...essential that organizations create structures that are sustainable and successful. Eloquently put by Peter Senge “the basic meaning of a learning organization is an organization that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future” (1990). From the basic definition of a learning organization one is able to understand the overall positive image and outcomes it provides for organizations, however what reduces the amount of learning organizations within society today, are the numerous obstacles and barriers they face. Specifically barriers, barriers to learning occur as the result of managerial efforts to implement this new ideology, which is not accepted or understood by employees or management itself (Steiner, 1998). This report will delve into the barriers organizations face during the transformation process in becoming a learning organization emphasizing: the five learning disciplines, the inconsistency and shortcomings of learning concepts, the lack of effective leadership and resistance to change management strategies within the organization. Peter Senge is an American systems scientist who popularized the term “learning organization,” in his book The Fifth Discipline, he identified five basic components or “disciplines of a learning organization which included: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision and team learning (Senge, 1990). Emphasizing the five...
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...YOUR OWN MENTAL MODELS “Investigating Your Own Mental Models” Running Head: INVESTIGATING YOUR OWN MENTAL MODELS 1. 1. Describe the mental model thoroughly, including its origins, how long it has been established, conversations you have heard about it, etc. According to Hrepic (2011), “wider studies of mental model definitions show that no consensus exists about the definition of the term mental model and “some definitions of the concept are even contradictory.” “Canas and Antol”, believe the main reason for disagreements in the definition of the mental model is that the term has been used by researchers who work in different fields and who focused on its different aspects. However, “Van der Veer” believes that although there is no agreement about the exact definition of the concept, in general, “mental model” refers to the internal representations that people form of the environment through their interaction with it”(p. 1). In other words, mental models are believed to be assumptions, beliefs, generalizations even stereotypes of a person’s belief system that is often generated by their experiences. According to Senge (2006), “our mental models determine not...
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...Sacha Kagan Master CE&CE 2003 page 1 Instructor: Dr. Noordman Seminar: City-Marketing Book review: Peter Senge, The fifth discipline Introduction, or why we should listen to Peter Senge In the seminar on City-Marketing, Noordman insisted on the need for a city to develop its own effective organization climate. A city always has an organization climate, but is not often aware of it, and therefore can have a hard time improving its identity and its image. Senge, in The fifth discipline, helps us understand how we can effectively change the underlying assumptions, the values and norms and some behavioural patterns altogether. Moreover, this is not just about changing the organization climate for a better one. It goes well beyond identifying and fixing the short-terms problems a city faces: Senge leads us to change radically the way we think, so that cities can build sustainable organization climates. Truly understanding the principles of the learning organization will even drive us further than building organization climates for effective city-marketing… because city-marketing is merely a part of the whole issue of city-management and city-policy. I have thus to say right ahead, that I will not oppose any of Peter Senge’s fundamental ideas. I rather will insist on how essential his insights are, in order to avoid the misgivings of traditional modernistic thinking, which is too linear and fragmented to help us understand complex systems like cities. We will follow the plot...
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...Graduate Research, SEGI University Malaysia, Malaysia Abdul Waheed School of Business and Economics, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan Abstract The major purpose of this conceptual paper is to integrate the view points of different researchers about leaning organization and competitive advantage and then to develop a proposed model of Learning organization. After the in-depth study of literature we concluded that learning organization is an organization which learns through its members individually and collectively to create competitive advantages by developing a facilitative system through the process of self-development and information sharing by empowering the employees.. The paper also finds some critical factors which must be present in the organization to become a learning organization. These factors are Innovation, facilitative leadership, self-development, empowerment, and information sharing and collective collaboration. The paper tried to explain the similarities and differences among the previously available models of learning organization and proposed a new theoretical model for LO. Keywords: Learning organization, organization learning, innovation, facilitative leadership, empowerment, information sharing, collective collaboration 1. INTRODUCTION* In this dynamic business era organization needs to change, learn and implement those changes to get success, without learning the companies and individual repeat the old practices...
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...AMERICAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY KEMISHA N WARE A CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP AT THE LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITY PADM520 JUNE 2014 Introduction An organization’s culture forms over years of interaction between the persons involved in that organization. Those in the leadership positions set the tone and standards that will be followed by others involved. But what happens when that leadership fails to lead? How does an organization tackle the issues of poor communication, no defined or set policies, an inadequate administrative system and lack of leadership? This is the problem that Local Education Authority (LEA) was faced with when its new leader, Ales Rakovich, took over the organization as the LEA head when the organization had a negative culture already in place. Rakovich failed to make changes within the organization, which resulted in multiple mistakes. Mistakes made included failing to communicate with one another and failure of the secretary to handle correspondence and effectively perform her job functions. Rakovich reported to the head of the Regional Education Authority (REA). More than once, the REA expressed their dissatisfaction with the job performance and working habits of the LEA staff. As the head of the LEA, Rakovich was responsible for organizing and monitoring the organizations work. But after failing to effectively lead the organization, not only was the LEA’s reputation damaged but so...
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...Culture Case Study Two It has been six months after the organizational merger and the new administration initiated a significant reduction in force. Organizations are making the tough decision about workforce size and structure because of unstable economic times. Reduction in workforce is a way for the organization to cut costs with employee salaries and benefits. There was a decision made to redesign patient care delivery and the first recommendation was that of a universal worker who would deliver many support services. The manager is faced with the challenge of making the redesign work knowing this model often failed with implemented in other organizations. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process of job redesign and what work processes and performance expectations must be considered once the design is completed. Discussed is the article by Peter Senge and what steps and structures are put in place to make the organization a true learning organization, encouraging workers and managers to adapt and excel despite of the changes. Described is the plan and control the intra-organizational and inter-organizational communications that must occur to implement the job design changes. Management also must ensure individual job satisfaction. Process of Job Redesign Job redesign is the method used to improve the organizations performance. The job redesign focuses on the enhancement of services with a holistic approach. Job descriptions have an increase...
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...Communication and Social Systems Analysis of Group Interactions Final Paper Social Analysis of Human Systems HUS 633 Section 28 Main Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to use outside sources to describe the group helping project as a system. An analysis of Littlejohn’s theory will be discussed. Gina Townsend Professor Frank Worts June 17, 2008 HUS 633 Section 28 This paper will give a detailed explanation of the group helping project as a communications system. The sections flowing will outline systems concepts that most affect the communication in a group. With the support of Peter Segue, Littlejohn, and a host of other authors this paper will also apply three Littlejohn concepts. The concepts that will be addressed in this paper are the message, the conversation, and the relationship. Below, is a description of the constructive action group and how it relates to being a communications system. 6 African American high school students both male and female from Millville, New Jersey participated in the program. Each student had communicated that they are sexually active and at risk of not completing sufficient academic credits to maintain graduation eligibility. The main purpose for facilitating...
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...The Congruence Model by: Nadler & Tushmans Aligning the Drivers of High Performance [pic] Performance comprises four interlocking elements. © iStockphoto/dt03mbb Is your organization's performance as good as it could be? What could be changed to improve things and why would this help? Does the key lie in the work itself? Or with the people doing it? Should you reorganize the corporate structure? Or try to change the prevailing culture? And why does one organization seem to thrive on a certain corporate structure or type of work, while another struggles to make a profit? The answer lies in understanding the key causes or drivers of performance and the relationship between them. The Congruence Model, first developed by David A Nadler and M L Tushman in the early 1980s, provides a way of doing just this. It's a powerful tool for finding out what's going wrong with a team or organization, and for thinking about how you can fix it. Understanding the Tool The Congruence Model is based on the principle that an organization's performance is derived from four elements: tasks, people, structure, and culture. The higher the congruence, or compatibility, amongst these elements, the greater the performance. For example, if you have brilliant people working for you, but your organization's culture is not a good fit for the way they work, their brilliance will not shine through. Likewise, you can have the latest technology and superbly streamlined processes to support...
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...D-Q University: Leadership Analysis The rebirth of D-Q University describes how none of the leaders of the American tribal college movement and one of the nation’s 34 tribal colleges faced financial difficulties, accreditation challenges resulting in the college being faced with the decision whether to close its doors or not. Leadership failure to reach Indian students before the accreditation was revoked is thought to be a primary issue creating low student enrollment. We will discuss background, issues, analysis, and make recommendations addressing the leadership failures in the areas of power structures, leadership, systems thinking, organizational culture, and ethics impacting the college ability to re-open its doors to the Indian student population its purpose to educate and serve. Background The desire for a Native American university can be traced back to the writings of Jack Forbes in the 1960s. Forbes, who was also a professor at UC Davis, eventually became a co-founder of D-Q University (D-QU). Other founders included David Risling and Carl Gorman. When his proposals largely fell upon deaf ears, he formed a committee for the establishment of an actual university. When an Army communications facility near Davis was decommissioned in 1970, the committee filed an application to use the land for a school. UC Davis filed a competing application for the space, and scandal erupted when Senator George Murphy publicly revealed, while the applications were still supposed...
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...(Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). Thus, the double-loop learning, in order to solve more complex issues. Double-loop learning happens when the underlying values of the master program are changed. This would involve challenging norms rather than blindly accepting them. While single-loop learning and double-loop learning theory focuses on outcomes, Kolb (1984) proposes another type of learning which focuses on process, which is the experiential learning theory. It is a theory that merges experience, cognition, behaviour and perception. One of the models of experiential learning theory is the Lewinian Experiential Learning Model. The model emphasises a four-stage cycle, it begins with concrete experience, followed up by observations and reflection based on data collected. Analysis of the data is then made, contributing to conclusions that actors can use in behaviour modification (Kolb, 1984). (The Lewinian Experiential Learning Model cited in Kolb, 1984, p.21) In...
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...systems thinking brings together the elements that an organisation requires in order for it to be a learning organisation. These include personal mastery, team learning, building shared vision, effective leadership and learning processes and practices. In order to make sense of the complex tasks and problems that occur within organisational environments, we break them down into smaller tasks and problems which, although it makes them more manageable, leaves us with a disjointed view and we lose sight and our connection with the ‘whole’ (Senge, 2006, p. 3). Cooksey (2003, p. 206) notes that in the short term this search for simple, generalised solutions to problems within the business environment may provide favourable results, in the longer term it will often fail. The reason it fails is that the solution often does not take into account the sensitivities and complexities which influence the business as a whole (Cooskey, 2003, p. 206). Senge (2006, p. 6-7) argues that businesses are in fact systems which are bound by interconnected actions which influence each other, with the effect often taking years to become visible. Cooksey (2003, p. 204-205) provides a useful way for the complexity of...
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...this? The last Toyota Management Principle concludes that Toyota became a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement(Liker 2004)for organization to become organizational learning they need to create supportive environment, being open to new ideas and valuing different view point(Myers,Hulks&Wiggins 2012)according toTakeuchi,Osono and Shimizu(2008)Toyota value its workers and see them as acknowledge workers and the wisdom of experience and have an open communication and willingness to learn from others and freedom to voice contrary opinions in their organization. Q2.Peter Senge in his book “The fifth discipline “define learning organization as organization where individuals constantly increase their ability to generate outcome they really desire and where individuals are constantly learning how to learn together as a team(Senge 2006). Explain Senge’s 5 disciplines of a learning organization using Toyota. Using his 5th discipline, systems thinking, explain the importance of feedback for a learning organization and effect of positive feedback at Toyota? What is the benefit of being...
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...Assignment One 1. ‘Why is consideration of the social and economic context necessary for understanding work and learning in Canada?’ Education, learning, work and training do not occur in a vacuum at a distance from the rest of the world; they are all influenced by variables including the social and economic context through which they occur. For example, in order to work effectively in a diverse community such as in Canada, it is necessary to first understand the variety of cultures and ethnicities that exist. It would be unrealistic to place a group of people with different ethnic backgrounds, perspectives and values in a work team and expect no conflict. This means that considering the surroundings where work and learning take place is all the more important. Work and learning, along with even the most well planned HRM policies are affected by both internal (such as corporate objectives and financial strategies) and external (such as the economic and social context discussed) change. Therefore, forecasting, being flexible and adapting to the changes is necessary. In order to do this, HR managers need to be aware of what is going on within the organization, the industry that they operate within, as well as the wider market in relation to the factors that influence change. For example, government regulations are updated and change regularly and can influence many processes of the HR department including hiring and training. Moreover, work and learning is influenced...
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...making flexible job assignments to allow learning and development, flexible work schedule to allow time to experiment with new methods, financial support, arrange workshops and skilled speakers, establish sabbatical program, career counseling program, voluntary skill assessment, pay increase dependent of development, awards for innovation and improvements and use of symbols and slogans. However these conditions require a budget and flexibility in labor and payment laws. 3. System perspective on leadership development The training program and development activities needs to be aligned and must focus not only on the current position and skills needed but also on future positions. The choice of training should be made after strategic analysis of the...
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...increasingly difficult, putting pressure on managers to deliver consistently high standards of product/service delivery. Guskey (2001) asks that we recognise that professional development is a purposeful and intentional process, which is designed to evoke positive change within organisations. In order to maintain an effective and efficient workforce and to ensure that managers’ skills reflect this commitment to professional development then it is imperative that we, as managers, set personal and professional targets to ensure that our skills accurately reflect organisational goals and direction. Section 1: Demonstrate how you would assess personal and professional skills required to achieve strategic goals There exists a plethora of models to evaluate personal and professional skills but if we are to construct the most accurate and objective overview of our own...
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