Contemporary Issues and Topics on the Learning Organization

Yuanyuan Liu Aida Ma?erinskien

【Abstract】Aiming at providing organizational designers with implications of contemporary issues and topics on the learning organization， this paper presents its discussion of the concepts， features and the nature of the learning organization； structure and organizational design of the learning organization； new coordinating mechanism of the learning organization； new roles of managers to ensure leadership in the learning organization； and the effectiveness of the learning organization as well as factors influencing its effectiveness.

【Key words】Learning organization； Structure； Coordinating mechanism； Leadership； Effectiveness of learning organization

1. Introduction

As many of the organizations grow， their previous structures may become barriers of today， for example， some organizations are becoming oriented to service quality but find their previous structures obstacle and bureaucracy to services. Thus many organizations begin to redesign their structures， which trigger for problems， such as， high costs， employees' resistance to the new structure， or employees' low engagement and low performance， etc. The learning organization， as a softer and more subtle way of changing the structure of an organization， may be a remedy. However， in today's complex organizations， there are issues and topics needed to be revealed. Thus this paper aims at presenting contemporary concerns of the learning organization and providing organizational designers with implications.

2. Literature view

2.1 Organization and its structure

Organization （Robbins， et.al. 2013） has been defined as a deliberate arrangement of people brought together to accomplish some specific purpose. There are three common characteristics shared by organizations： goals， people and structure. Structure as a deliberate systematic framework glues people working in teams toward the specific goals of the organization. And it is structure that defines and limits the behavior of people， within which rules and regulations guide what can be done while what cannot， who will supervise， how jobs will be described and what people are supposed to do.

Organization （Mullins， 2006） is where individuals and groups interact within the structure of the formal organization. Structure is created by management to establish relationships between individual and groups to provide order and systems and to direct the efforts of the organization into goal-seeking activities. It is through the formal structure that people carry out their organizational activities in order to achieve aims and objectives in flows and interrelationships.

2.2 The learning organization

The learning organization （Senge， 1990） is where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire， where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured， where collective aspiration is set free， and where people are continually learning how to learn together. The organizations that will truly excel in the future will be the organizations that discover how to tap people's commitment and capacity to learn at all levels in an organization. Five parts are included in the learning organization： systems thinking， personal mastery， mental models， building shared vision and team learning.

Garvin （1993） defines the learning organization as skilled at five main activities： systematic problem solving， experimentation with new approaches， learning from past experience， learning from the best practice of others， and transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout the organization. Further （Garvin， 2008） 'three building blocks' of constructing the learning organization have been identified： first， a supportive learning environment， comprises psychological safety， appreciation of differences， openness to new ideas， and time for reflection； second， concrete learning processes and practices， including experimentation， information， collection and analysis； education and training， these two complementary elements are fortified by the final building block： leadership that reinforces learning.

3. Contemporary issues and topics on the learning organization

3.1 New definition of the learning organization. The learning organization， first of all， is an organization， which should perform as an organization and possess common characteristics of an organization： goals， people and structure； secondly， the learning organization is the philosophy and implication behind its organizational design and managerial behavior； lastly， constant learning in the entire organization to create itself adaptive， lean and flexible to face the constant and contingent challenges from external changes is the endless theme of the learning organization.

Thus leaders who intend to create， redesign or adjust their organizations into the learning organizations should notice that your learning organization is an organization， as any other ordinary organizations， and then a learning organization. Your learning organization's functions， roles and performances should， firstly， meet the needs of being an organization and then those of being a learning organization.

3.2 Learning is the DNA of the learning organization. The learning organization is 'Born to be learning'. It （1） should create a cohesive， collective and consistent culture that encourages learning， establish environment and climate for learning freely， and provide services to support and motivate learning； （2） should by composed of boundaryless teams with empowered employees working toward specific questions， problems and tasks； （3） should be open-minded accepting differences and tolerant to mistakes while be able to control the risks of the experiments of learning outputs； （4） should establish a systematic approach to foster， plan， organize， lead， control， evaluate the learning process， and thus reward and guarantee an effective learning； and （5） should be able to examine the validity and feasibility of the learning results， and apply the innovative ones as well as ensure the success of applying and operating.

Learning accountability should be taken into consideration. Leaders will be haunted by the issue of being economically sound when the philosophy of the learning organization becomes reality. The learning organization should contain a whole system to foster an effective and productive results of the learning process so that to make the learning organization not only an organization learning activity but also an organization economically benefited by learning.

3.3 Structure is the core of the learning organization. When managers develop or change the organization's structure， they are engaging in organizational design （Robbins， et. al.， 2013）. No organizational designer will deny that structure is the most important issue of organizations. It is the glue connecting right people toward specific aims and purposes with a specific framework and order to guide people's behavior. The learning organization is not an exception and structure is a vital issue of the learning organization.

Structure relies on strategy （Chandler， 1962） and there are another three issues affect the structure choice： size， technology and environment （Robbins， et. al. 2013）. According to the new definition of the learning organization derived from this paper， there will be the fifth issue affecting the learning organization： philosophy. Thus in total there will be five issues affecting the structure of the learning organization： philosophy， strategy， size， technology and environment.

3.4 New coordinating mechanism of the learning organization. In additional to Mintzberg's five coordinating mechanisms （Mintzberg， 1993）， there should be a new coordinating mechanism of the learning organization， which is a coordinating role working both internally and externally. Internally， leaders' concerns about the existing problems should be clearly conveyed to the working teams while the teams should understand what are their tasks and what should be achieved. Thus coordinating internally will match the both sides. On the other hand， knowledgeable employees are key components of the learning organization but what if there is no one good at solving the existing questions and problems as the environment is contingently changing. Therefore， the coordinating externally should match the needs of the organization with those specialties outside the organization. Stating needs of the organization clearly and finding most appropriate specialties is the core of the new mechanism.

3.5 New roles of managers to ensure leadership in the learning organization. Working as a foster， a facilitator or an advocator of learning organization is the new role of managers. There is an imperative need of urging employees to learn， to learn freely， and to learn fast. The greater the force of leadership in promoting employees， the stronger the learning organization will be. However， concerning the redesign and adjust of previous organization into a new one—building the learning organization is not easy because the change of the organization may 'move the cheese' of some employees. Problems such as resistance， low engagement， low performance， or complains might happen. Thus creating learning teams first and then achieve the learning organization might be a subtle but workable way.

3.6 Effectiveness of the learning organization and the factors influencing it. Every organization has its certain purposes and objectives， beneficial or social， that distinguish organizations from one another. The effectiveness of an organization depends on the extent to which it may achieve its purposes and objectives， as well as how it is able to satisfy its different stakeholders. It is the ability of the organization to meet its set goals given the resources at its disposal. There are many factors influencing effectiveness of organizations， such as， strategies and planning； employees personalities， abilities and engagement； workforce climate and culture； appropriately designed organizational structure； and influential leadership governance as well as decision making， etc.

In addition， the learning organization should set learning as one of its goals to its specific purposes and objectives. Thus evaluating the effectiveness of the learning organization depends on two parts. One part， it should perform effectively as an ordinary organization： meeting the set mission（s） and vision， and satisfying its stakeholders. The other part， it should perform as a learning organization by applying the standard and criteria of being a learning organization. Moreover， there are three factors influencing the effectiveness of the learning organization： clear direction by leadership， employee empowerment， and team work. Those three factors will behave as three dimensions to examine the effectiveness of the learning organization.

4. Conclusion

The learning organization has been described as 'the ability to learn faster than your competitors' and 'the only sustainable competitive advantage'. Besides， many of the pains of contemporary organizational redesign or adjust will be healed by the learning organization in a more subtle and delicate way. However， no learning organization is built in a single day. Success comes from deliberate plan， design and management. Especially for those organizational designers who are engaging in redesigning or adjust of the organization's previous structure， which already worked for decades， there do exist issues needed to be seriously taken into account. Therefore this paper presents implications on the learning organization in contemporary world and may it be spur to introduce more valuable contributions to the learning organizations.

References：

[1]Chandler， A.D. （1962） Strategy and Structure： Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise， Cambridge， MA：MIT Press.

[2]Garvin， D.A. （1993）Building a learning organization， Harvard Business Review， Jul-Aug； 71 （4）：78-91.

[3]Garvin， D.A. （2008）Is yours a learning organization？， Harvard Business Review， Mar； 86 （3）：109-134.

[4]Mintzberg， H. （1993） Structure in Fives： DESIGNING EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS， Prentice-Hall， Inc.

[5]Mullins， L.J. （2006） Essentials of Organizational Behavior， Prentice-Hall， 2006.

[6]Robbins， S.P.， Decenzo， D.A. and Coulter， M. （2013） Fundamentals of Management： ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS （8e）， PEARSON.

[7]Senge， P.M. （1990）， The Fifth Discipline： The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization， Currency Doubleday.