Do Organizations Learn?
People question the concept of organizational learning by arguing that people learn, not organizations. However, the evidence, based on nearly 60 years of research, suggests that organizations do learn as a result of people learning within the organization. (Argyris, 199), (Argote, 2011)
Let’s first consider a definition of learning. We can simplify it by categorizing learning into two types, (1) knowledge or cognitive based learning, (2) behavioral learning. A person can be very knowledgeable on a topic but not have the ability to put that knowledge into action. For example, a person can be well versed in business theory but fail miserably at managing an organization or a business. As a result, learning that results in increased knowledge is one type of learning, and mastering a set of behaviors or skills is another type of learning. So let’s compare individual learning to organizational learning.
Organizations are comprised of functional groups. If an organization has a goal to market, develop and sell products, then the organization will need those functions or capabilities. The organization will need to have a research and development(R&D) group, a manufacturing group, and a sales and marketing(S&M) group. This is a very simple organization but it will serve us for this example of how organizations learn.
These three functional groups, R&D, manufacturing and S&M need to work together in a process or a system. Each functional group has to feed information back and forth. They interact with one another. They need to work on the overall goal of the organization together as a single larger group.
As they work together a few things will happen.
(1) These groups will begin to define processes and procedures for working together.
(2) These groups will solve problems together and begin to develop and sell products.
If the processes are working well, these three groups will continue to develop new products to meet their customers needs. They will reinvest in new research and development and the cycle should continue indefinitely, as long as there are no errors along the way. If marketing misinterprets their data and poorly projects customer needs, then research and development might be working on the wrong project. The sales team will try and sell a product that few customers want or need. How will the organization react to this error?
Organizations need the ability to identify an error, evaluate the magnitude of the error against it’s the organizations goals, and correct for the error in such a way to bring the organization back into it’s stable rhythm.l. If the organization reacts too slowly and does not recognize the error in time, it could spell disaster for the company. If the organization sees the error, and is able to make just the right changes, at the right time, then it should be able to get back on track. This ability to correct for errors is organizational learning. (Argyris, 1999)
In order for organizations to both SEE errors and RESPOND correctly to them, depends on its ability to view the whole organization. This is referred to as systems thinking, the ability to see the interactions between the parts. In a future article we will discuss the concept of systems thinking and dynamic systems modeling. This principles are critical for managing change and learning within any organization.
For additional reading:
Argote, L. (2011). Organizational Learning Research: Past, Present and future. Management Learning, 42(4), 439-446. doi: 10.1177/1350507611408217
Argyris, C. (1999), On Organizational Learning Second Edition, Blackwell Publishing.
