Learning organizations without borders? A cross-cultural study of university HR practitioners’ perceptions of the salience of Senge’s five disciplines in effective work outcomes

Abstract

The learning organization has been put forward as an effective way of conflict management through the adoption of the disciplines of personal mastery, mental models, team learning, systems thinking and shared vision (O'Keefe and Stewart, 2004; Fisher-Yoshida, 2005), but this depends to a large extent on the transferability of the concept cross-culturally (Fisher-Yoshida, 2005). This paper investigates the transferability of the learning organization concept in British, German and South African contexts with a sample of university-based human resource (HR) management employees. Specifically, the paper investigates the comparative importance of Senge's (1990) learning organization disciplines in generating effective work outcomes among HR employees in three different national cultural contexts. It is suggested that the importance of the learning disciplines in different countries may be influenced by prevailing cultural differences. The study interrogates the notion that the model provides a globally relevant tool for general applications in effective work outcomes. A survey was conducted utilizing HR practitioners employed by three separate universities in three countries (the United Kingdom, South Africa and Germany). Specific measuring instruments were constructed to operationalize Senge's (1990) model. Results suggest influences of national culture on emphases put on specific aspects of the five disciplines in effective work outcomes.

Towards increased relevance: context-adapted models of the learning organization

“…There are also those who, in more general terms, question the universality of the idea of the learning organization (Abu Khadra and Rawabdeh, 2006;Awasthy and Gupta, 2011;Coldwell and Fried, 2012;Symon, 2002), and those who claim that there is a need for new models, without specifying the demands on such a model. For instance, some researchers suggest that culture should be considered when deciding upon the relevance of the learning organization idea, such as African culture (Nafukho, 2008) and Mexican culture (Gómez, 2004).…”

Learning Organizations and Innovation Mediated by Job Satisfaction

“…Reference [14] studied learning organizations based on Senge's learning-organization principles [42]: personal mastery (relating to individuals' opinions, which become continuously informed in such environments [43]), mental models (the perception of the world and the way it works [44]), building a shared vision (creating a common future image for the organization [45]), team learning (a learning procedure in which team members develop collective knowledge, perceptions, and competence to perform tasks and to address problems in daily work [46]), and systems thinking (the core of learning organization, since it merges all dimensions with the aim of improving the organization [29]). Similarly, in this research, Seng's dimensions of learning organization were chosen as a base for measuring learning organization [47].…”