Organizational leaarning

ORGANIZATIONALLEARNING

• “An organization which facilitates the learning of all its members and continually transforms itself”- Pedler, Boydell and Burgoyne

• Organizational learning is a organization wide continuous process that enhances its collective ability to accept, make sense of, and respond to internal and external change.

• Organizational learning requires systematic integration and collective interpretation of new knowledge that leads to collective action and involves risk taking as experimentation.

• A business using organizational learning recognizes the value added by including all its members in the decision making process.

• A learning organization recognises that a business consists of people and it takes a commitment from all in the organization to best obtain the organization’s goal.

Conventional Organization Vs Learning Organisation

Conventional Organization Learning Organization

Locked into management’s views of methods and goals

Flexible and open to knew ideas

Makes decision based on what currently best fits the organizational structure

Willing to disregard to the status quo in favour of innovation.

Management encourages all members to continuously rethink what they do, how they do it and how they might do it better.

Adapts and reacts to change Anticipates the future and strives to create services and products before others are able to perceive the needs.

• Learning organizations are skilled in:Systematic problem solvingExperimentationLearning from past experienceLearning from othersTransferring knowledge promptly and effectively

throughout the organization

The Five Disciplines for building Learning Organization –Peter Senge

1. Personal Mastery: Involves formulating a coherent picture of the results people most desire to gain as individuals (their personal vision), alongside a realistic assessment of the current state of their lives today. Learning to cultivate the tension between vision and reality can expand people's capacity to make better choices, and to achieve more of the results that they have chosen.

2. Mental Models: This discipline of reflection and inquiry skills is focused around developing awareness of the attitudes and perceptions that influence thought and interaction. By continually reflecting upon, talking about, and reconsidering these internal pictures of the world, people can gain more capability in governing their actions and decisions.

3. Shared Vision: This collective discipline establishes a focus on mutual purpose. People learn to nourish a sense of commitment in a group or organization by developing shared images of the future they seek to create, and the principles and guiding practices by which they hope to get there.

4. Team Learning: This is a discipline of group interaction. Through techniques like dialogue and skillful discussion, teams transform their collective thinking, learning to mobilize their energies and ability greater than the sum of individual members' talents.

5. Systems Thinking: In this discipline, people learn to better understand interdependency and change, and thereby to deal more effectively with the forces that shape the consequences of one’s actions.

CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATION

Conflict• Conflict is defined as a clash between individuals arising out of a

difference in thought process, attitudes, understanding, interests, requirements and even sometimes perceptions.

Phases of conflictA conflict has five phases.

Prelude to conflict - It involves all the factors which possibly arise a conflict among individuals. Lack of coordination, differences in interests, dissimilarity in cultural, religion, educational background all are instrumental in arising a conflict.

Triggering Event - No conflict can arise on its own. There has to be an event which triggers the conflict.

Initiation Phase - Initiation phase is actually the phase when the conflict has already begun. Heated arguments, abuses, verbal disagreements are all warning alarms which indicate that the fight is already on.

Differentiation Phase - It is the phase when the individuals voice out their differences against each other. The reasons for the conflict are raised in the differentiation phase.

Resolution Phase - A Conflict leads to nowhere. Individuals must try to compromise to some extent and resolve the conflict soon. The resolution phase explores the various options to resolve the conflict.

Why conflicts should be avoided

• Nobody wins a conflict and nothing productive comes out of it.

• Conflicts also lead to disrespect and unnecessary tensions in organizations

Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

1. Avoiding -  This is when one simply avoids the issue.  One does not help the other party to reach their goals neither does one assertively pursues one’s own This works when the issue is trivial or when there is no chance of winning.   It can also be effective when the issue would be very costly.  Sometimes issues resolve themselves, but “hope is not a strategy”, and, in general, avoiding is not a good long term strategy.

2. Accommodating – This is when one cooperates to a high-degree, and it may be at one’s own expense, and actually work against one’s own goals, objectives, and desired outcomes.  This approach is effective when the other party is the expert or has a better solution.  It can also be effective for preserving future relations with the other party.

3. Competing – This is the “win-lose” approach.  One acts in a very assertive way to achieve one’s goals, without seeking to cooperate with the other party, and it may be at the expense of the other party.    This approach may be appropriate for emergencies when time is of the essence, or when there is a need for quick, decisive action, and people are aware of and support the approach.

4. Collaborating – This is where one party partner or pair up with the other party to achieve both the parties’. It requires a high-degree of trust and reaching a consensus can require a lot of time and effort to get everybody on board and to synthesize all the ideas.

5. Compromising –This requires a moderate level of assertiveness and cooperation.  It may be appropriate for scenarios where a temporary solution is needed, or where both sides have equally important goals. 

• Negotiation is a technique of discussing issues among one selves and reaching to a conclusion benefiting all involved in the discussion. It is one of the most effective ways to avoid conflicts and tensions. When individuals do not agree with each other, they sit together, discuss issues on an open forum, negotiate with each other and come to an alternative which satisfies all. In a layman’s language it is also termed as bargaining.

Negotiation

Models of Negotiation

• Win-Win Model : In this model, each and every individual involved in negotiation wins. No body is at loss in this model and every one is benefited out of the negotiation. This is the most accepted model of negotiation.

• Win Lose Model : In this model one party wins and the other party loses. In such a model, after several rounds of discussions and negotiations, one party benefits while the party remains dissatisfied.

• Lose-Lose Model :As the name suggests, in this model, the outcome of negotiation is zero. No party is benefited out of this model.

• RADPAC Model of Negotiation: Every alphabet in this model signifies something.

R-Rapport: It signifies the relation between parties involved in negotiation. The parties involved in negotiation ideally should be comfortable with each other and share a good rapport with each other.

A-Analysis: People must listen to each other attentively. One party must understand the second party well. It is important that the individual understand each other’s needs and interest. 

D-Debate: This round includes discussing issues among the parties involved in negotiation. The pros and cons of an idea are evaluated in this round. People debate with each other and each one tries to convince the other. One must not lose his temper in this round but remain calm and composed.

P- Propose: Each individual proposes his best idea in this round. Each one tries his level best to come up with the best possible idea and reach to a conclusion acceptable by all.

A- Agreement: Individuals come to a conclusion at

this stage and agree to the best possible alternative. C-Close: The negotiation is complete and individuals

return back satisfied.

Organizational Learning Creativity & Innovation

• Creativity– The ability of the decision maker to

discover novel ideas leading to a feasible course of action.

• A creative management staff and employees are the key to the learning organization.

• Innovation– The implementation of creative ideas in an

organization.

Promoting Individual Creativity

• Organizations can build an environment supportive of creativity.– Managers must provide employees with

the opportunities and abilities to take risks.• If people take risks, they will occasionally fail.

– To build creativity, periodic failures must be rewarded.

• This idea is hard to accept for some managers.

Building Group Creativity

• BrainstormingManagers meet face-to-face to generate and debate many alternatives.

• Group members are not allowed to evaluate alternatives until all alternatives are listed.

• When all are listed, then the pros and cons of each are discussed and a short list created.

Production blocking• Members cannot absorb all information being

presented during the session and can forget even their own alternatives.

• Nominal Group Technique– Provides a more structured way to

generate alternatives in writing. • Avoids the production blocking problem.• Similar to brainstorming except that each

member is given time to first write down all alternatives he or she would suggest.

• Alternatives are then read aloud without discussion until all have been listed.

• Then discussion occurs and alternatives are ranked.

How to Kill Creativity and Innovation

• See it coming and change the subject• Ignore it. Dead silence intimidates all but the

most enthusiastic• Feign interest but do nothing about it. It prevents

the originator from taking it elsewhere• Scorn it.• Laugh it off.

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