Mechanistic and Learning

Mechanistic and Learning

Introduction

Organizational learning is defined as “the process of bringing improvement in actions with the help of acquiring better understanding and knowledge” (Hong, 1999). Everything takes a start with the idea about the existing environment. No one will be interested in the environment, unless it offers some innovation or knowledge (De Geus, 1999). In the perspective of organization, knowledge offers meaning in abroad spectrum. It refers to understanding, knowledge, know how, practices, techniques, and everything that comes in this category. This leads to an implication of three most important entities for learning organizations, which include organization, environment and individuals (Fang et al., 2009). To analyze the possibilities of organizational learning, the approach of three entities is widely used. In the generic schema of organizational learning, it involves learning process, learners and the product (Schön and Argyris &, 1996). All three entities refer to the organization culture.

Organizational Learning

To understand the organizational learning, it is important to shed some light on knowledge. Knowledge acquisition is defined as gathering information by making the use of internal and external sources. Internal sources refer to the organization and the external means outside the organization, such as industry. After acquiring knowledge it must be distributed in a proper way. This is called communication in the organization. After communication, knowledge is interpreted by every learner in the organization. Every organization has a set of beliefs, practices and values that constitute its code. When an employee is inducted in the company, he tries to learn the code or in other words tries to seek knowledge about the company. With this, old employees get the chance to learn form the new employee. Therefore, it is pertinent that an organization must take steps to slow down the process of socialization. New and old knowledge bring the diversity in the organization. Any knowledge coming from outside the company is said to have come form the industry. This external knowledge can be obtained with the help of socialization, reading different newspapers, annual reports, conducting surveys and interviews and market research.

The second entity in the process is the learner. He is the agent who takes part in the learning process. According to the constructivism theories, he is an active and natural builder of knowledge (Tracey and Morrow, 2006). Learners cannot only gain information. They can also be a source of knowledge. Every individual has his unique knowledge and experience that can be beneficial for the organizations. However, they are the participants of knowledge. They are very important for any company as they constitute team, groups and moreover, they build the culture of the organization. Learning takes place on three levels: individual, group and at the level of organization. This last one is the ultimate level where learning occurs (Crossan & Berdrow,2003).

The third entity is learning product which is an informal content involved in the process of learning. All information about experience, data and knowledge are interpreted and transformed into shared processes. Under the definition of organizational learning, ...