APPLIED MANAGEMENT THEORIES AND TECHNIQUES MODULE.



Applied Management Theories and Techniques Module.

Applied Management Theories and Techniques Module

B4: Sony, The learning organization

According to Peter Senge (1990: 3) learning organizations are: organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together.

In the case study here, when you ask people at Sony about what it is like being part of a great team, what is most striking is the meaningfulness of the experience. People talk about being part of something larger than themselves, of being connected, of being generative. It become quite clear that, for many, their experiences as part of truly great teams stand out as singular periods of life lived to the fullest. Some spend the rest of their lives looking for ways to recapture that spirit. (Senge 1990: 13)

The chairman of the board for Sony Corporation says that the employees in their company have the opportunity for facilitated mentoring by seeking new skills and knowledge. Akio Morita goes on to say, "We are making ourselves responsible for their education and well being. I consider it as my job as manager to do everything I can to nurture the curiosity of the people I work-with" (Murray, 1991, p.9). The education and collective infrastructure of Sony works with nurturing the mentoring spirit. All new employees wear a green circle that identifies them as new employees and all of the Sony employees that meet a new employee (new employee wears a green dot) takes an active approach in working alongside the employee / protégé taking time to share their knowledge and understanding of the workplace and share their know how of the corporate culture (Murray, 1991, p.9).

Dr. Rachel Yan and Dr. Herman Baert provide interesting advice to labour organizations in terms of the collective need for mentoring in the organization they explored case studies in Belgium again it is interesting to note the language of tension in their writing, which to some may accelerate the need for speed and a fear at being left behind:

With the rapid development of technology and economy all over the world, people have to learn throughout the life span in the changing era because schooling is not sufficient to ensure their 'survival'. Labour organizations and their people are not exceptional, they are also confronted with constant challenges to their knowledge and competency management, they have to learn constantly to ensure the competitiveness of the organization and the employability of the workers. In this context, many labour organizations provide more and more possibilities and carry out various training programs to encourage their employees constantly…Mentoring as a one kind of on the job learning/training has drawn our special attention because of its 'just in time,' advantages and efficiency and its unique mentor/protégé partnership" (Yan Lu and Baert, p.1).

Consultants such as Peter Senge, organizations such as Sony, and business organizations such as ...