WEEK 3 PARTICIPATION STUDENT RESPONSES
ORIGINAL QUESTION
Topic 3 DQ 1
A learning organization is one that is continually enhancing and promoting the capabilities of individual workers. Given this definition, what are the most significant steps leaders must take in moving an organization toward becoming a learning organization? Why are these steps significant?
STUDENT RESPONSES
STUDENT 1- ILLIAN
Leaders must create a secure and supportive environment where employees feel free to take risks, make errors, and experiment without fear of retaliation or criticism. This requires leaders to cultivate a psychologically secure environment that encourages open communication, trust, and respect among team members (Schaubroeck et al., 2011). These critical stages foster a learning and development culture, increasing employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity (Caldwell, 2012). For example, when employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to learn and develop, they are likelier to produce their finest work and remain loyal to the organization (Caldwell, 2012; Senge, 2006). Moreover, a learning organization is better equipped to adapt to changes in the business environment, remain competitive, and achieve long-term success (Senge, 2017). According to Sims and Felton (2004), the primary objective of business ethics courses is to help students understand that ethics is an integral component of business and is incorporated into all business decisions. Business ethics, therefore, includes ethics in leadership, encompassing situations where leaders value employees and facilitate their needs. For example, Zhu et al. (2014) argue that ethical leadership includes employee empowerment and engagement facilitates positive employee outcomes. Therefore, dynamic systems require diverse leadership strategies. Leaders must constantly learn and diversify their leadership strategies to promote a learning environment.
References
Caldwell, R. (2012). Leadership and learning: A critical reexamination of Senge’s learning organization. Systematic Practice and Action Research, 25, 39-55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-011-9201-0
Schaubroeck, J., Lam, S. S. K., & Peng, A. C. (2011). Cognition-based and affect-based trust as mediators of leader behavior influences on team performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(4), 863–871. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022625
STUDENT TWO – JOSE
Seminal and more contemporary authors agree that there are several steps leaders must take in moving an organization toward becoming a learning organization. The first step that must be taken is the presence of an actual leader (Kumar et al., 2021), ideally a transformational leader (Soomro et al., 2021). Transformational leaders are particularly effective at inspiring organizational teamwork and innovation (p. 487) and for motivating employees to work together to achieve organizational goals (Kumar et al., 2021). The second step is a vision, ideally one that is shared by all employees (Soomro et al., 2021; Wick & Leon, 1995). Effective leaders cast a vision for the future and call employees to band together to persist until that future is seen (Soomro et al., 2021). Communication, which is also rooted in a shared vision, is the third step that must be taken and can be found in the free and fast flow of information and feedback from outside the inside organization (Wick & Leon, 1995). Lastly, action, or proactivity (Soomro et al., 2021) must be taken to implement the leader’s vision. The (re)creation of systems is essential for the development of the learning organization (Kumar et al., 2021). Having a vision and plan without the will and tenacity to execute is navel-gazing (Wick & Leon, 1995). When organizations have leaders that possess vision, communicate and receive communication regarding that vision, and inspire everyone to take action to implement the vision, a learning organization is created.
References
Kumar, M., Paul, J., Misra, M., &Romanello, R. (2021). The creation and development of learning organizations: A review. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(10), 2540-2566. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-10-2020-0795
Soomro, B. A., Mangi, S., & Shah, N. (2021). Strategic factors and significance of organizational innovation and organizational learning in organizational performance. European Journal of Innovation Management, 24(2), 481-506. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-05-2019-0114
Wick, C. W., & León, L. S. (1995). From ideas to action: Creating a learning organization. Human Resource Management, 34(2), 299-311. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.3930340207
STUDENT THREE- KELLY
Individuals enhance and promote the capabilities of a learning organization. Learning organizations identify the motivations, values, and needs of superiors and subordinates with the aim of satisfying the whole group (Firmansyah et al., 2022, p. 2). Managers need to understand knowledge management, which is defined as the processes and activities that help organizations generate, acquire, discover, and organize knowledge, using it to make decisions, apply it to work procedures, and cover strategic planning (p. 2). Many organizations struggle to enhance efficiency in the short-term while still trying to be long-term learning oriented (Kristensen et al., 2022, p. 438). Individuals in an organization may develop their own interpretations and workers aren’t passively embedded in the workplace system (p. 439). Building a learning organization requires significant evolution of workplace culture, in which management and leadership development play a crucial role (Matic, 2022, p. 19). Internal learning is a cornerstone of learning organization development (p. 31). Learning is regarded as critical to performance and long-term success of organizations (Petriglieri&Peshkam, 2022, p. 1240). In moving toward becoming a learning organization, leaders must take significant steps to change the culture of the organization.
References
Firmansyah, A., Chen, M-H., Junaedi, W. R., Arwani, M., &Kistyanto, A. (2022). The role of transformational leadership and knowledge management and learning organization on vocational schools performance during digital era. Frontiers in Psychology, 13(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.895341
Kristensen, T. B., Saabye, H., & Edmondson, A. (2022). Becoming a learning organization while enhancing performance: The case of LEGO. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 42(13), 438-481. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-10-2021-0676
Matic, I. (2022). Managerial interpersonal competencies – Benefitting from learning organization characteristics in SMEs. Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, 10(1), 19-36. https://doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2022-0002
