Management and Organisational Behaviour 7th Edition

Management and Organisational Behaviour 7th Edition CHAPTER 10 The Nature of Learning

Learning • Learning means change • Learning implies a different internal state that may result in new behaviours & actions or new understanding & knowledge • Learning can be undertaken within a formal setting or be spontaneous or incremental

Figure 10.1 Factors influencing the learning process

The significance of learning for psychologists • Provides understanding of development & deterioration and is at the very heart of demonstrating the ways in which individuals differ • Studies are dependent upon knowledge of memory & intelligence • It is a challenge to find new ways of studying invisible processes and of accurately measuring changes to behaviour

The significance of learning for managers • Powerful processes which can lead to positive outcomes, e.g. increased competence, understanding, self esteem & morale • Individuals who enjoy learning are more likely to be flexible in times of constant change & therefore more adaptable to organisational turbulence • Growing evidence that a learning culture can affect an organisation’s effectiveness

Knowledge management The promotion & formalisation of learning within the workplace with the aim of aligning training with the needs of the business

Types of knowledge Explicit knowledge – knowledge that is easily communicated, quantified and systematic Tacit knowledge – knowledge and wisdom that is not easily communicated or quantified but is gained through experience and communicated on an informal basis

Types of knowledge Knowledge-creating companies systematically ensure that tacit & explicit knowledge feed into each other in a spiral of knowledge Tacit knowledge is converted into explicit knowledge by articulation. Explicit knowledge is used with an individual’s cognitive understanding by a process of internalisation

The importance of knowledge management • Business pressure on innovation • Inter-organisational enterprises • Networked organisations & the need to co-ordinate geographically dispersed groups • Increasingly complex products & services with a significant knowledge component • Hyper-competitive marketplaces • Digitisation of business environments • Concerns about the loss of knowledge due to increasing staff mobility, attrition etc. Kerr

Knowledge management practices The Business Processes Resource Centre at Warwick University has distinguished four different types of knowledge management practices – • Valuing knowledge • Exploiting intellectual property • Capturing project-based learning • Managing knowledge workers

Knowledge management initiatives • Getting employees on board • Allowing technology to dictate knowledge management • Not having a specific goal • Knowledge management is not static • Not all information is knowledge Santosus & Surmacz

Knowledge management processes • Managing the generation of new knowledge through learning • Capturing knowledge & experience • Sharing, collaborating, & communicating • Organising information for easy access • Using & building on what is known Mayo

The learning organisation … an organisation which facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself. Pedler, Boydell & Burgoyne

Basic principles of a learning organisation • It can learn as much, if not more, from failure as from success • Rejects the adage ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ as it constantly scrutinises the way things are done • Assumes that managers and workers closest to the design, manufacturing, distribution & sale of the product often know more about these activities than their superiors • Seeks to move knowledge from one part of the organisation to another • Spends a lot of energy looking outside its own boundaries for knowledge Lampel

Table 10.3 Learning experiences of different companies

Difficulties with the learning organisation concept Effective implementation of the learning organisation concept requires the resolution of: • Meaning (or definition) • Management (or practical operational advice) • Measurement (tools for assessment) Garvin

How people learn • Classical conditioning • Operant conditioning • Social learning

Figure 10.2 Classical conditioning

Figure 10.3 Operant conditioning

Social learning Drive Cue Response Reward

Figure 10.4 Kolb’s learning cycle

Attention Incisive questions Equality Appreciation Ease Kline Encouragement Feelings Information Place Diversity Components of the thinking environment

Action learning sets • Small groups of people who all wish to develop themselves through tackling live issues • The sets provide opportunities for each individual to report in turn on their actions and reflect on the progress they have made

Learning styles • Accommodative • Divergent • Assimilative • Convergent Honey & Mumford

Learning styles Mayo suggests that organisations need to recognise the fact that people learn in different ways & that the following actions should be taken: • Give people the opportunity to discover their most natural learning style(s) • Offer learning opportunities that suit people with different learning styles • Recognise the need to complete the full learning cycle • Help people to translate the learning cycle into an upwards continuous spiral of learning

Creative thinking process Creativity – the application of imaginative thought which results in innovative solutions to many problems Goodman • Preparation • Incubation • Illumination • Verification Wallas

Blocks to personal creativity • Perceptual • Emotional • Process • Communication • Environmental • Cultural Goodman

Coaching • Uses deductive techniques to increase an individual’s ability & willingness in a specific subject or problem area • Ideally the techniques are used in a structured way • The coach does not have to be an expert in the subject

Mentoring • Uses a mixture of inductive & deductive techniques to increase an individual’s ability in a specific subject • Ideally a structured programme is used • The mentor must be an expert in the subject

The GROW model • Goals – what does the coachee want to achieve, how do they want to feel afterwards? • Reality – what is the scenario, what is the context, what are the problems? • Options – what are the possible actions, which are most attractive, what has worked in the past? • Wrap up – what actions are needed, what does success look like, what if things get in the way? Starr

Applying theories of learning to organisations • Self development – learning what to do, how to be, learning the ropes • Development of others – personal development, development of planned learning events • Development of learning culture – policy development

Management and Organisational Behaviour 7th Edition