OL vs. LO
Porschia Phelps
September 6, 2009
Organizational Learning

Introduction
When asked to define learning a mundane response to this inquiry would be that learning is simply the acquirement of knowledge. But as a seasoned marketing/management student I can confidently say that a definition of that caliber doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of all the components and concepts that are present when providing a suitable definition of learning. As a marketing/management student I have quickly learned that when discussing the subject of learning there are many aspects. In looking into these many facets of learning we begin to find room for various outlooks and debate. Among the areas that have been indentified are the subjects of Organizational Learning and Learning Organizations. Though to the general public these two subjects may sound the same deciding to make the same exact assumption of their meanings would prove to be the wrong assessment to form. Although these two maybe closely related they both possess their own definitions and notions. Because of their possession of their own concepts there is room for discussion and deliberation. It is within these two subjects that we also find much opportunity for comparing and contrasting.
Review of Literature
Introduction
Before you can fully begin to form a view point on the subjects of organizational learning and learning organizations you must first have a complete understanding of what these ideas are and also have an understanding of the components that each of these subjects possess. It is only through complete comprehension one can truly begin to form an intellectual view point. So before I can fully begin the task of comparing and contrasting these two notions I must first acquire the knowledge that is a prerequisite for this task. This is why because of my lack of knowledge on these two subjects I begin to research these two notions to fully understand the workings of these two subject matters.
Organizational Learning
According to Marquardt, “Organizational learning occurs through the shared insights, knowledge, and mental models of members of the company.” Marquardt also continues on to say that, “Organizational learning builds on past knowledge and experience---that is, on organizational memory which depends on mechanisms such as policies, strategies, and explicit models with which to store knowledge.” However according to an article by Weick and Westley (Weick and Westley 1996) organizational learning is really an oxymoron. They explain their reasoning behind this conclusion by stating that, “Learning involves disorganization and an increase in variety while organizing involves forgetting and a reduction in variety. This sets up a tension that many workers do not use and often ignore in an effort to return to “organization.” Another believer in the presence of tension is Kofman and Senge. According to these authors, “Learning occurs when there is tension between fear of the unknown and having a need to change and between holding on and letting go of beliefs, assumptions, and certainties” (Kofman and Senge 1993). Learning occurs in the tension created when organizing and learning are combined and not ignored in the need to maintain a state of organization. (Weick and Westley, 1996)
Learning Organizations According to an article written by Devi Akella (Akella 2003), “Learning organizations are a part of the larger societal change or societal movement, seeking to move towards participatory organizational structures by implementing control over the employees’ physical, social, mental, and emotional abilities (Akella 2003). Fulmer and Keys go on to state that, “Learning organizations consist of groups of people working together to collectively enhance their capacities to create results that they truly care about (Fulmer and Keys 1998). Also adding to the group concept Kofman and Senge state that, “Learning organizations are communities of commitment where organizational members consider the internalized organizational goals as their own” (Kofman and Senge 1993). Learning organizations can be described as having intricate and complex working environments where the employees constantly negotiate with the management to uphold the façade of learning organizations to achieve their own career objectives (Akella 2003). Some of the key ideas attached to learning organizations are team work and team learning, free vertical and horizontal, training of workforce, learning reward systems and decentralized hierarchies. It also includes constant experimentation at work, participative management and supportive corporate culture (Rosengarten 1995).
Compare and Contrast One characteristic that both these factors share is that both these concepts share the belief that learning is an important factor to everyone in the organization and that to some extent it becomes everyone’s responsibility. When speaking of learning organization Dixon states that, “Learning organizational structures believe in distribution of power and that knowledge resides in all its members.” (Dixon 1998) A similar point is made of organizational learning by Cowan when he states that, “Learning becomes important for everyone within the organization. Each individual has to accept their responsibility for their own learning as well as helping others to learn.” (Cowan 1995) When comparing OL to LO Marquardt offers a very beneficial assessment of the two. In discussing learning organizations, we are focusing on the what---the systems, principles, and characteristics of organizations that learn and produce as a collective entity. In discussing organizational learning occurs---the skills and processes of building and utilizing knowledge (Marquardt 2002). In a way it seems that although they share a similar goal their focus can be described as being very distinctive from one another. The learning organization seems to focus on the organization from a macro perspective. I feel this is different from organization learning because organizational learning seems to be more focused on the micro perspective and implementation.
Conclusion
Though these two factors may possess characteristics that allow them to be differentiable from each other they do however share many characteristics that explain why many might confuse the two. bbThe common goal that both these concepts share is the focus on bettering the organization. This is why in the end these two factors can be assessed as possessing more common qualities than being completely different from one another. Even according to Marquardt, “organizational learning is just one aspect of a learning organization” (Marquardt 2002). So it is my conclusion that even though these two factors may possess content that allow them to be distinctive they however are still very closely related.

Bibliography Dixon, N.M. (1998). The Responsibilities of Members in an Organization that is learning’, The Learning Organization, 5(4): 1-8.
Kofman, F., & Senge, P. M. (1993, Autumn). Communities of Commitment: The Heart of Learning Organizations. Organizational Dynamics, pp. 5-23.
Marquardt, M. J. (2002). Building the Learning Organization: Mastering the 5 Elements for Corporate Learning.
Rosengarten, P. (1995). ‘Learning Organization’, European Management Journal, 10(2): 146-55.
Weick, K. E., & Westley, F. (1996). Organizational learning: Affirming an Oxymoron. In S. R. Clegg, C. Hardy & W. R. Nord (Eds.), Handbook of Organization Studies (pp. 440-458). London: Sage.