Building a Learning Organization

By ,
Sushma Nichani
Organizational learning

 Organizational learning is a process of

detecting and correcting error
 Organizational learning means the
process of improving actions through
better knowledge and understanding
Reasons to build a learning
Organization

1. superior performance.
2. To improve quality.
3. For customers.
4. For competitive advantage.
5. For an energized, committed workforce.
6. To manage change.
7. Because the times demand it.
 Building Dynamic learning
Organization
 By 3 dimensions
 Level of learning –
1. Individual
2. Group
3. Organizational
 Types of learning –
1. Adaptive - Experience
2. Anticipatory – learns from expecting the future in
advance
3. Active – group working on real pblms
 Organizational learning skills –(main characteristics of
learning organization)
1. Systems thinking - is a way of looking at organizations that
emphasizes the interconnections between parts of an
organization and external environments. It is also a method
for solving organizational problems and helping
organizations change
2. Personal mastery - The commitment by an individual to the
process of learning is known as personal mastery
3. Mental model-Mental models are assumptions, or even
pictures or images or memories that influence how we
understand the organization and how we take action
4. A shared vision
5. Team learning
Knowledge
Knowledge

 Knowledge is strategic resource that

give sustainable competitive advantage
to the company
-Peter Drucker
 Knowledge is the process of translating
info and past experience into a
meaningful set which can be applied by
an individual
Knowledge management 

 Definition:
   It is taken as tools, techniques and
strategies to retain, analyze, organize
improve and share business expertise
 KM is the discipline of enabling
individuals, teams and entire
organization to collectively and
systematically create, share and apply
knowledge to achieve the objective
WHY WE NEED KM?

 INCREASING MARKET COMPETITION

 LIFELONG LEARNING

 COMPETITIVE FORCES

 EARLY RETIREMENTS AND HIGH

MOBILITY OF THE WORKFORCE
Types of KM

 Tacit knowledge – cannot be shared

developed by habit and culture eg. Doctor
analyze patients by experience

 Explicit – Can be shared in the form of text ,

tables e.g.. For demonstration

 Implicit - Can be shared but has not been

shared E.g.. Innovation
5 Ps of Strategic Knowledge
Management
1. Planning – Goals have to be defined
clearly
 Takes time and require careful
consideration wrt technology etc

2. People – have knowledge

 Knowledge can be diffused throughout
 Sharing culture enhances diffusion
 Cont..
3. Processes – monitoring wrt knowledge
distribution
 Encourage new knowledge

4. Products – is also known as knowledge output

 Ensure that the product reaches to the
customers

5. Performance – Regular evaluation of

performance to check the knowledge
References:

 Laurance Prusak , “Principles of

knowledge management, Journal of
knowledge
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17290572/Buildi
ng-the-Learning-Organization