Knowledge Management and Leadership in Learning Organizations: an Integrated Perspective.

A writer named Alvin Toffler reveals the true meaning of illiteracy in the 21st century. Those who are “illiterate” won’t be the illiterates, but those who don’t want to reconstruct their knowledge, accept intelligence and those who force themselves to not accept the evolution of education, will be defined as illiterate. Illiteracy in the 21st century has an immensely different view from then and now. Illiteracy can be portrayed as those who are illegible to work in terms of educational background.

Alvin Toffler, American futurist and writer, redefines illiteracy, while simultaneously redefining literacy. Toffler states that “The illiterate of the 21s century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who can learn, relearn and unlearn.” He redefines illiteracy because the context has changed. A couple centuries ago, only the upper class had the luxury of being educated, while the lower class didn’t have the free time or funds to go to school. Now, with the widespread of public education, reading and writing are one of the most basic skills. Due to the commonness of literacy, being illiterate is a disability and it cripples the ability to express. Since widespread illiteracy is a thing of the past and literacy is a bare minimum,

Alvin Toffler believes that illiteracy has a divergent meaning, rather than just reading and writing. The quote “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, relearn, and unlearn.” states Toffler’s ideas on literacy and illiteracy and how it is not just simply about reading and writing, but also about being able to adapt and solve problems. The ideas of the quote are relatable to the environmental issues like climate change and natural disasters and also with national security. Another relatable subject is globalization and how Americans are not really acting upon the issues with the educational system and having too much pride.

Many companies are very keen and ready to clinch Work Base Learning in an organization, not mainly because it provide you with lifelong learning, but also it is an important ingredient of what Senge (1990) has termed as the ‘learning organization’. A learning organization is a place in which the learning and flair of persons is backed and promoted so that the organization itself be able to form its future and it also very important to gain competitive advantage.

For most companies, identifying what a learning organization should be and actually becoming one is tricky at best, impossible at worst. One way that manager's and companies can promote the concept of being a learning organization is to assess whether the company is in need of a short-term fix or whether it is more focused on long-term results. Organizational learning is a long-term activity that will build competitive advantage over time and requires sustained management attention, commitment, and effort. Learning organizations maximize their competitive positions during strong economic times and they prudently train their employees and prepare for change even in turbulent times. As a result, learning organizations and learning

A learning organization is an organization that can change quickly, adapting to the new rules that the market environment has created. Businesses that know how to learn and develop quickly and effectively will thrive; those that don’t will not survive. It is easy to think of newer companies like Apple and Google as being the best learning organizations. Yet, some of the best examples of organizational learning practices are found in more mature organizations, such as the U.S. military. Throughout our lives we collect tidbits of information, knowledge through what we experience, we try to apply the lesson from these experience as we grow, we are curious by nature, adventurous we are learners and for many of us the process of learning never stops.

Just as students are learning at Post, organizations and the personnel within them need to continue to learn. Organizations need to continue to refine processes and focus on innovation. Organizational learning gives companies the ability to create, remember, and share knowledge within an organization. In order for an organization to be an effective learner they need to make it a focus on everyday work, practice it through all levels of the organization, create a focus on the creation, retention and transfer of knowledge through the organization, and solve problems where they begin, Organizational learning provides an opportunity to effect positive change throughout the organization. A company that is an organizational learner is one that is innovative, continually refining its processes and learns from its mistakes. Personal learning within an organization greatly enhances the organizations core competencies. It can be done through education and training programs. Such programs consist of schooling, training seminars, mentorships and on

Organizational learning is important to leadership. In the field of organizational studies organizational learning receives a lot of attention although much is not known in how to measure it which is the reason why there is not much research in this area.

Learning organizations today must be adequately able to readily adapt to change the mind-sets and behaviors of the people within. Although this sounds like a unified joint statement for each and every organization however, there are so many organizations that yet do not acknowledge the actual truths and current trends that illustrate particular dysfunctional behaviors that exist and occur each day. Learning organization aid and enable companies and business to run, operate, and function with efficiently. As organizations learn together, they attain knowledge, acquire skills and information and evolve at a faster rate. Culture begins to be created after learning organization are established and they are placed

Organizational learning promotes: adaptability, participation and information openness. Consequently, not only employee performance will be enhanced, but also the increase of organizations effectiveness and efficiency.

Throughout our final semester of study at Maryville, our cohort has studied Peter Senge’s, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Rather than set of management practices, the book describes how organizations, especially those that are sustainably competitive, know how to learn. These “learning organizations” are continuously learning how to work together, where the norm is producing their best. In the book, Senge identifies five essential elements, that when practiced together, create perfect conditions for an effective learning organization. These five practices are Personal Mastery, Mental Models, Shared Vision,

     In his book The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge emphasizes his model of a "learning organization," which he defines as "an organization that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future." A learning organization excels at both adaptive learning and generative learning.

This paper, therefore, explores, discusses and analyzes the integrated role of Learning organization (as a structural entity) and the organizational learning (as an intrinsic know-how process) that

Organisational learning can be seen as the goal of knowledge management and may be obtained by good knowledge management strategies and processes. By motivating the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge, KM initiatives pay off by helping the organization embed knowledge into organisational processes so that it can continuously improve its practices and behaviours and pursue the achievement of its goals.

Peter Senge argues that not only we humans learn, but organizations also. However, learning itself may not be enough for the organization to survive in this ever-challenging era. In his book, The Fifth Discipline, Senge introduced five ‘disciplines’, namely systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building shared vision, and team learning, that characterizes an organization as a learning organization.