A view of the learning organization from a corporate governance perspective

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to provide an overview of the development of learning organization concepts from the perspective of Professor Bob Garratt and presents an interesting evolution toward his work on learning boardroom members. Design/methodology/approach Through a conversation with Professor Garratt, the authors capture several topics pertaining to his evolution of learning organization concepts, those who have differing views and ultimately what led him to develope his theories on the impact of the most senior members of an organization on the learning constructs. Findings The learning organization debate has many foundations that today have led to differing perspectives. Professor Garratt provides his particular background and how he developed his opinions, which he admits have not always been embraced in practice. Originality/value The discussion with Bob Garratt reveals his understanding of the learning organization concept and how it developed from a lifetime of practical application. Ultimately, the reader will understand, in Professor Garratt’s own words, where he was confronted with challenges and why his concepts evolved to where they are today.

Context related learning opportunities for individual and organizational improvement in learning organizations

“…It is important to note that reflection and critical thinking in learning organizations happen on the individual level but they are also a group and collective responsibility. This opinion was also provided by Garratt who stated that learning requires "joint ownership and joint responsibility" (Sidani and Reese, 2018b). Group reflection in an atmosphere of trust and respect is key in providing change through critical thinking.…”

“…One of the best ways to do that is to explore conceptualizations of learning organizations by the most prominent thought leaders in this field. Reese and Sidani (2020) provided such an overview by summarizing the interviews they had with Victoria Marsick and Karin Watkins (Sidani and Reese, 2018a), Bob Garratt (Sidani and Reese, 2018b), Michael Marquardt (Reese and Sidani, 2018) and Peter Senge (Reese, 2020). For instance, Marquardt focused on the levels of This work is a part of the project "Development of management in the entrepreneurial economy and society" supported by the University of Rijeka, Croatia, Grant Number: 18-44 1174. learning and the expected outcome in the definition of a learning organization as an organization in which there is learning "at all levels to adapt and succeed with the environment that continually changes" (Reese and Sidani, 2018).…”

“…Garratt was more specific about learning and identified action learning as "the essential and intuitive way to learn," pointing to two skills that a learning organization should master: learning continuously and providing direction for learning and development (Sidani and Reese, 2018b). Action learning is an activity that happens at the individual level.…”

Effect of organizational learning and effectiveness on the operations, employees productivity and management performance

“…Again, some of these studies are still very limited and the study sample still only applicable to some particular region or industry as empirical literature on this topic is still very limited. Whether organizations apply systematic learning or not, learning still takes place but the approach may not usually guarantee effectiveness in the organization (Sidani and Reese, 2018b;Rose et al, 2020). The inability of organizations to put the right policies in place to ensure their firm is a learning organization usually results in misleading implications that may adversely affect the effectiveness of such organization and also create a loophole in the drive of the firm to build a systematic learning organization that guarantees and promotes effectiveness within and outside the organization (Olaore et al, 2020;Rup ci c, 2020).…”

“…The inability of organizations to put the right policies in place to ensure their firm is a learning organization usually results in misleading implications that may adversely affect the effectiveness of such organization and also create a loophole in the drive of the firm to build a systematic learning organization that guarantees and promotes effectiveness within and outside the organization (Olaore et al, 2020;Rup ci c, 2020). Many firms today are yet to realize what can be called an ideal learning organization; a factor that can be attributed to the fact that organizations still lack concrete prescriptions on how to fully implement the recommendations and suggestions made by the few available cogent literatures on learning organization and its composition thereby making many organizations to fall behind among organizations that can be fully considered as learning organizations (Sidani and Reese, 2018b). Systematic approaches to organizational learning from various literature perspective only offers guidance on organizational learning implementation but fails to provide measures for comparability and evaluation creating a major vacuum of learning for organizations pursuing and aiming to make their firm a learning organization (Aydin and Ceylan, 2009;Lantz et al, 2015;Kaminska and Borzillo, 2018;Reese and Sidani, 2018;Rose et al, 2020).…”