learning organization

Gen Mgt

an organizational model characterized by a flat structure and customer-focused teams, that engenders the collective ability to develop shared visions by capturing and exploiting employees’ willingness, commitment, and curiosity. The concept of the learning organization was proposed by Chris Argyris and Donald Schön as part of their work on organizational learning, but was brought back to public attention in the 1990s by Peter Senge. For Senge, a learning organization is one with the capacity to shift away from views inherent to a traditional hierarchical, organization, toward the ability of all employees to challenge prevailing thinking and gain a balanced perspective. Senge believes the five major elements of a learning organization are mental models, personal mastery, systems thinking, shared vision, and team learning. Because of the requirement for an open, risktolerant culture, which is the opposite of the corporate culture of most organizations today, the learning organization remains, for many, an unattainable ideal.