptual understanding of experience) Organizations learn when individual solutions to problems are transferred across the organization - e.g. standard operating procedures Idea that individual “mental models” must to be transferred across the organization for organizational learning to occur. Firms with high labor turnover (40-90%) struggle to learn: experience is lost continually

Question 2

Nonaka

Answer 2

2007

The goal of developing a KNOWLEDGE-CREATING COMPANY To do this, acquire tacit knowledge, then transfer this knowledge into explicit knowledge, and then standardize and disseminate this knowledge. Purpose of company is to innovate and distribute knowledge throughout the organization Continuous organization-wide process of self-renewal - lean production? – KAIZEN

Question 2

Argyris and Schon

Answer 2

1978

Organizational learning is not just magnification of individual learning Organizations learn from the COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCES of its INDIVIDUAL members

Question 3

Belasco

Answer 3

1998

Organizations don’t learn. People learn.

Question 5

Boateng

Answer 5

2011

Learning: “construction and accessibility of meaning” As organizations are made of people for an organization to learn, everyone must learn. To achieve this, people must share and distribute knowledge around the firm.

Question 6

Salomon

Answer 6

1993

Organizational learning represents the shift from INDIVIDUAL to GROUP learning Thinking has progressed to incorporate ideas such as ‘vehicles of thought’ not just individual cognitive processes

Question 7

Brown and Duguid

Answer 7

2000

Three ways to spread tacit knowledge: Storytelling, Improvisation, Socializing Storytelling - employees discuss problems and solutions in social situations Improvisation - employees continue to attempt to fix an issue until they succeed and share the solution Socializing - sharing of knowledge in ‘free-flowing ways’

Question 8

Argryis

Answer 8

1985

Employees might engage in single loop if they are scared of manager’s reactions to deeper problems. This is a DEFENSIVE ROUTINE. Defensive routine: ambiguous messages given by manager which are hard to challenge and thus protect him/her from any negative consequences Detrimental to performance - undermines double loop learning

Question 9

Wenger and Snyder

Answer 9

2000

Communities of practice: Groups of people with shared expertise and interest in something People will share their experiences (tacit knowledge transfer), resulting in new approaches to problems (organizational learning) They exist solely to develop capabilities and exchange knowledge. Contrast to work groups and teams, which are to accomplish specific business goals.