Organization learning can be defined as organized acquiring of experience through controlled and managed trial of new strategies and intelligent use of the results to achieve the required objectives.
This is because the more dynamic an organization is the higher the chances of maintaining its prowess in current volatile market. This paper discusses the importance of learning to an organization, the necessary requirements and examples of organizations which have used this concept to maintain their brands in the current competitive market.
Importance of learning to an organization
The employment of this strategy will enable a company or the business empires realize its mission and vision statements. This is because organization learning empowers every member of the organization towards a common goal.
By either creating and trying new policies and strategies or learning and positively responding to current challenges the organizations can formulate mission and vision statements and incorporate everyone to achieve them.
Learning organization creates new challenges to the management and all the employees. The employees feel part and parcel of the organization. This makes them believe to be part of the solution and not the problem.
The shift from the tradition advertisement based on disseminating information is being replaced by interactive advertisement as seen in social site advertisement and employees are faced with new modern challenges. Learning and acting to these challenges becomes the dream of every employee.
Due to the volatility of the current marked the only way for organizations to stay afloat is to embrace organization learning. They take time to learn and implement better methods of doing things due to the continual change in the society. Car manufacturing companies such as Toyota learn from changes in international policies on emissions and fuel efficiency to invent more efficient automobiles.
Necessary requirements
An excellent communication system is essential in organization learning. A good communication structure is essential in disseminating information and knowledge throughout the whole organization from senior management to other levels of management, from one department to another and also forms one person to another.
This is especially important in large organizations that have different branches in different areas. Employment of communication tools such as web conferencing, instant messaging, cell phones and others enhance passing of information and knowledge within the organization (Eijkman, n.d; Janakiraman, 2008).
For an effective learning organization the kind of the work force matters a lot. Curious and intelligent people who have an intuitive thinking about work based problems are an advantage as suggested by Serrat:
Intellectually curious about their work, who actively reflect on their experience, who develop experience-based theories of change and continuously test these in practice with colleagues, and who use their understanding and initiative to contribute to knowledge development. (Serrat, 2009, p. 1)
Knowledge is one of the most important requirements for effective learning organization. Learning and knowledge cannot be separated. This is suggested by Serrat:
Knowledge is a critical asset in every learning organization. Because learning is both a product of knowledge and its source, a learning organization recognizes that the two are inextricably linked and manages them knowledge should encompass both the individual and corporate knowledge (Serrat, 2009, p. 1)
Technology is part and parcel of passing of information and knowledge in the organization. This is important in ensuring that there is effective communication and management of knowledge. The organizations must invest in terms of time, support personnel, relevant infrastructure, and expertise. These and other requirements are important in facilitating the learning process.
Conclusion
Learning organization is a very important concept for those organizations that want to remain in the market for long. Organizations learn from self made or prepared challenges or the challenges they face in order to brace themselves for the challenging future ahead. It is a very important concept that everyone should try.
References
Eijkman. H. (n.d.) The Learning Organization as concept and journal in the neo-millennial era: a plea for critical engagement. Web.
Janakiraman. S. (2008) The Importance of being a Learning Organization. Web.
Serrat O,(2009). Building a LearningOrganization. Web.