Page 206 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

CHAPTER 6 • Organizational Structure and Design 205
Exhibit 6–12 Characteristics of a Learning Organization

Organizational Design
• Boundaryless
• Teams
• Empowerment

Organizational Culture Information Sharing
• Strong Mutual Relationships THE LEARNING
• Sense of Community ORGANIZATION • Open
• Timely
• Caring
• Trust • Accurate

Leadership
• Shared Vision
• Collaboration

Sources: Based on P. M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of Learning Organizations (New
York: Doubleday, 1990); and R. M. Hodgetts, F. Luthans, and S. M. Lee, “New Paradigm Organizations:
From Total Quality to Learning to World Class,” Organizational Dynamics, Winter 1994, 4–19.

What would a learning organization look like? As you can see in Exhibit 6–12, the
important characteristics of a learning organization revolve around (1) organizational design,
(2) information sharing, (3) leadership, and (4) culture.
(1) What types of organizational design elements would be necessary for learning to take
place? In a learning organization, it’s critical for members to share information and
collaborate on work activities throughout the entire organization—across different
functional specialties and even at different organizational levels—through minimizing
or eliminating the existing structural and physical boundaries. In this type of bound-
aryless environment, employees are free to work together and collaborate in doing
the organization’s work the best way they can, and to learn from each other. Because
of this need to collaborate, teams also tend to be an important feature of a learning
organization’s structural design. Employees work in teams on whatever activities need
to be done, and these employee teams are empowered to make decisions about doing
their work or resolving issues. Empowered employees and teams have little need for
“bosses” who direct and control. Instead, managers serve as facilitators, supporters, and
advocates for employee teams.
(2) Learning can’t take place without information. For a learning organization to “learn,”
information must be shared among members; that is, organizational employees must
engage in knowledge management by sharing information openly, in a timely manner,
and as accurately as possible. Because few structural and physical barriers exist in a learn-
ing organization, the environment is conducive to open communication and extensive
information sharing.
(3) Leadership plays an important role as an organization moves toward becoming a learn-
ing organization. What should leaders do in a learning organization? One of their most
important functions is facilitating the creation of a shared vision for the organization’s
future and then keeping organizational members working toward that vision. In addition,
leaders should support and encourage the collaborative environment that’s critical to
learning. Without strong and committed leadership throughout the organization, it would
be extremely difficult to be a learning organization.
(4) The organization’s culture is important to being a learning organization. In a learning
culture, everyone agrees on a shared vision and everyone recognizes the inherent inter-
relationships among the organization’s processes, activities, functions, and external en-
vironment. It also fosters a strong sense of community, caring for each other, and trust. In
a learning organization, employees feel free to communicate openly, share, experiment,
and learn without fear of criticism or punishment.