Sustaining change in a learning organization

Abstract

This article looks at how the application of the concept of a ‘learning organisation’ can be used at a specific organisation in South Africa to change the work performance of its employees. We do this by exploring different theories, models and definitions of organisational learning, learning organisation, organisational knowledge and knowledge management in the field, and against this background examine the perceptions of employees at a South African Organisation. The article underpins this approach by uniquely balancing conceptual rigour with practical experiences of employees at this institution. The view is taken that organisations are living systems that have the capacity to renew themselves by continuously reflecting on their practices and thereby create new knowledge, share and leverage it. Knowledge acquisition and sharing is closely linked to the core values of the organisation in order to achieve business competitiveness, set goals, efficiency, and overall strategic success. The purpose of this article is to understand how an organisation's training department could use the concept of a learning organisation within the South African context to sustain change. To achieve this objective we (the researchers) used a qualitative research paradigm. A phenomenological design presented the research with opportunities to analyse, interpret, and describe the perceptions, feelings and experiences of the participants at the organisation. Eight semi-structured individual interviews provided data for the purposes of this research. The data was analysed to identify categories, themes and sub-themes. The five main themes discussed are organisational learning, organisational culture, organisational change, globalisation and knowledge management and these were linked to the theory of learning organisations and were based on the findings.

Keywords:

• knowledge management
• globalisation
• organisational change
• learning organisation
• organisational culture
• collaboration