Learning Organizations & Effectiveness Research Paper

Learning Organizations & Effectiveness - Research Paper Example However, this does not come easily as there are important aspects that come with learning and which organizations must conform to in order to effectively adapt the learning. In this regard, it is paramount for organizations to clearly define their visions and mission statements which act as guiding principles. With statements clearly stipulated, strategic plan with a clear learning strategy should lay a foundation for effectiveness of organizational learning. Characteristics of an ideal learning organization and their observable behaviors Learning strategy: It is argued that for any organization to thrive, learning is necessary. However, learning has to be strategized in order to achieve desired objectives. Therefore, learning strategy constitutes characteristics of an ideal learning organization. Organizations are expected to endorse both learning innovation as specific goals, and learning strategy (Denton, 2002). One of the strategies is the ability for the organization to learn fa ster than other competing organizations. This is the surest way to maintain competitive advantage. To achieve this, organizations need to put learning at the top of the list of priorities (Buckler, 1996). Once learning strategy has been adopted by an organization, it is apparent that this becomes a habit, which becomes an everyday occurrence. Flexible structure: After setting learning strategies, it is vital for ideal organizations to streamline a structure that would foster learning within the organization. To affect this, organizations need to create teamwork by the formation of small, core workforce (Yang, Watkins, and Marsick, 2004). Actually, a flexible structure should dispose of traditional operations like rigid job descriptions. In fact, it is believed that flexible structure encourages cross-functional cooperation which enables organizations improve the organization’s operations. Organizations that use flexibility structure tend to reduce bureaucracy and restrictive job descriptions. Blame-free culture: It is believed that learning organization should provide an ideal climate, through which learning is prioritized and valued (Denton, 2002). When mistakes are identified, they need to be viewed as a chance to learn and perk up. In fact, it is argued that learning organizations that uphold blame-free characteristic encourage employees to experiment, and in the process, they learn from the experience and become innovative. For organizations that practice blame-free culture, learning becomes automatic. Vision: The concept of a learning organization goes hand in hand with shared vision. A shared vision is needed to overcome authoritative forces that hold up the preservation of the status quo (Denton, 2002). Besides, learning cannot occur without stipulating specific objectives of the learning. Shared vision gives an overview of organization’s commitment to achieving its objectives. An organization with a clear vision would tend to establish ov erarching goals, which forms the basis of encouraging the workforce to speak in one voice. Knowledge creation and transfer: It is apparent that in a learning organization, the concept of creation of new knowledge forms the foundation of development. Knowledge may come from several directions ranging from within the organization and outside the organization (Yang, Watkins, a