Intranets and the learning organisation
| Pages | 11-16 |
| Published date | 01 February 2000 |
| Date | 01 February 2000 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb040744 |
| Author | Larry J Wilkinson,Philip Charleton,Petia V Sice |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Intranets and the
learning organisation
by Larry J Wilkinson, Philip Charleton
and Petia V Sice, University of
Northumbria
Recent developments in e-commerce and
the Web suggest that few businesses in the
next decade will remain unchallenged by
new technologies. It is our contention that
an intranet, appropriately designed,
implemented, and managed, provides
organisations with a relatively simple and
inexpensive means of enhancing
organisational learning capability.
A learning organisation
'The ability to learn faster than your
competitors may be the only sustainable
competitive advantage'
(de Geus, 1988).
This view, re-iterated in many forms, has become
one of the main driving forces in the changing
nature of business of the '90s. Flexibility, adapt-
ability, innovation, creativity, and the ability to
respond quickly to change are the attributes to
which successful organisations aspire. An organi-
sation having these attributes could be described as
being a 'learning organisation'. A learning organi-
sation is one which is able to tap the abilities and
commitment of people to learn at all levels, where
people are continuously discovering how they
create their reality (Senge, 1990).
Whilst the individual is fundamental to organisa-
tional learning- individual learning is a necessary
but insufficient condition of organisational learn-
ing (in the context of this paper, knowledge and
learning relate to the situation or activity relevant
to work or the organisation). However, many
authors suggest that it is the culture, context and
practices of the organisation that create the envi-
ronment for individuals to develop and teams to
flourish (Argyris and Schon, 1978; Senge, 1990;
Beer, 1993).
There are two major schools of thought on how
this is best achieved. The first and perhaps most
generally accepted of these, emphasises the facili-
tation of an individual's knowledge followed by
the sharing and finally the application of this
knowledge (about the situation of concern). In
particular Senge (1990) argues that there are five
disciplines that contribute to the features of organi-
sational learning - a shared vision, mental models,
personal mastery, team learning and systems
thinking. It is clear from the way in which these
disciplines are described that whilst the individual
has a primary role, implicitly the organisational
culture, context and practices all have important
contributions to make.
The second school of thought has a different
emphasis. It focuses on the ability of the organisa-
tion as a whole to generate 'appropriate
behaviour'. Organisational knowledge can be
thought of
as
a capability for effective action in the
context where required (Maturana and Varela,
1980).
The differences between the two schools of
thought are perhaps best reflected in their per-
ceived aims. The aim in the first is to identify
those key factors that influence organisational
learning and, thus, prescribe the requirements for a
series of organisational features. In contrast, the
second school of thought considers that the
organisation exists as a network of interactions,
whose purpose is to ensure the maintenance of
structural coupling with the environment. Learn-
ing is considered to be the continuous
self-development of the network (and hence the
organisation) in order to ensure continued 'ad-
equate behaviour'. This self-development takes
place as part of the process of coupling (Varela,
1987).
In practice it is the synergy of both traditions that
is the essence of successful organisational learn-
ing. The first tradition emphasises reflection on
the basis of current understanding. However,
because of
this,
it is in effect static, and it is the
second model of the continuously changing
network of interactions that provides the
organisation with the ability to recreate and
develop
itself.
Thus, it endows the organisation
with awareness and the means to evolve from
moment to moment.
VINE
119
— 11
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