An organization that learns does not automatically mean that it is a learning organization
Introduction
With the advance of economy, the competitions between enterprises are increasingly fierce. The research about organizational learning (OL) can be traced back to 1970s, Argyris and Schön gave a definition that diagnoses and corrects the mistake of organizations. Later, Huber (1991) published one of the most superior views about OL that during the processing of information, if the organizations’ potential behavior is changed, organizational learning has been generated in this process. Until Senge published his book named “THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE-The art & Practice of the learning organization” in 1990, the research of organizational learning enters to the climax. Basic meaning of the learning organization is that an organization is continuous expending to create its future and it has been aimed to growth the ‘knowledge intensity’ of enterprises (Senge, 1990). However, whether in theory or practice in enterprises, learning organization and organizational learning are extremely easy to confuse the two concepts. Generally, many people believe that organizational learning and learning organization are two interchangeable concepts; but from the academic point of view, the two thoughts closely related while having qualitative difference. Just like the title says, a learning organization is not an organization, which can learn. This article will start from the definition of organizational learning and learning organization and some related theories, then will critically analyze practice in different companies, and will further discuss the relationship between these two concepts.
Literature Review
In order to have a better understanding the relationship between organizational learning and learning organization, the first concept should be clear is what is learning. As a social construction, learning is finding something new, or modifying, enhancing and compounding different type of information (Schacter, Gilbert and Wegner, 2009). Armstrong (2012) believed learning is a process that a person acquires and develop knowledge, skills capabilities, behaviors and attitudes; it involves the alteration of behaviors through experience and formal methods of helping people to learn inside and outside the workplace. Learning in implicit worlds is like a mirror to reflect the workplace community of practice “fosters organizational learning through sharing best practices” (Bennett, 2009). An organization is a social entity that has a collective goal and is linked to an external environment (Handy, 1990).
The notion of organizational learning
Organizational learning is a novel concept that has been seriously considered by scholars in recent years. Argyris (1992) recommended that OL happen under two circumstances: firstly, when organizations achieve their desire; second, when a mispairing between expectations and consequences is recognized and confirmed. He classified two types of learning, which described as single-loop learning and double-loop learning. Argyris (1996) illustrated single-loop learning, which also called adaptive learning that for the sake of making organizations continuous adjustments and adaptation; it is connected to strategies and attempts to get quick response on their outcome. In essence, single-loop learning only can maintain organizations’ daily routine and employees are encouraged to learn to perform, but cannot help organizations acquire improvement effect. According to Senge’s (1990) opinion, during establish the learning organization, single-loop learning is only the first stage; a truly learning organization must take double-loop learning model. Organizations need a system of thinking, common vision, self-transcendence, team learning, and creative tension. On this basis, double-loop learning happens through checking primary causes of problems therefore a brand new learning loop is constituted which has a deer understanding of organization development (Armstrong, 2012). Generally it occurs in the monitoring process, organizations realize that redefine its goal setting as necessary to adapt new situation (Argyris, 1992).
The notion of learning organization
According Wick and Leon (1995) gave the definition, the learning organization is an organization that promotes learning of all its members and continually improves with rapidly generating and improving the competencies required for future achievement. In the learning organization, everyone involves recognizing and solving problems thus help organizations constantly trying to enhance their capabilities. The basic value of the learning organization is solving problems which means employees participate to identify problems and they need to understand customer’s needs. Based on Senge (1990) research, a learning organization reveals five main disciplines. * Personal Mastery means individuals are willing to work with the creative tension between the professional expertise to work skills, personal and vision. Individual learning is acquired through staff training and development, however learning cannot be forced upon an individual who is not receptive to learning. Research shows that most learning in the workplace is incidental, rather than the product of formal training; therefore it is important to develop a culture where personal mastery is practiced in daily life. * Mental Model (MM). Generally, organizational barriers are mostly from the old thinking of individuals, such as “people are untrustworthy”. But the important point is that MMs are active, they shape how people act. To develop a learning organization, these models must be dared. Employees tend to agree theories that they plan to follow, and put these theories in to practice. * Shared Vision is not an idea. From the simplest level, a share vision is the response to requests. The development of a shared vision is significant in encouraging individuals to learn. If a vision is truly shared, colleagues have a similar picture and connect by a common aspiration. It will drive all of members’ power to the same goal. For a learning organization, shared vision is a vital part that provides direction and energy for learning. * Team Learning. A team’s wisdom should higher than the average personal wisdom thus make sure organizations to make the right decision. Team learning needs employees to involve in conversation and discussion; therefore team members must good at open communication, shared meaning and understanding (O’Keeffe, 2002). * Systems Thinking. This is a theoretical framework that allows people to study businesses as bounded objects and equally important to working with MMs efficiently. Learning information systems that measure the performance of the organization as a whole and of its various components.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge management (KM) is the process of catching, developing, sharing, and effectively using organizational knowledge that is a vital measurement to build a learning organization (Davenport, 1994). Nonaka (1991) illustrated that KM mentions to a multi-disciplined method to accomplishing organizational purposes with making the maximum practice of knowledge. Since KM can give organizations a strategic benefit, it becomes more and more important in the modern firm.
Case Study In order to analyze the difference and relationship between organizational learning and learning organization, this paper will chooses some typical companies to explicate might an organization that learns look like in practice. All of the sources is from these companies annual reports and companies official websites.
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. established in 1976 by Steven Jobs and Steve Wozniak that is the largest technology company with the highest market capitalization in the world. It is the first successful personal computer companies that the original charge of extension of the personal computer manufactory. During the last ten years, there were several significant achievements that Apple made. They redefined the music market by producing the iPod, the mobile phone market by creating the iPhone, the amusement and media market by launching the iPad. It is a practice of double-loop learning. Becoming a learning organization is not a simple task, but Apple can be considered as the one. The main reason of this is they had an incredible brilliant leader-Steven Jobs. Steven had system thinking that he knew the whole problems of Apple met. After he backed to Apple, the first thing he did is to build an independent and has multifunction groups (Young and Simon, 2005). He used these groups to help Apple survive in the market and also got $150 million investment from Gates (Moisescot, 2010). One of the five disciplines of the learning organization is MM and Steven was the organization’s MM. He was a perfectionist and dared to jump out of the traditional thinking. There was an interview in 1992, Steven said that Apple’s development guideline is innovate continuously and never produce ‘me-too’ products. After he came backed as CEO, his personal objective was revolutionized Apple become the most competitive company. It is a self-development in order to accomplish his goal; meanwhile it affected the company’s recruitment policy. Apple only recruit people who are willing to make the best thing in the world that means all of Apple’s employees have personal mastery. Anthony (1995) said that the learning organization only can be created under particular circumstance and the duty of organizational leader is to build such a place. Steven gave all of his staff this certain condition and shared his vision to everyone. All of these ensure that individuals put all of their energy to the same goal. Because of Apple’s training and development strategy, everyone is willing to communicate with colleagues and on one can say ‘NO’; no matter who has a sparkling idea, just send an email to the relative manager. It helps the company has an excellent team learning. Little (2010) who is the Apple’s ex-employees said that when they discuss the team’s work, each of them feels they can change the world, no matter which kind of roles they have. Through implement Apple Inc. from five disciplines, Jobs was the main reason of this company success and human resources is also vital. Apple knows how to be a good employer and its employees are valued and cherished.
IBM
IBM founded in 1911 by Thomas J. Waston and Charles Ranlett Fint which is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation. In 2012, Fortune ranked IBM the second largest US company in terms of the amount of employees. It is distinctive as its human resources policy that called blue pathway. It is a employee career development system which includes e-learning platform, mentoring, classroom learning and task delegation. IBM believes that they are selling seravices rather than products and services relying on the people. Therefore, only develop employees that can ensure to develop the company. Based on this value, IBM has successfully develop its own corporate culture and built its own learning organization. Every IBMer knows what they need to do, what they should learn and what they need to develop. It can be implement their successful learning organization based on the five disciplines (Senge, 1990). According to IBM internal survey (2004), every year the company spends approximately $750 million to upload and maintain their employee career development system. And their employees spend about 55 hours every year to take formal training. The main reason IBM put so much power to their staff’ training is that their administrators have clearly system thinking, understand the whole company’s needs so that they treat their staff as their the most precious fortune. They build the BLUE PATHWAY strategy to make sure that they are hiring the right people with the right skill doing the right things in the right place. Personal Mastery includes individuals’ vision and purpose, having innovative tension between vision and reality. Career develop system provide every IBMer opportunities to have their own thinking that they all exactly know their duties. Based on Loof (2004) theory, the vital point of Mental Model is taking action. IBM has its own business knowledge community, which provides individuals a platform to ensure them “learning anywhere, anytime and on demand”. Blue Pathway is a recruitment program that runs every year in the worldwide. It is particular for the university students and all of the regular employees must attend this program. This measure is beneficial to the company. Because through joining the program, every candidate has an explicit acknowledge of the organization’s culture and development strategy and it is convenient for the company to build Shared Vision. A good Team Learning is served for the company to shared vision. IBM use classroom learning, mentoring and task delegation to create chances for employees to have more conversation and discussion. A technology company can survive over hundred year is not quite easy, but IBM did. Because IBM built its own learning organization, and all of leaders try their best to keep being this kind of organization. Even IBM is a learning organization, it difference with Apple Inc. IBM follow its belief to manage and develop the organization, and it cannot be affect by one person.
Asea Brown Boveri (ABB)

ABB is Swiss industrial company and a world forerunner in producing equipment for power station. When the organization meets internal and external change, the training department will obey two different solutions. The first solving measure is keep the set goal and try to adjust its strategy that make sure the company can reach the target. The second solution will be taken when organizational beliefs and criterion are questioned, the training department will redefine and readjust their policy. This company is a representative of organization that learns. It uses single-loop and double-loop learning to adjust changes. But it cannot be considerate as a learning organization; this firm is in the fixing-problem process and does not have awareness and ability to active learn. Not only managers of this company do not provide a learning environment but also staffs of this company do not have Personal Mastery.
Analyze

Through reading literatures and case study, it is very clear that OL is distinguishing with LO. Easterby and Araujo (1999) clarified that OL focuses on monitoring and analysis the process of learning in organizations while LO is a form of organization and facilitate the learning process of organizations from the nature. Senge (1994) pointed out that the real work of establishing a learning organization is the deeply learning cycle work. No depth of organizational learning cannot build a learning organization. Jones and Hendy (1994) believed that organizational learning highlights training and knowledge and skills obtained. However learning organization is link to organizational capabilities, which include unnoticed implicit and experiential learning. And Mumford (1995) is considered that learning organization is a direction, and organizational learning is the most basic component. Organizational learning as a process to help improved problem-solving ability and the capacity of taking action. The attention of OL should be on the individual and collective level. In other words, OL is concentrate on how members learn in organizations; LO is that which company should perform to promote the learning of their staffs and innovation; an organization that learns is describing a state of companies, but do not illustrate how members learn and what companies do. From the target point of view, organizational learning emphasize that management, training, knowledge and skills and the learning organization is an organization linked to learning ability, the purpose is for all employees to ensure and support efforts to create a learning environment and organizational learning culture. From the content characteristic, organizational learning is an active process, and learning organization is an organization, which means that with an organizational philosophy. From the perspective of learning, organizational learning is the learning based on team learning whereas the learning organization is learning of individuals, teams and organizations. According to Linciln and Ahmadjian (1998) theory, if want to figure out how organization do OL, it includes several questions: What the method of organization solving problems is; how managers manage the meeting; when tell employees the organization culture; what the organization's precepts, legends and history is; what the manager responsibility is in the performance management; Whether the company is to encourage communication and reflection; how to set the rule of rewards system; how the organization treats mistakes and failures. If an organization can seriously think about these issues, it will learn to break the limitation of the formal learning programs and develop a strategy for the integration of learning. When an organization really done all of these, it is the time that this organization transfer to a learning organization.
The learning organization can response and predict the change of inside and outside by active organizational learning. And this kind of organizations has awareness and purpose to enhance their learning abilities. Just like Anthony (1995) said, organizations’ leaders do their best to create the specific circumstance that all of the members can learn. However, being a learning organization is not by unilateral efforts can be successful. I was taking a summer internship in Lucent Ltd, which was the top three IT company in the US. They had an internal website called Lucent University in which every member can find any type of learning sources. But I cannot say this firm is a learning organization that meets the fifth disciplines. Although the organization provides a platform for their staffs to active learn, not every individual has the consciousness to use these sources to improve their capabilities. One of my work content was sending an email to push hirelings to attend various kinds of training courses that include online and day-off training. HR manager can see the record whether employees join the training and usually only sixty percent of employees learned automatically. This phenomenon showed that Personal Mastery did not exist in all of members, and I deem that it is relative to the recruitment policy of the firm. I joined the interview several times, and I found that recruit manager was focusing on candidates’ working skills, teamwork awareness and personal issues. They did not care too much about this candidates’ opinion of the company’s culture and vision. I think that is why this company cannot be considerate as a learning organization. In the last decade, Lucent has been in decline. From my observation, this organization did learn, but it just in the state of problem solving. They followed the technology trend to produce their product, not like Apple that refuses to make “me-too” goods. A learning organization needs all of staffs to work hard to build while organizational learning does not need; it is the actual exist process. Ikahara (1999) said the spirit of a learning organization is based on the individual learning process; but this does not means that individual learning can automatically transform to organizational learning. Individual learning in organizations is not only for effective finish their job or survive in the competitive circumstance, but also innovation, revolution, to create a better future of the organization. As a result of personal knowledge cannot automatically convert to the organizational knowledge, organizational learning only can achieve that individuals learnt knowledge stored in their mind. Individuals connected by a common desire and a common view of the organization that means they through the values, ways of thinking and behavior as the achievement of learning to contribute individual knowledge to the enterprise. In a learning organization, individuals willing to have dialogue and share vision with colleagues that means knowledge transfer between different individuals. Therefore, LO is like an ideal school that provide individuals a learning atmosphere to promote them learning and managers are more as coaches. Under the guidance of coaches, all of members continuous make more contribution to organizations’ development. A learning organization is where learning occurs and promoting an organization forward. Learning must be transformed from individual learning to organizational learning and generate changes in behavior. If it does not bring changes in behavior, there is no real conversion occurs and also no real learning organization.
Conclusion
Nowadays all of enterprises face many challenges that include tough global competition, rapid technology change and increased pressure from customers’ need. To survive in this circumstance, not merely businesses but also individuals need ability to quick adapt this fast change economy market, the renewal knowledge and continuous learning. Becoming a learning organization seems like a nice approach to keep organizations live longer.
As a learning organization, from the different level of managers to all of employees have system thinking that the right recognition of organization’s value, culture and development strategy. In this condition, all of members are easy to share their thinking and visions, which make sure everyone’s power is direct to the organization’s goal and maximum the capability of the organization. Old thinking model is a terrible weapon to this changeable market. But being a learning organization, it can overcome this weakness by having the people who can jump out the traditional thinking. However, there is only one Steven Jobs in the world. All of organizations can do is offer a stage that help members to willing to learn and achieve personal mastery. Only by continuous acquire new knowledge, individuals’ thinking will not stay in the old mental model and innovation will follow. Through active communicating, everyone’s idea can be express very well and this can enhance and enlarge the function of team learning. A learning organization is an ideal type of organizations, an organization that learns cannot automatically equal to it. Learning has different types; an organization that learns does not clearly prove this organization know how to learn and can learn well, it cannot be given a definition of learning organization.
As for a Human resource department, the recruitment policy has a strong influence to be a learning organization. What kind of person decides he or she can do what kind of things, and people is the significant fortune to an organization. As well as training, the content and methods of a learning organization are dissimilar with normal organizations. The training program in a learning organization must have plenty of learning sources and big enough platform to help employees’ active learning. As for a company, the organization’s strategy directs effect whether this company can be a learning organization. The Strategy is representing the organizational leaders’ opinion. It is important that managers have system thinking and brave to do the project that competitors cannot do. Just like rowing, it needs the team leader to rhythm of the drums, or this team will lose the rhythm, players’ paddle may hit together, and cannot win the game. Apple and IBM are two successful learning organizations; even they have different reasons to be considerate as a learning organization. From recruitment policy to organization strategy, these two companies both find proper approaches that they can keep their position in this competitive market. Managers know what this organization’s objective and HR department can make a recruitment strategy base on the organization’s strategy thus ensure companies can hire the right people.
The learning organization concept and the country sounds like there are no too much relations, but it are not like this. Any concept once rose to national level, the advantage and disadvantage will be zoom in many times. The government strategy plays an oriented role to the development of market economy. China is a developing country but its develop speed surprised many other countries and Chinese government strategy plays a vital role. Therefore, the government advocates creating learning organization means that more businesses will pay attention to follow this strategy. It will become a healthy competition, and every citizen will have awareness to become an active learner otherwise they may face the jobless problem. Meanwhile, more and more companies building their own learning organization means that will bring more innovation in all walks of life. It is beneficial to the development of human beings and the progress of the society.

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