The Learning Organization

Rodney McAdam; Sandra McCreedy

1999 The Learning Organization

doi: 10.1108/09696479910270416

There is an increasing interest in the area of knowledge management (KM) within organisations and academia. Because of the emergent nature of the field there is a lack of classification of suitable knowledge management models to use in conducting further research, literature evaluation and organisational applications. This paper discusses the definitions and classifications of knowledge management, representing a wide spectrum of views from mechanistic to more socially orientated. An evaluative framework is established from which three knowledge management models can be critically discussed. Three KM model classifications are critiqued, namely knowledge category models, intellectual capital models and socially constructed models. Finally a modified KM model is tentatively suggested to act as a useful guide for further research and organisational application. This model takes a holistic approach to scientific and socially constructed knowledge, assuming the need for both emancipatory and business benefits from KM. The model represents KM as a highly recursive process, rather than sequential.

Stan Glaser; Mike Halliday

1999 The Learning Organization

doi: 10.1108/09696479910270425

Defines ideology and examines its role in organisations in the East and West. Looks at different factors involved, including family structure and emotion, and relates them to organisational culture. These were then tested in two medium‐sized pharmaceutical companies, one in Sydney, Australia, the other in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia. In‐depth interviews were followed up by questionnaires, not only for staff but also for external parties such as suppliers. The resultant data were analysed by Kamen’s “quick clustering” procedure, to allow a representation of the way variables hang together. It concludes that social organisation affects organisational and employee performance, but suggests that the role of gender within these groups was less clear.

Paul Tosey; Peter A.C. Smith

1999 The Learning Organization

doi: 10.1108/09696479910270434

Asserts and explores the claim that further headway in substantive wide‐scale learning organization development is seriously jeopardised unless individual organizations objectively measure their progress. In part 1 a new evaluative standpoint grounded in “New Science” is suggested, and foundations for two non‐traditional discriminant approaches based on this standpoint are discussed. The potential to link such assessments to business performance is evaluated. In part 2, applications of these two approaches in organizational settings are reviewed.

Samuel K.M. Ho

1999 The Learning Organization

doi: 10.1108/09696479910270443

The fundamentals of learning organisations are revisited to provide a relevant perspective for achieving world‐class performance. A new concept termed the ‘total learning organisation’ is created and developed based on the theoretical background and the author’s consultancy experience. Three important World Cup matches are used as case examples to illustrate the application of innovation through the conceptual framework of the total learning organisation. The findings are useful for firms wanting to benchmark against the experience of leading firms which have survived and grown despite the two global oil crises and the recent Asian financial turmoil.

Low Sui Pheng

1999 The Learning Organization

doi: 10.1108/09696479910270452

While modern management literature abounds with theories on how best to achieve managerial efficacy )including the concepts of power in organisations, authority, empowerment, organisation politics, employees’ resistance to change, leadership style and conflict management(, it is timely to remember the basic guiding principles laid down in the Holy Bible which are still very applicable today. Although some of these principles may be at the back of their minds, many managers today are awash with complicated modern management concepts, so much so that the simple but yet time‐tested wisdom enunciated in the Holy Bible is conveniently brushed aside or overlooked. The guiding principles highlighted in the paper suggest that this should not be the case. Instead, modern management concepts should be synthesised with these guiding principles to attain managerial efficacy.