Abstract

Organizational learning involves much more than the mere introduction of knowledge within an organization. It is a lengthy and complicated process that requires adequate planning to execute within the organization. Planning for organizational learning requires that an organization start by analyzing the performance capacity of the employees. This is important as it helps to expose the knowledge gaps that require organizational learning to make employees productive and organizations competitive. Organizations also have to establish from the begging what goals and objectives they hope to meet with organizational learning. Organizational learning is sometimes triggered by external factors like technological advancement, which an organization has to consider before implementing organizational learning.

Organizations also need to consider how the knowledge is retained within the institution as part of implementing organizational learning. This is because without such knowledge retention mechanisms, organizations will spend resources in training and other forms of impacting knowledge and skills and not reap the rewards once employees move to other ventures.

Due to this complex nature of organizational learning, this paper seeks to analyze literature review on articles that discuss the topic in depth and address why these articles are important for the study.  The articles under review bring our different issues relating to organizational learning that leaders of learning organizations should take into consideration while incorporating organizational learning at work.

Introduction

The management structures of organizations are now actively involved in promoting organizational learning within their organizations. Institutional management understands the role knowledge plays in creating successful and competitive organizations. However, many remain clueless on what organizational learning entails and how to introduce such procedures at the workplace. The interest in organizational learning relates to the dissertation and the course in the sense that all three are in relation to improving organizations by creating learning organizations. Learning organizations are only formed when organizational learning is introduced in the company. The need to discuss organization by investigating its impact and role in promoting successful organizations helps to provide a roadmap for leaders of learning organizations.

The paper is divided into two parts with the first part being dedicated to articles that are related to organizational learning and its impact on employee development and institutional growth while the second part will focus on articles that highlight the connection between organizational learning and growth and innovation

Organizational Learning and its Impact on Employee Development and institutional Growth

Nabong, T. (2015). Creating a Learning Culture for the Improvement of your Organization.

Training Industry.Retrieved May 21, 2021, from https://trainingindustry.com/articles/professional-development/creating-a-learning-culture-for-the-improvement-of-your-organization/.

The article introduces the topic of organizational learning by providing definitions for a learning culture and organizational learning in general. The organization largely describes the advantages of having a learning culture at the workplace as a result of continuous organizational learning. The article places importance on the centrality of organizational learning in elevating an individual’s status both as a person and a worker and how such a transformation opens better opportunities for the individual for better outcomes at work as they feel motivated to continue working at the organization. TalaNabong notes that organizational learning increases efficiency, profit and productivity at the workplace and at the same time increases employee satisfaction and decreases employee turnover. The author lays emphasis on the central role the organization’s leadership plays in promoting a learning culture at the workplace. The absence of leadership backing up organizational learning means that it would not be a sustainable venture for the organization. The article then moves on to provide steps that organizations can use to create a learning culture. The steps can be summarized as formalizing the training and development plans, giving recognition and encouraging learning among employees, creating a mechanism that collects feedback on the effectiveness of trainings, encouraging internal promotions, and encouraging the sharing of knowledge and information through a formal process.

The article is the foundation of the topic as it lists the broad advantages of introducing organizational learning at the workplace. The advantages listed in the article are largely those relating to employee development. The author looks at how empowering the employee leads to institutional growth as the employee is provided with skills and motivation for better efficiency at work. The employee also feels appreciated by the organization due to the commitment to continuously improve their work capacity which in turn results to better employee retention at work. The article therefore provides the trickledown effect of organizational learning which justifies the topic under study. The article emphasizes the need for organizational learning to gain the backing of the leadership of the organization which contributes to the topic under research; leading a learning organization. The article is beneficial and related to the topic to the extent that is suggests the necessary steps that organizations can adopt to create a learning culture. The steps suggested show that introducing and maintaining organizational learning needs to take cognizance of the importance of the employee in helping the organization reach its goals and achieve its objectives. The steps therefore are largely based on appreciating the employee and encouraging them to continuously participate in learning initiative while working.

Ricciardi, F., Cantino, V., &Rossignoli, C. (2020).Organizational learning for the common good:

an emerging model. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 1-14.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14778238.2019.1673676

Many answer that organizational learning is intended to help organizations survive and thrive in order to serve the interests of shareholders. However, the authors of this article go further to show that promoting organizational learning not only helps institutions to grow but in large scale, it can contribute to the common good in the society. The authors view organizations as social mechanisms that can either promote the common good of the society or disrupt the common good. As such organizational learning helps to achieve common good through legitimacy and stakeholder satisfactions, and this should be the final goal of organizational learning. The authors provide the example of how organizational learning in matters of the environment have had organizations involved in environmental conservation which is turn ends up being for the common good of the society. The authors focus on how organizational learning enables competitive advantages, legitimacy and innovation and this results in institutional growth and performance. Under this section of the article, the authors explore how compliance with standards set in an industry, legal provisions and stakeholder expectations is part of the outcomes of organizational learning. Compliance with the laws provides legitimacy for the firm and this in turn promotes firm survival and institutional growth. Legitimacy is also important for institutional growth in this turbulent business environment which may create a competitive edge for an institution.

The article is important to the study and provides a different angle to analyze the importance of organizational learning to any institution. The importance and role of organizations as social mechanisms if often overlooked when analyzing the impact of organizational learning. As a social mechanism, organizations in most cases are able to bring the society towards the achievement of a common goal. It therefore necessitates the need for organizational learning to make sure that organizations contribute to the common good in society. As a member of society, organizations are required to promote legitimacy for their actions to not only evade legal actions against them that may turn expensive, but also to create a competitive advantage by creating brand recognition as a legitimate body. Organizational learning therefore becomes important for the organization as a source of information for the employees in an aim to promote legitimacy for the institution. Firms also need to continuously adapt to the ever-changing environments and more so in relation to compliance which necessitates organizational learning as a source of knowledge management that helps organizations remain compliant to laws and regulations. The issue of legitimacy and compliance in an organization points to the need to make legal education part of the knowledge that requires to be passed down to employees and on a regular basis to ensure continued compliance and legitimacy within the organization.

Saadat, V., &Saadat, Z. (2016). Organizational Learning as a Key Role of Organizational

Success. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 230, 219-225.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.09.028

VajinehSaadat and ZeynabSaadat address the issue of organizational learning and its role in promoting organizational competitiveness and success.  The authors argue that managers in today’s era cannot rely purely on financial and technological sources to improve and develop the organization, hence the shift to improve the employees by developing and improving their brains and thoughts through organizational learning. By introducing organizational learning, an organization remains competitive in the market as the employees learn faster, sooner and better than their competitors. In this way, an organization remains flexible even in the ever changing market situation which is a mark of its competitive nature in the market. The efficiency of the employees as a result of organizational learning as prescribed in this article translates to efficiency of production and subsequently elimination of costs associated with wastage in production. The authors chose to focus on how organizational learning should not only enhance the employee’s knowledge and skill but it should also be done in a way that promotes the main goals of the organization and builds a dynamic learning organization. This means that even when organizations are training their employees, they should have systems in place to ensure that the employees are retained at the work place to reduce cost of constantly educating their employees.

The article is important to the research as it validates the idea that improving the knowledge and skillset of the employees through organizational learning for an effective and efficient workplace cannot be replaced by a technological or financial input of resources. This forms the rationale behind promoting organizational learning for both employee development and organizational growth. The article is also important as it demonstrates some benefits of organizational learning especially in improving production efficiency by reducing wastage. The need to create efficiency of production is important for organizations as it reduces production costs and increases profits which are the aim of all businesses. This therefore makes the point for incorporating organizational learning across businesses. The article also connects to the research as it elaborates on the need to create a balance between promoting employees’ abilities and capacities through organizational learning with retaining of the already educated employees. Employee poaching is common across organizations which means organizations must create a retention mechanism for its employees to avoid training only for the benefits of such training to be reaped by another organization. The lack of a retention system will increase training costs for an organization and these costs will not be recovered in an efficient production process as would be expected from organizational learning. This balancing act that organizations need to have is often ignored in discussions around organizational learning.

Serrat, O. (2017). Building a Learning Organization. Knowledge Solutions, 57-67.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0983-9_11

The article reiterates the words of Charles Darwin, “it is not the strongest or the most intelligent that survives, rather it is those most responsive to change”. The article then proposes that remaining responsive to change requires knowledge which should be continuously enriched through internal and external learning within an organization. Oliver Serrat proposes that the subsystems of organizational learning are people, knowledge, the organization itself and technology. Without understanding these subsystems, the organizational learning processes in the organization will not be sustainable. Organizations that promote learning are those that value the institutional effectiveness resulting from organizational learning. Leadership in the organization is critical in promoting learning by constantly communicating the role of learning in organizational success. The people in the organization can only support organizational learning by being intellectually curious about their work, and the learning needs to meet their needs in a way that makes them sustainable for their roles. The employees also need to value teamwork which provides learning communities at work. Serrat notes that the production of knowledge in the learning processes is both individual and collective. While knowledge is created individually it thrives in a social setting of other like-minded knowledgeable people. An organization therefore needs to create opportunities where knowledge is not only being produced but where there is sharing of such knowledge across the organization. Lastly, organizations need to balance how technology and especially that relating to information and communication is absorbed in the organization without constraining learning and knowledge management.

The article connects to the paper because it gives rationale for organizations to promote organizational learning because it is the only way organizations will survive and grow. The authors bring out the interrelationship between the organization; it culture and leadership and other components of the organization such as the people, knowledge management and technology as issues that cumulatively account for the success of organizational learning at the workplace. The different roles that each part of the organization plays in the learning process will provide a guide for organizations to know how to structure learning and how each subsystem can help to promote and sustain learning in the organization. The article recognizes the role organizations have in supporting internal learning for its employees to survive the changes in the business sector. It is important that the authors have pointed out to both individual and collective learning processes as this provides an opportunity to create unique programs at the individual level while making sure that this information will still spread across the organization through the collective learning processes. Lastly, the article helps to understand that introducing learning in an organization is an activity that is unique to each organization based on the needs of the organization and the impact the organizations hopes to meet through learning activities.

Winkler, M., & Fyffe, S. (2016). Strategies for Cultivating an Organizational Learning Culture.

Urban.org. Retrieved May 21, 2021, from https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/86191/strategies_for_cultivating_anorganizational_learning_culture_2.pdf.

The authors in this article discuss, among other things, the role of organizational learning in strengthening staff capacity at the organization. Promoting organizational learning requires that an organization commits resources and provides access to skills, technology and information needed for the organization to create a learning culture. The authors of this article are of the idea that a learning culture in an organization not only encourages compliance but also develops self-correcting mechanisms and internal practices that would detect weaknesses in the organization’s system and initiate operational changes. Mary Winkler and Saunji Fyffe recognize that developing and sustaining organizational learning has to start with an analysis of the current level of knowledge and skills of the employees. This staff capacity analysis will recognize the capacity gaps within the employees that can be overcome by introducing organizational learning. From the gaps identified in the analysis, the organization can identify what type of skill to teach the employees and what is not required. The organization can also analyze the type of learning that is most appropriate for the employees for effective learning outcomes. The authors propose that organizations can combine group learning and individual technical assistance to staff members in the learning process. In this way, an organization is able to fill in the capacity gaps in individual employees and also the gaps in the workforce in general using the learning process.

The article relates to the topic because not only does it agree with the importance of organizational learning but it also provides a framework for the introduction of institutional learning within an organization. The article is important as it provides a sort of filter that would enable organizations know the type of knowledge to promote within the institution in a way that meets the unique needs of the institution.  By evaluating the needs of the employees and understanding where the knowledge and skills gap laid, an organization spends less time and resources that would have otherwise been wasted if all employees are subjected to the same trainings as part of organizational learning. The article also relates to the topic as it points towards the type of learning that is applicable within organizations. Different people learn in different ways and having flexible learning styles is important to promote a wholesome organizational learning experience. The emphasis of evaluating the current workforce before any attempts at organizational learningposes the important lesson that organizational learning is not a one size fits all arrangement but it has to be tailor made to the specific organization for it to be sustainable and to meet the needs of the organization.

Organizational Learning and Its Impact on Growth and Innovation

Anwar, R., &Niode, S. (2017). The effects of Learning Organization towards Employees’

Innovative Behavior Mediated by Work Engagement (A Study in Indonesia). Advances

In Intelligent Systems Research, 131, 159-164. Retrieved 28 May 2021, from

http://file:///C:/Users/lenovo/Downloads/25880027.pdf.

The article addresses the need for organizations to promote innovation as the only way to ensure survival of the organization during the globalization era where the market is characterized by fast flow of information, porous boundaries and increased competition. The authors argue that since the economy is now knowledge-driven, it only makes sense that organizations should nurture knowledge workers to be suitable to perform in the economy. The author points out that organizational learning nurtures innovative potentials in the workers which with time encourages employees’ ability to innovate. The article shows that innovation occurs in stages; the first being idea generation, the second idea promotion and the last idea realization. Organizational learning promotes innovations because it encourages continuous learning which stimulates idea generation. Organizational learning also promotes employee empowerment which creates the idea conditions for idea promotion. Lastly, organizational learning promotes knowledge sharing and social interactions which are useful in creating an avenue for idea realization.The authors also states that organizational learning should not only be limited to gaining new skills and knowledge but should also be used to learn through past successes and failures so as to gain and maintain the company’s competitive advantage.

The article relates to the topic because it draws the connection between organizational learning and innovation. In the 21^st century, organizations are spending a huge part of their budget in their respective research and development departments to increase innovations by the organization which translates to increased competitiveness for the firm. Such budgets aim to promote the knowledge and skills of the people in such departments so that they lead innovation for the company. The article therefore provides justification for these measures by organizations by illustrating how organizational learning supports different stages of innovation. The article also gives examples of companies that have been recognized for having implemented a learning culture that has led to innovation to give readers real-life examples of the role of organizational learning in play to promote innovation. The article is rather interesting because it showcases the importance of social interactions in promoting innovation. Employees are constantly working together and when their interactions are knowledge based, as a result of organizational learning, it increases the chances of such interaction bearing innovative ideas. The article therefore implies the need to have collective learning processes among colleagues to promote knowledge sharing and social interactions that promote innovation.

Basten, D., &Haamann, T. (2018). Approaches for Organizational Learning: A Literature

Review. SAGE Open, 8(3), 215824401879422.

https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018794224

Dirk Hasten and ThiloHaamann view organizational learning as a tool that enables the organization transform individual knowledge to organizational knowledge. They propose that an approach to organizational learning must involve people, processes and technologies. Without the involvement of the three systems in organizational learning, an organization risks having inadequate learning processes that may have misleading implications. The authors of the articles identify organizational learning as the process used by institutions to improve their performance by changing the mental models of their employees, changing the processes and knowledge within the organization in a way that lead to improving and maintaining performance at the workplace. It is therefore important that organizations incorporate organizational learning especially where such firms find that they operate in unpredictable environments where they need to respond quickly to unforeseen circumstance in order to remain competitive. The article looks at organizational earning as a management task that involves planning and control of information in a way that promotes productivity and effectiveness in the organization. The authors find that organizational learning is not a simple processes contemporary views would have it. It is a heterogeneous phenomenon that is triggered by external challenges and competition in a way that requires an internal adaptation to match the external factors.

Like other articles considered in the research, this article continues to draw importance on the need to modify an organization’s rules, processes and knowledge as part of organizational learning so as to improve performance of the institution. The rules and processes adopted by an organization may be formal, informal or a combination of both depending on the needs of the organization. The article also continues to emphasis on how organizational learning helps organizations remain competitive as its employees are empowered to handle difficult situations and react to these situations promptly. The article provides an interesting look at understanding institutional learning as a reaction to external pressure on the organization. Without such pressure, organizations would most likely rely on the knowledge and skills their employees gained through formal education training. It is therefore necessary that organizational learning is instituted in a way that helps the organization meet the demands of the industry so as to remain relevant and competitive which in the end results in growth of the organization.

Brougham, D., &Haar, J. (2017). Employee assessment of their technological

redundancy. Labour& Industry: A Journal of The Social and Economic Relations Of

Work, 27(3), 213-231. https://doi.org/10.1080/10301763.2017.1369718

It is a concern for most employees on the rate at which technological advancement threatens to take away jobs through automation. This article investigates on how organizational learning would be a necessary tool for job security for employees. In this article, the authors start by predicting that the 21^st century may just be the fourth industrial revolution seeing as there are rapid advancements in automation, robotics, artificial intelligence and general smart technology.  These innovations have an impact on how employees view their jobs and the level of motivation that remains for their jobs with these potential changes. Loss of jobs owing to technological redundancy affects employees as it causes anxiety which in turns reduces productivity at work.

The article contributes to the research topic as it exposes a now common issue affecting most organizations. Organizations are facing a dilemma between maintaining their employees or substituting some employees for technology enabled workmanship which would increase profits for the company but lost jobs for the employees. Organizational learning in this situation therefore serves a double role in helping employees retain their jobs and at the same time, helping the organization see the need to retain employees as opposed to automation. As seen in other articles, organizational learning has to be considerate of technological advancement and this article illustrates why this is necessary. Organizations have to educate their employees on the latest technologies so that they not only know and understand the new technology, but also that they are able to fully use new technologies for efficient production processes.

Roder, N. (2019). What Is Organizational Learning (And Why Is It Important?) | Workest.

Workest. Retrieved 28 May 2021, from https://www.zenefits.com/workest/what-is-   organizational-learning/.

Nicole Roder introduces then need for organizational learning so that there is knowledge transfer within the organization and this knowledge should cover any and all topics as along as those topics will aid in improving how a company does business. The article describes the four types of knowledge, collectively called the communities of learning that are important in organizational learning. The first is individual learning where the organizational learning will look to add new skills and ideas to the individual employee to maximize their productivity and performance. The author is of the view that individual learning poses the risk of an employee leaving and moving the knowledge gained to the new workplace leaving the organization stuck as it was in the beginning. To counter this, the author suggests that any worker who learns a new skill must share it with other coworkers. Group learning is the second community of knowledge which stipulates that people spending a lot of time together are likely to earn from each other as a group because everyone contributes ideas and solutions within the team. The third type of knowledge is organizational learning, which in this case refers to understanding the processes of the organization that may contribute to how knowledge is gained. The last community of learning is inter-organizational learning which will apply for organizations that have multiple outlets in different locations especially through franchising.

By establishing the type of knowledge that is required in organizational learning, the article contributes to the research by providing a template for what leaders should make sure is taught throughout the organization. The four areas of community learning suggested by the author are well selected to make sure that an employee has all round information for their survival within the workplace. The author also places some restrictions on individual learning, which if left unchecked would cost organizations lots of money in training and the employees later on moving to other organizations. The author addresses managers on how to promote organizational learning by creating, transferring and retaining knowledge within the organization to promote the productivity of the employees and the general competitiveness of the organization.

Werlang, N., &Rossetto, C. (2019). The effects of organizational learning and innovativeness on

organizational performance in the service provision sector. Gestão&Produção, 26(3).

https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-530×3641-19

The authors of the article analyzed the relation between organizational learning, innovatiness of the organization and organizational performance. The authors acknowledge that the business environment has undergone significant reconfiguration which has led to placing greater value on knowledge as part of the organization’s resources and as a factor of the success of the company. Organizational learning therefore acts as a source of the much required knowledge and contributes to fostering creativity in the workplace that leads to innovation and increases the competitiveness of the institution. At the end of the article the authors found that organizational learning has a direct and positive influence on the ability of an organization to be innovative. Organizational learning also has a direct and positive effect on organizational performance and these two findings are the reasons why the authors encourage institutions to adopt organizational learning at the workplace.

The article contributes to the research as it seeks to promote the need for organizations to rethink the type of resources at their disposal for a successful organization. The role of knowledge as a resource in the 21^st century business environment cannot be ignored.. Organizations can only enable knowledge circulation within the institution through organizational learning. The authors make a case for organizational learning and its direct and positive link to innovations which should be a source of  motivation for all company leaders to introduce organizational learning at work.

Conclusion

Organizational learning has been discussed by many authors who consider different aspects of the topic. The articles addressed in this paper are important as they not only speak to the advantages of organizational learning, but they go further to provide the content that should be addressed in organizational learning, the parties to be involved, the considerations to take before introducing organizational learning and the likely loopholes that would result in losses in an organization if organizational learning was to be introduced haphazardly.

References

Anwar, R., &Niode, S. (2017). The effects of Learning Organization towards Employees’

Innovative Behavior Mediated by Work Engagement (A Study in Indonesia). Advances

In Intelligent Systems Research, 131, 159-164. Retrieved 28 May 2021, from

http://file:///C:/Users/lenovo/Downloads/25880027.pdf.

Basten, D., &Haamann, T. (2018). Approaches for Organizational Learning: A Literature

Review. SAGE Open, 8(3), 215824401879422.

https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018794224

Brougham, D., &Haar, J. (2017). Employee assessment of their technological

redundancy. Labour& Industry: A Journal of The Social and Economic Relations Of

Work, 27(3), 213-231. https://doi.org/10.1080/10301763.2017.1369718

Nabong, T. (2015). Creating a Learning Culture for the Improvement of your Organization.

Training Industry.Retrieved May 21, 2021, from https://trainingindustry.com/articles/professional-development/creating-a-learning-culture-for-the-improvement-of-your-organization/.

Ricciardi, F., Cantino, V., &Rossignoli, C. (2020).Organizational learning for the common good:

an emerging model. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 1-14.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14778238.2019.1673676

Roder, N. (2019). What Is Organizational Learning (And Why Is It Important?) | Workest.

Workest. Retrieved 28 May 2021, from https://www.zenefits.com/workest/what-is-   organizational-learning/.

Saadat, V., &Saadat, Z. (2016). Organizational Learning as a Key Role of Organizational

Success. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 230, 219-225.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.09.028

Serrat, O. (2017). Building a Learning Organization. Knowledge Solutions, 57-67.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0983-9_11

Werlang, N., &Rossetto, C. (2019). The effects of organizational learning and innovativeness on

organizational performance in the service provision sector. Gestão&Produção, 26(3).

https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-530×3641-19

Winkler, M., & Fyffe, S. (2016). Strategies for Cultivating an Organizational Learning Culture.

Urban.org. Retrieved May 21, 2021, from https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/86191/strategies_for_cultivating_anorganizational_learning_culture_2.pdf.