A learning organisation is one which exercises the capacity to assimilate information from its environment, appraise its relative value and incorporate the information into the flow of decisions and activities that flow from and within the business. In other words, a 'learning organisation' is the ideal organisation to operate in a climate of uncertainty and change. And although most managers would aspire to the concept of the learning organisation, few would know where to start in building one.
The key to building a 'learning organisation' is creating the fabric of the organisation, a culture which values the importance of information and, at the same time, has the processes in place to assimilate speedily and effectively that which supports the organisation in achieving its vision for the future.
Often 'processes' for data gathering and analysis is the first step and usually relate either to data for making or improving the core services or products produced by the organisation or information that relates to its target population namely customers, potential customers, users or consumers of the service or product. Too often this is where the learning organisation stops in its enquiry as to assessing 'change' which impacts upon the business.
Organisations that aspire to start on the route to becoming a learning organisation focus upon the following
Research into the relative value of their services and products
Devote resource to further advance their services to their chosen client or consumer base
Assess how the customer base values these products, as well as assessing the correct channel of distribution to their customer base
Assess customer satisfaction and buying behaviour
Predict how markets and the business environment will change
Analyse how technology can ease the flow of the product to the market
Assess the overall contribution of the organisation to the marketplace and society in general
Review how the organisation operates and performs in comparison to other organisations
Adopt a policy of curiosity to how the organisation could improve performance
Create the processes to ensure the flow of information is accurate, speedy and relevant
Focus upon taking action after learning how best to implement the decisions to make the organisation more effective in achieving its purpose
Many organisations only partly benefit from the outlook of 'curiosity', and fail to take advantage of the opportunities available to them of building a highly organic and vibrant business. For instance many organisations are 'product' or 'service' driven and focus all resources primarily on product development neglecting to focus on winning new or retaining existing customers. This partial approach to becoming a learning organisation can severely disadvantage the business and the relative health of the culture. It signals to organisational members that product development or understanding key markets is more important than other aspects of organisational scanning.
Critical to building a learning organisation is the ability to assess the relative importance of the factors which impinge on the organisation. It is not sufficient to run a simple 'benchmarking process' or 'product or customer review'. It is important to undertake a full strategic review of their environment, to audit the relative health of the organisation in assessing its key vulnerabilities. With this in mind, many organisations commit to audit their relative effectiveness using a simple vulnerability model delivered in-house and with external agencies and customers. The issues explored focus upon the areas where the organisation is most at risk from failing to accurately monitor the impact of changes in the business environment.
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