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Mechanistic and Bureaucratic Organisations Will Probably Struggle to Encourage Organisational Learning. Critically Evaluate This Statement in Relation to the Mechanistic and Learning Perspectives.

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Mechanistic and bureaucratic organisations will probably struggle to encourage organisational learning. Critically evaluate this statement in relation to the Mechanistic and Learning perspectives.

Brocka and Brocka (1992, pg.2) suggests that organisations are “revolutionary compared to the strict, hierarchical, authoritarian organisations that existed in the past”. Mechanistic and bureaucratic organisations follow the same traits where the structure is needed for “efficiency, conformity and compliance” (Spencer, 1994, pg.448). The revolutionary aspect to organisations is shown by introducing learning into the organisation promoting the development for “searching for information, assimilating, developing and creating new knowledge on product, processes, and services” Wang and Ellinger (2011, pg.512).
According to Sun and Scott (2003 pg.202) “the terminologies organizational learning and learning organization were once used interchangeably. However, in the mid-1990s there was a bifurcation into two streams” for the purpose of this assignment the terms learning organisation and organisational learning will be used on an interchangeable purpose.
This assignment will show a clear definition of mechanistic, bureaucratic and organisational learning structures of organisations. By using my personal experience, examples and the use of case studies, then linking to relevant theories an argument will be made whether mechanistic and bureaucratic organisations struggle to encourage organisational learning.

A traditional structure is one of a bureaucratic structure which the organisation has “routines, standard operating procedures, clear organization boundaries, hierarchical chains of command, fixed roles and assignments” that has an ability to predict and hold an effective process (Styhre, 2008, pg.635). Whereas a similar yet symmetrical structure of a bureaucratic

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