Theories of Organizational Learning

Theories of Organizational Learning

The task of analyzing organizational learning is very complex. Several researches have explained organizational learning using different theories. The field of organizational learning is large and researches often fall prey to disappointments becoming unaware of other important but categorically different researches from their own. Shipton (2006) classified the various theories of organizational learning. This essay analyses the evaluations of theories offered in the journal and offers a way of advancing the theories. It will also note any challenges hindering theory advancement.

The article divides the theories of organizational learning into two continuums. One continuum covers theories using normative approaches and the other continuum covers theories using explanatory approaches. The article identifies two major categories of theories. The first category describes organizational learning in the focus of the whole organization. The second category describes OL as individual learning done in the organizational context. Some studies are not clearly distinct and their description borders on the two categories. The article has used the degree of emphasis to classify such studies (Shipton 2006).

The article first analyses the theory describing OL as individuals learning in the context of the organization and falling into the first continuum of normative approaches. It notes that literature in this category mainly highlights learning as inspirational. It highlights dialogue’s benefit of improving communication among individuals and groups. The environment plays a key role in facilitating learning and organizations are encouraged to be decentralized and flat to promote dialogue. Personal communications are emotional and the organization has to have mechanisms to solve concerns and anxieties. Emotional issues make overall learning in the organization complicated. The article notes that many researches have not shown the complexity however when deeply analyzed, the researches place the individual at the center of the initiatives incorporated to stimulate learning. The evaluation of this theory advocates for a focus on how individual leaning mechanisms assist organizational learning. Secondly, it identifies a research gap in use of empirical evidence to justify learning activity effects on the organization (Shipton 2006).

The article also evaluates the same theory as above, but which falls on the second continuum of explanatory perspective mainly due to their descriptive nature. In this category, the article points out two distinct views. In the first view, research is concerned with knowing how individual learning takes place under either stressing or enabling environments. Research also focuses on cognitive ability of the individual. The second view emphasizes on the process of knowledge construction.  The article further notes that research works falling into this category evaluate knowledge using a ‘situated learning’ approach. According to the article’s findings, tacit knowledge sharing is not clear. Furthermore, it is difficult to picture how to encourage best practices when implementation happens subconsciously in daily work (Shipton 2006).

In the second theory category described as organizational focus, the article reviews research works in the first continuum of prescriptive perspective. The article places research works focusing on the organization in this category. Individuals are not the focus of the research studies reviewed unless they form the first state in which the organization learns. The article notes that works reviewed were clear on the outcomes of organizational learning. Based on the notion that organizational learning sanctions become measurable when they work, studies in this category have investigated strategic renewal and learning curve. The former refers to dynamic movement of knowledge in the institution while the later looks at the time it takes to transfer knowledge effectively in the institution (Argote 2005). Although in this category learning curve offers a direct way of measuring learning, the review article criticizes the various researches for failing to elaborate what lies between individual level learning and organizational level learning. Furthermore, the article finds out that the researches ignore tacit knowledge’s influence on learning (Shipton 2006).

Finally, the review article evaluates researches in the organizational focus category that fall into the second continuum of explanatory perspective. Researches falling in this continuum focus on the changes associated with organizational learning. Additionally, they look at possibilities of inadequate results despite any efforts made to enhance organizational learning. Lastly, they look into the role of tacit knowledge in molding the capacity of the organization (Bennet & Bennet 2008). In this category, researches fall under behaviorist or cognitive perspective. The former views procedures and sequences as learning mines. The later associate learning with potential that later assists in sharing understanding of awareness and actions. The common view among the various researches in this category is codification of knowledge in the organization. However, reviewed research has not shown whether codification as a storage and retrieval mechanism for knowledge stimulates or hinders progress (Shipton 2006).

The review article concludes that the typology used in the review is usable when comparing theories whose consideration does not fall in one context. In order to advance the theories discussed in the article, future research must be more focused and in depth employing empirical methods. However, the author notes that such an in depth look might return the researcher to the disillusionment of having no knowledge of other non-related but significant theories (Shipton 2006).

Bibliography

Argote, L. 2005, Organizational Learning: Creating, retaining and transferring knowledge. Springer, New York, NY.

Bennet, D & Bennet, A 2008, ‘Engaging tacit knowledge in support of organizational learning’, VINE, vol.38, no.1, pp. 1-25, Viewed 17 March 2011, http://www.mountainquestinstitute.com/Engaging%20Tacit%20Knowledge%202008.pdf

Shipton, H. 2006, 'Cohesion or confusion? Towards a typology for organizational learning research.' International Journal of Management Reviews, vol.8, no.4, pp. 233-252, EBSCOhost Business Source Premier [Online]. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2006.00129.x (Accessed: 11 December 2009).

http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2006.00129.x

Russian and Chinese Revolutions

The Russian revolution occurred in 1917 when the country was an agrarian nation and it resulted to the formation of the Soviet Union. It was a fight of the working class against the ruling tsar and his army for the control of state power. The army lost the war mainly because the First World War had left it mutated and ill prepared for the revolution. Later in the year there was a civil war between the socialists who were aligned to lower class citizens and the provisional government that had taken power after the defeat of the army. The Russian revolution was a result of public dissatisfaction in all social classes like the peasants, the workers and soldiers. It led to the defeat of the monarchs and ruling conservatives that were opposed to the restructuring of the government into a socialist state as fronted by the Bolsheviks socialist party. Political parties were the main fighting forces in the revolution and the Bolsheviks party championed for socialist rule that was eventually adopted after their victory (Ross p.6). The Chinese revolution happened in the 1940s. After the revolution the Chinese Communist Party replaced the Chinese National party that was out of favour with the civilian population because of corruptions allegations despite having great financial support from the United States. The revolution allowed the People’s Republic of China to be created. The Chinese Communist party was responsible for the resulting socialist state after its victory in the revolution (Schrecker p.6-14).

In both revolutions, the environment that allowed the establishment to opposing political parties was responsible for the eventual emergence and victory of the socialist parties. However the two revolutions were different in the reasons behind the revolutions. The Chinese were motivated by the need to fight corruption in the national party while the Russians were seeking to stop the increasing power of the bourgeoisie.

The Creation and Evolution of the 21st Century in a Geopolitical Context

            The 21^st century’s current composition is as a result of assimilation and diffusion of ideologies as well as cultures, machines and instruments. Diffusion is considered as a process by which cultures evolve by adoption of new things by an individual or society from another society or individual. Advancement in communication has facilitated diffusion of ideologies. This has been driven by the need and desire of new traits as they oppose or compete with old traits. Diffusion has also arisen due to the fact that inventors or those who bring new traits to a society are respected. The 21^st century is a diffusion of various (Sharma p.136).       

            In the late 19^th century, much of the world was under colonialism, and the economies of the countries focused on producing what was required by their colonizing country. The Industrial Technology was not very developed and communication and transportation was slow compared to the 20^th century. The western world had largely adopted democratic institutions while the other parts of the world were mainly monarchies or lacked a formally defined form of government. As transportation technologies like the steam engine appeared and were deployed on a mass scale in the early 20^th century, communication among countries improved. The use of telephones and telegrams and the building of railway lines created also favourable environment for an increase in international trade. Discoveries made in one part of the world were immediately adopted in another part. International trade then prospered, and as a result of inter-state competition, new protective approaches were developed to safeguard state interests.  Colonialism became too difficult to sustain as natives in the colonised countries became educated started fighting for the right to rule their countries. In Africa the collapse of colonialism occurred in the middle of the 20^th century. A new ideology of imperialism replaced colonialism. As international trade flourished, disputes emerged with accusations of exploitation. Out of the necessity to maintain order and provide a dispute resolution mechanism, new world bodies were formed such as the World Trade Organization. Apart from the global body, trade alliances also emerged among countries enjoying similar levels of development. Political alignments also were formed depending on the ideologies followed by individual countries.  Such formations also extended to subject countries that were still loyal to their former colonial masters. For example, all countries previously under British rule and were still loyal to its monarchy formed the commonwealth union. On the other world first world countries in terms of development formed the G8 union so as to assist in governance of world affairs. Other unions did arise as a result of special needs. Oil producing nations formed Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to safeguard their interests as well as regulate oil production in the world (Amuzegar p.6).

The assimilation of ideologies considered as the incorporation of aspects of one ideology into another is shown in the US society in the 20^th century. After suffering the effects of the 1920s depression, aspects of the socialist ideology were assimilated to the otherwise complete capitalist society such as the introduction of pension systems and the guarantees on education and healthcare made possible by government funding that was obtained from tax revenues (Abramyan p.76).  After the cold war of the 1970s, communist countries assimilated part of capitalism into their economies through liberalization of key economic sectors and opened up their borders and ports for international trade.

In conclusion, geopolitics has emerged as the main factor that has influenced the assimilation and diffusion of ideologies that has also resulted in formation of new ideologies and country alignments to those ideologies. Industrial technology has played a key part in transforming cultures, trade as well as conflict. However the spread of technology has been had an opposition like that faced by ideologies. Instead technology has become an instrument of advancement embraced by all, for personal gains.

Works Cited

Abramyan, Evgeny. Civilisation in the 21^st Century. How to Save the Future, 2005.

Amuzegar, Jahangir. Managing the Oil Wealth: OPEC’s Windfall and Pitfalls. New York, NY: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 2001.

Ross, Stewart. The Russian Revolution. London, UK: Evan Brothers, 2002.

Schrecker, John. The Chinese Revolution in Historical Perspective. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004.

Sharma, Rajendra Kumar. Social Change and Social Control. New Delhi, India: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2007.

Dispositional and Learning Theories

Introduction

 Disposition is a personal trait that is unique to the individual and influences any other trait presented by the environment. Personal disposition according to Allport are individual characteristics that are important in describing a person as a single entity different from another or similar to another (Feist & Feist, 2009). Learning theory has emphasized that what individuals present as their traits have been acquired through a continuation of structuring and restructuring experiences during their social interactions. Learning is continuous and includes the individual’s emotions, cognition and environment aspects of the individual. The learning theory holds that all knowledge is obtained from experience (Mangal 2009). This essay breaks down the two theories and analyses their strengths and weaknesses.

Basic or underlying assumptions

The disposition theory places personal dispositions into a continuum that starts from those that are central to the person up to those that offer a non-significant influence. Those most central to the person have been referred to as cardinal dispositions. These are inborn traits that are clearly visible in their influence on every action that the person takes. A cardinal disposition is usually single when present in a person. Second on the continuum are central dispositions which include a larger number of traits than cardinal dispositions, usually five to ten traits that the individual would be described with from another person’s point of view. The third and last on the continuum are secondary dispositions occurring regularly even though they do not influence the actions of the individual as much as the previous two dispositions. An individual may possess more than one secondary disposition (Feist & Feist, 2009).

The personalities attributed to learning theory cannot be permanent, as the environment shaping them is dynamic. Similar to dispositions, learning is initiated by a drive which creates a discomfort in the individual such as hunger. There are primary drives necessary for survival. These are satisfied immediately before they become overwhelming. In addition, there are secondary drives learned from primary drives. In this case a person is driven to eat because of the primary drive of hunger, however the time at which the person eats is a learned behaviour from society as the appropriate meal time. Also similar to disposition theory, learning further divides drives based on what solves discomforts. Primary reinforces directly reduce the discomfort caused by the drive while secondary reinforces must be associated with primary reinforces and therefore act indirectly. For example the discomfort of hunger is reduced by food and money is used to buy the food. Money in this case is the secondary reinforcer (Engler, 2009).

Determinism versus free will

 Dispositions are also classified into motivational dispositions when they are influenced by basic needs and drive to initiate action and into stylistic dispositions when they guide the action taken by the individual. In an example, a person eats in order to suppress hunger, however what a person eats and how he eats will be determined by their stylistic dispositions, such that a carefree person may not care about what they eat as much as the responsible person will care. Disposition theory therefore claims that an individual personality traits will remain constant irrespective of a change in their environment or when presented with an unexpected trigger. It puts a greater premium to inborn traits over those acquired such that a person with a high IQ is likely to have a better start in unfavourable environments than those who acquire a high IQ because of being in the appropriate environment. In addition, a personality attributed to disposition is characterized by individual choice like what they will eat as opposed to a learned personality that withdraws the responsibility of decision from the person so that they choose based on what their environment presents (Feist & Feist, 2009).

Learning occurs in four stages of having the drive to act followed by a trigger or a cue to act and then acting or responding to the cue. Finally after several attempts of satisfying the drive, the best alternative is chosen and will be replicated every time the drive occurs. An individual’s will or choice of actions therefore becomes predictable based the learned reinforcement of the appropriate response to the drive. A learnt personality is heavily dependent on the environment and an individual has little room to choose based on their values since even their values are subject to evaluation using social traits in the environment (Engler, 2009).

Awareness of self

In disposition theory, a person’s personality is a combination of his proprium behaviours which the person feels a sense of ownership and those that are at the periphery performed unconsciously. Furthermore, it emphasizes that behaviour is concerned with the functionality of actions. Since a person personality is best described by their proprium behaviours, individuals then are more aware and actively choose how to act and their actions depict their inclination to certain life dimensions (Feist & Feist, 2009). Learned behaviour has no provision for in grown traits and explicitly suggests that an individual automatically adopts traits that work in the given environment. This assumption is akin to declaring that individuals are programmed socially and are not aware of their self (Engler, 2009).

Weaknesses

 Learning theory is appropriate in describing a person’s public traits because it is mostly concerned with historical facts of the person’s behaviour. It further suggests that behaviours and traits can be unlearnt by replacing them with newer ones. However when it comes to predicting behaviour, learning theory’s drive-reduction hypothesis becomes inadequate when there are no known similar encounters of the individual with the drive. It also fails to account for why some supposedly learnt traits like intelligence cannot be unlearnt. Finally, learned theory fails to explain why in the same environment, individuals react differently although they have all undergone the same conditioning. The dispositional theory also fails on the grounds that individuals are able to successful mimic new personalities that they learn from their environment as a result of being motivated externally, such as the case of learnt intelligence that afterwards makes these born intelligent, and those who learnt to be intelligent the same (Feist & Feist, 2009).

Strengths and Conclusion

Learning theory explains why it is possible to change a person’s personality by social conditioning and is the main reason of structured education systems that seeks to develop citizens of desirable personality. The theory is best applicable to social professions that are concerned with past actions of individuals such as investigators. Disposition theory draws its strength in its ability to accurately predict future actions of individuals when presented with known or unknown situations. To sum up, as personality theories, both dispositional and learning are extensive in their description, and at some point in individuals life, they are involved in formation of new traits. However they become inadequate tools of gauging a personality in times of danger and unusual events.

References

Engler, B. (2009) 8^th ed. Personality Theories: An Introduction. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Feist, J and Feist G.J. (2009) 7^th ed. Theories of personality. Hightstown, NJ: McGraw Hill Higher Education.

Mangal, S. K. (1998). General Psychology. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Company

What Do You Want in a Library Director?

Introduction

 The Fawville Public Library director, Sam Grillo, is leaving after completing his six month probation period. The director replaced by Sam Grillo had served the library for sixteen years. According to the library staff, none of the two directors’ leadership style was professional. Sam Grillo was viewed as an abdicator while the other director was autocratic. When the six month probation period for Sam Grillo ended, the board of trustees for the library saw it fit not to confirm him as the new director. As a result of their decision, the post of library director is now vacant. The board has noted the need for having a professional director and has decided to involve the library staff in the interviewing process. Aside from the excitement, the staffs are grateful for this decision and want to make proper use of their chance to ask questions to the interview candidates. They hope their involvement in the interview process will lead to the hiring of a new director who is not as bad as the previous two. The library staffs want a new director who has the skills in the art of management. Since this is the first time, the staffs are involved in the interview process; they need assistance in vetting candidates, especially on the ways of detecting hidden character aspects of an individual that may not be clear when only interview questions are relied upon. On its part the board has noted that the previous recruitment exercise for library director only attracted one applicant. Therefore to attract more applicants, the board is looking at the option of raising the salary perks to match those of directors of similar sized libraries.

The Best Alternative to Resolving the Case

In order to be best prepared for the interview, the staff must understand the reasons that made the previous recruitment a failure. First, the board of trustees was inexperienced and did not know how well to conduct the interview for a new director. They must have omitted necessary steps that would have pointed out in advance the unsuitability of the candidate. Secondly the experience with an autocratic director might have blinded the board to immediately hire Sam Grillo on a probation term since he elucidated an opposite character. In coming up with interview questions and strategies, the staffs should observe the following guidelines to avoid pitfalls. The staffs should avoid using the performances of the previous directors as yard sticks to measure the expected performance of the potential candidates. Secondly, they should not rush the process and should suggest a postponement of the interview if they feel that there has not been adequate time to prepare and attract favourable candidates. One may argue that the staffs have demonstrated a high degree of self-motivation, responsibility, are adaptive to the various library needs and tasks and have an eagerness to learn and innovative (Hull et.al. 2005). However this argument shouldn’t make the staff take the easy way out of choosing one of their own. They should understand that they have demonstrated those qualities collectively and at a staff’s capacity and not a director’s one (Alliance Library System, n.d.).

 The staffs have been frank in mentioning that they have no previous experience. To remedy this, they should engage a reputable recruitment consultant. Attracting the services of such a consultant will require that the staff and the board be willing to offer an attractive payment package. This should be viewed as a price to pay for the best service (Article Alley, 2011). Lastly, the staffs must avoid over emphasizing on the technical abilities of the candidates and recognize that a good director will be visionary and regularly communicate properly with the board, staffs and other stakeholders like interest groups and community leaders. Before the actual interview, the staffs should have an informal exit interview with Sam Grillo the leaving director (Hull et.al. 2005). This will serve as a learning experience on what to emphasize on while formulating interview questions. Using this opportunity, the staffs will be able to know any unique attributes that has served them well that should be in possession of the new director. Most importantly, the staffs will get a description of the job from a real director and this will assist in cementing or trashing their biases and expectations (Serrat, 2008).

 Lowville library is a public institution and therefore the staffs should be aware of the legalities of their interview questions. Secondly they should note the government’s requirements for public library directors (Eggett, 2008). The staffs have demonstrated that they already know the qualities to look for in a candidate. Their main challenge is how to spot those qualities in the candidates. First they should check the references provided and look for others like the employees of the institutions that a candidate has indicated in his working experience. In checking the references, information about the quality and amount of work done as well as the exact areas of competence should be asked (Wynn, 2010). The task of checking references will spare the staffs agony of knowing the candidate’s managing style, their relationships with their former boards and staff as well as their abilities to work in stressful conditions.

Implementation plan and Conclusion

During the interview, the staffs should capture the feelings of the candidates as they answer questions, and should listen carefully to what the candidates say and avoid saying. Any negative response should be checked again and the currency of the candidate’s experiences should be considered (Hull et.al. 2005). It is expected that all candidates called for the interview would have passed the screening process; the staffs should therefore avoid the obvious questions that seek basic career information from the candidate. It is important the questions are structured to provide answers that show evidence or lack of it for the following competencies. First, the candidate should be a strategic thinker, be able to deal with stress and have a proper customer service attitude. Secondly the candidate’s answers should demonstrate proper handling of workplace politics, cultural sensitivity, and a high degree of problem solving ability. Finally, the candidate should be able to multitask with ease (Interview Skills Consulting, n.d.).

One of the ways to be able to achieve all this is to formulate a case study problem using the previous experiences of the library staffs, board and the users. Each candidate should then be presented with the crafted problem and asked to solve (Tellis, 1997). Presentation of the problem may be in a dialogue form, in writing or by use of a hybrid setup that captures the candidates written and oral communication qualities as well as their feelings while tackling the problem. In this way the staffs will be able to have the closest resemblance of an actual work performance by the interview candidates. The Lowville Public Library staff have only been invited to attend the interview process, and formulation of a case study is the most appropriate way the can use to find out if the interview candidates possess skills and qualities they are looking for.

References

Hull, H. A., Custer M. L., Gavey J. F., Tabor J. M. & Hage L. C. (2005). A library board’s practical guide to finding the right library director. Detroit Suburban Librarians’ Roundtable Succession Planning Committee. Retrieved 10 March 2011 from http://www.owlsweb.info/L4L/trustees/GuideToFindingTheRightLibraryDirector.pdf

Alliance Library System. (n.d.) Hiring a new library director. Retrieved 10 March 2011 from http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/CEpdf/Hiring_a_%20new_director.pdf

Serrat, O. (2008).Conducting exit interviews. Knowledge Solutions. Retrieved 10 March 2011 from http://www.adb.org/Documents/Information/Knowledge-Solutions/Conducting-Exit-Interviews.pdf

Interview Skill Consulting (n.d.). Competency based interviews. Retrieved 23, February 2011 from http://www.interview-skills.co.uk/competency-based-interviews.aspx

Tellis, W. (1997). Application of a Case Study Methodology. The Qualitative Report, 3(3). Retrieved 23, February 2011 from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR3-3/tellis2.html

Eggett C.B. (2008). Orientation manual for new library directors. 2^nd ed. Salt Lake City, UT.: Utah State Library Division

Article Alley. (2011). Recruitment consultants – a benefit for employers and companies. Retrieved 10 March 2011 from http://www.articlealley.com/article_1987446_36.html

Wynn, B. (2010). Making the right hire first time, every time. Recruitment Views. Retrieved 10 March 2011 from http://www.recruitment-views.com/making-the-right-hire-first-time-every-time/1295