Learning Organization Survey

According to Gephart and Marsick (1996, p. 34) states that, “A learning organization is an organization that has an enhanced capacity to learn, adapt, and change. It 's an organization in which learning processes are analyzed, monitored, developed, managed, and aligned with improvement and innovation goals.” I would classify my organization as a learning organization. They invest in our learning, development, and advancement. Within our organization, they ensure that we are capable of doing and performing our job. They bring forth training opportunities, workshops, and classes that facilitate our capability to do our jobs effectively and efficiently. During our work retreats, we gain lessons that equip us to handle the day to day duties we need to get our job done and further the growth of the organization. Nonetheless, my organization is very concerned about obtaining excellence and success for its employees and they promote that at all costs. Learning organizations are classified as very essential and important aspects of a business. They make certain that you have the needed and necessary abilities to sustain your organization and job duties (Bethel University, n.d.).

The first few pages of the article emphasize on the importance of the meaning, measurement and management of a learning organization. The rest of the article focuses on the main Building blocks that aid an organization to improve and become a learning organization. Garvin gives a lot of examples to elaborately explain his theory on a learning organization. The article also emphasizes on the stages of knowledge, and the half-life curves that can be used to compare between the performances of a company’s divisions.

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

Organizational change encompasses many challenges to both the individual, and the organization. An organization is a living system, as Flower (2002) states “living systems cannot survive without change, challenge, variety, and surprise” (Flower, 2002, p. 16). An organization requires the ability to adapt in to survive as Darwin states in The Origin of Man, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” (Read Me First, 2013, p. 1). It must adapt to the changing market, global economic pressures, stakeholder demands, and the diverse needs

Businesses have to adapt to the ever-changing economy. It is not much of a choice for business leaders to change elements of their organization to stay in competition with their peers. The hardest part, most of the time, is changing the people in the organization to develop the necessary outcome or goal. As a business leader getting rid of people or changing their job specifics is one of the many responsibilities they have to be comfortable performing. Organizations have to take into consideration their competitors, customers, shareholders, employees, and the community to make decisions. Change is an aspect that many people are afraid of. In the new millennium, organizational leaders have to embrace

I took the most from this chapter when reading and comprehending the clear and broad objective of a business being a learning organization, I feel the idea is brilliant, incredible, and most of all innovative. The concept is simply striving to ensure that an organization as a whole excels in acquiring, creating, and transferring ethically moral knowledge and in modifying behaviors to reflect the most proper recently received knowledge. Probably more easier said than done, yet those who continuously persevere have surly opened doors that lead them to a comfortable lifestyle with smart money readily available to

Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization (Rev. ed.). New York: Currency Doubleday. ISBN:

Change has become necessary for every organisation there is. World is moving rapidly towards better technologies, efficient systems, new techniques, compact profits, different friendlier environments and organisations are always in the race to reach new heights by thriving effectively in this competitive environment (Kotter, 1996).

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,

     Senge describes five disciplines that are necessary for a learning organization. "Learning organization" is a catchphrase covering the ideal of an organization built on vision, teamwork, openness, flexibility, ability to act under changing conditions, and so forth and so on. It is an organization where people don't just promote their limited region and privileges, but where they take risks and

Organizations that strive to excel in aspects of innovation, competitiveness, and performance must have clearly defined core values that are executed by specific learning disciplines (Senge, 2010). Giesecke and McNeil (2004) stated, "A learning organization is an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights" (p. 55). In the pursuit of defining specific practices that would produce an ideal learning organization, Senge (2008) proposes five disciplines that include, "...systems thinking, mental models, personal mastery, shared vision, and dialogue" (p. 1). In this application paper I will analyze each of the five disciplines discussed by Senge (2008) and discuss how they can be applied in an organization such as the high school where I am currently teaching to address specific areas in need of improvement.

An organization’s capability to learn and convey that learning into action quickly, is the supreme competitive advantage. The learning organization is the structure that eases the realization of such competitive advantage, it empowers employees, it deepens and enhances the customer experience and cooperation with main business partners and eventually improves business performance. Organizational learning is considered as the suitable process to develop knowledge resources and capabilities/core competencies (human capital, social capital and organizational capital) that engender ongoing values; which in turn yield persistence superior performance; which lead to sustainable competitive advantage within the context of the strategic management.

Identify at least three objectives for improving the organization's learning and growth, and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization.

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.