Introduction
Hewlett-Packard Company is a US- based company formed to endow with hi-tech solutions, software’s and services. Along side the technological products are the printing and imaging devices, the IT interactions solutions in line with the maintenance and support services.
Due to the rising demand on the company’s clienteles, ranging from small individuals to large enterprises, to the industrial segment encompassing the public and educational sectors, the company has come up with new services including the outsourcing and consulting services just naming a few of them as noted by HP (1989).
According to Packard, 2006 the central focus of the paper is to critically examine whether or not HP is a learning organization. This is done by following the theory of Senge with regards top learning organization. On the same note the barriers that hinder organization to be a learning one id also of interest.
Additionally the advantages associated with a learning organization arte also brought forth and this is what guides the conclusion to make. Finally the paper seeks to recommend a number of things that the company needs to do to in guiding it towards being a learning organization.
History of the organization
Hewlett Packard Company was formed in 1939 by two electrical engineering graduates from Sanford University. Hewlett Packard is the second names of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard the founders of the company. The Company was established at a garage belonging to Packard as the name was arrived at after a coin tossing between the two co founders of the corporation of which Packard won but they decided to name their electronics company Hewlett Packard Company.
The company was an idea after a fellowship in Stanford alongside Pastor Fredrick Terman who they consider their mentor (Crawford, 2004). The Hewlett-Packard Company was incorporated in 1947 but the shares were offered to the public in 1957 (Easterby-Smith et al. 1999).
With the initial capital of US $ 538 they were able to produce their first ever financial successive product, precision audio oscillator HP200A product to the market which gained fiscal uplift unlike the other previous products. In this model they incorporated a small light tuber as a temperature resistor on the circuit.
This project produced a number of the series to the market spanning a record breaking 33 years as the longest-selling basic electronic design of all time. The introduction of HP200AB, an improvement of the model HP200A shoved it from the market. The Walt Disney Company was the earliest customers of the Hewlett-Packard Company as they acquired eight units of the HP200B oscillators’ model for attesting the sound systems in the theatres for the Fantasound for the movie Fantasia as noted by (McHugh et al. 1998)
Mission & Vision Statements
HP Company has developed a unique management style best known as the HP Way; its origin can be traced as way back from the founders and friends, Bill and Dave down to the employees. This is a core philosophy take into account the three major concepts of respect, dedication and commitment (Packard, 2006).
Thus there was emphasis on the vigor esteem of the individual, devotion to reasonable quality and consistency, commitment to society conscientiousness together with the technical contributions for the progressive and interests of humanity is secured by the company.
Core Values, Operating Guidelines
The following are the doctrine of The HP Way:
- There is belief and esteem for individuals.
- The organization is of result oriented through soaring level of realization and contribution.
- The Company’s core values are more than establishment and adhering to the processes but carry out the business with adamant veracity.
- There is need of joint effort in order for the realization of the common objectives.
- There is room for elasticity and advancement for the company to acquire new ideologies.
Learning organization theory by Senge
It is worth to note that a learning organization has been thought of as a company which endeavors in facilitating the learning of its workers aimed at transforming the whole organization. The concept came into limelight as a result of mounting pressure in the business world which called for organization to adopt strategies aim at making them stay competitive. Generally speaking, there are five major characteristics of a learning organization. These have been broadly categorized as team learning, system thinking, mental models, and personal mastery and shared vision.
The definition to be adopted in this assignment is the one by Senge, 1994: 3;
[Learning organization are those organizations 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 to see the whole together.]
Based on the five characteristics previously mentioned which were indeed brought forth by Senge; team learning a situation where an organization strives to align and develop the abilities and potentials of teams aimed at creating desired out comes by the team. Strictly speaking team learning fundamentally rests on personal mastery and shared vision.
It is worth noting that HP has strive to work very hard in ensuring that it has in place various mechanisms in which team members are encouraged to learn through various ways (Malone, 2007). For instances, there are annual retreats which help in exchange of ideas and views. Additionally in such a setting individuals learn how to accommodate each other and appreciate the ideas from others. The major advantage with this is the rapid growth and development of workers hence the whole organization.
Additionally as noted by Senge, 1994 success of team learning is coined in dialogue which helps in making individuals leave out assumptions and engage in thinking together for the better. HP ha in place a communication mechanism that facilitates free flow of information hence making individuals to discover things and ides that cannot be attained individually.
According to Wang & Ahmed, 2003 HP in has also master building of shared vision. This is attributed to the fact that the leadership of the company realized that leading is not of significance least it creates a culture where it is possible to hold a shared vision of the future for the organization. With this it could be easy to show others the way since there will be lower rates of resistance as individual know where they are heading.
HP has on place a program whether they talk to their workers frequently about the future of the company. Additionally, posters are place in offices, among other places to remind employees of where the company wants to be in the near future. According to Whitman, 2001 in situations where there is a genuine and shared vision, individuals will excel and learn simply because they want to learn and to be better individuals.
As previously mention, the meetings as well as posters within the organization works towards unearthing what the company wants in the future.
This HP has done in a rational manner where views from all quotas have been incorporated has seen to it that workers show commitment. The only problem with HP with regards to building a shared vision is that there are instances where the leadership seems to use dictorship in trying to win the hearts of the employees when trying to share the future picture of the organization (Serenko et al. 2007).
With regards top mental model one of the major characteristic of a learning organization, HP has tried in making notable changes that foster the organization to fully understand itself by unearthing internal attributes and closely examining them. This has been attained in part by carrying out survey for instances one basing on customers and marketing and the other concerning the employees. With search initiative, the company has made necessary changes to suit the finding of the surveys (Jana, 2009).
As previously mentioned HP has mechanisms in place that encourage information sharing between and among employees. For this reason meaningful conversation aimed at balancing inquiry has been possible by employees being able to share what they think in an open manner. As if with clear knowledge that working with a mental model cannot be possible without having workers learning new skills, HP has in place room for ensuring that employees can acquire new skills and knowledge (Burrows, 2003).
This can be seen it its initiative to sponsor individuals who are enrolling to advance their learning. One big problem with such an initiative is that once some individuals have been sponsored, they are taken by other top competitors such as Dell. This sort of employee turnover jeopardizes the efforts of the company in being number one in computer appliance business (Daft, 2007).
Concerning personal mastery, HP has not yet fully mastered this concept to their advantage. It has been noted that organization only learns through employees who continuously learn. Strictly speaking having mind that personal mastery is a continuous process in which individual deepen their vision and focus their energy to develop patience as well as meeting realities in a more objective manner, it has been a challenge to the company as a result of change of leadership and the rate of employee turnover.
Despite the fact that the company strives in ensuring the employees get new skills and knowledge personal mastery is usually beyond this. The company needs to create a culture where employees will be able to incorporate their individual learning in bettering the organization (Bolman & Deal, 1997).
It is worth noting that through thinking system which calls for organization to fully evaluate itself and take necessary action in improving its worth in the future, HP has managed to have in place a talent management program. This has in the recent past worked well in helping it reduce the higher rate of employees’ turnover (Pedler et al. 1997). The employees are highly educated and are willing to acquire new skills within the short time possible and work without supervision.
Advantages of a learning organization
It is worth mentioning that a learning organization has a number of benefits. For instance it helps organization maintain higher levels of innovation and creativity hence being competitive. Similarly, a learning organization better places itself in responding to external factors hence maintaining competitive advantage (Argyris & Schön, 1996).
Similarly, learning organization when it comes to issue pertaining to changes is at an advantage as they can adopt change quickly and successfully. In situations where the relationship between the organization and their relevant stakeholders are analyzed, a learning organization through the five characteristics described previously makes it to be people-centered firm. This brings with it a number of advantages such as improved corporate image.
Barriers facing learning organization
The argument brought forth by various scholars is that even organizations deemed to be learning ones are faced with certain barriers. The broad categories of these barriers are internal and external. One major barrier is employees’ resistance to change. This may stem from the fears associated with adopting and encouraging for instance personal mastery (Etzioni, 1997). The argument has been that personal mastery can provide avenue for individuals to expand and develop their own vision which can be counterproductive to the firm.
Since the company is growing and operates in various international locations, the size is a barrier to being a learning organization. It has proved to be challenging to harmonize the varying and diverse culture across the world. It is important to note that with increased size of an organization issues such as reduced interaction, longer organization structure, poor communication mechanisms among other emerge; these hinder the urge of being a learning organization (Anders, 2003).
Conclusion
From the review of learning organization using HP it is apparent that it is indeed a learning organization. This is attributed to the fact that it has shrived in trying to exhibit the five major characteristics of a learning organization which include, systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision and team learning. I would advocate for h organization o continue adopting and making continuous improvement to being a learning organization to the benefits associated with the concept.
For instance, it will be able to tackle external pressure, meet the expectations of all the relevant stakeholders among other. However, there are certain things that the company need to adopt. These include having leaders who are teachers, stewards, designers as this will work well in creating a culture that will encourage a learning organization. Similarly, there is need for the company to ensure that it comes up with better strategies aimed at motivating employees to curb the high rate of employees’ turnover.
References
Anders, G. (2003). Perfect Enough: Carly Fiorina and the Reinvention of Hewlett Packard. New York: Harper Books.
Argyris, C. & Schön, D. 1996 Organizational learning II: Theory, method and practice, Reading, Mass: Addison Wesley.
Bolman, L. & Deal, E. 1997 Reframing Organizations. Artistry, choice and leadership 2e, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Burrows, P. 2003. Backfire: Carly Fiorina’s High-Stakes Battle for the Soul of Hewlett-Packard. New York: Wiley.
Easterby-Smith, et al. 1999 Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization, London: Sage.
Etzioni, A. 1997 The New Golden Rule. Community and morality in a democratic society, London: Profile Books.
Jana, R. (2009). HP’s Cultural Revolution. Web.
Malone, M. (2007). Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World’s Greatest Company. New York: Portfolio Press.
McHugh, D. et al. 1998 ‘Managing learning: what do we learn from a learning organization?’ The Learning Organization. 5 (5): 209-220.