280 Pages
    by CRC Press

    Companies around the world are beginning to recognize that only by increasing the speed and quality of their learning can they succeed in the rapidly changing global marketplace. Developing organization-wide learning and becoming a learning organization has become critical for adaptation and survival.
    Organizational Learning: From World Class Theories to Global Best Practices starts with a review of significant learning theory and research accomplished over the past 20 years. This research is integrated into an action-centered theory of organizational learning. The book then explores in depth the Organizational Learning System Model developed by David Schwandt that has been applied in a variety of public and private organizations. Recognizing that companies now work with multicultural groups in a global marketplace, the authors also examine cultural implications of the Model.
    The authors present best-practice application of the Organizational Learning System Model by companies from around the world, including Arthur Anderson, Price Waterhouse, Beloit Corporation, Motorola, and Meralco. These are companies that have taken the leadership in developing learning systems on a organization-wide basis.
    Organizational Learning: From World Class Theories to Global Best Practices provides practical steps and strategies for developing and applying organizational learning in the workplace.

    Features

    Foreword
    Preface
    Critical Need for Organizational Learning in a World of Rapid Change
    Clarifying the Key Issues in Organizational Learning
    World Class Theories of Organizational Learning
    The Organizational Learning Systems Model
    The Portal for New Information: The Environmental Interface Subsystem
    The Dynamics of Knowledge Creation: The Action/Reaction Subsystem
    Knowledge and the Organizational Social Fabric: The Dissemination and Diffusion Subsystem
    The Essence of the Learning System: The Meaning and Memory Subsystem
    Steps and Strategies for Building Organizational Learning
    Appendices
    Organizational Learning System Model Instrument
    Resources
    Index

    Biography

    David Schwandt, Michael J. Marquardt

    "...presents a comprehensive model for organizational learning that incorporates the best thinking of the field with the best practices in the world. The Organizational Learning Systems Model is one that has been tested and is working in many places, including the United Way of America. It has become our collective compass as we, like other institutions, confront a future in which the change is ever more rapid and unpredictable. This book will enable organizations to become deliberate and effective in learning, unlearning and relearning essential to progress. It provides no shortcuts; rather, a jumpstart to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage."-From the foreword by Betty Beene, President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way of America