An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage” – Jack Welch, former CEO GE.

Learning Organization is an organization, which by empowering people within and outside the organization, collectively learns and transforms itself to better collect, manage and use knowledge for corporate success (Marquardt, M. J. (1996)).It is an organization that has a climate that supports and encourages new knowledge acquisition and through it learning(Baker, R. T., and Camarata, M. R. (1998)).

(Affif Siddique, 2014)Wrote about the benefits of having a learning culture. He wrote :-Companies that have invested in training and learning culture saw higher retention rates of their talent as employees believe their company is seriously looking after their personal growth and making a direct investment in them.

Higher retention rates makes a direct impact on ROI and output. As the workforce grows more knowledgeable and skilled, they become more productive, enthusiastic, and motivated to perform and compete against their competition, and successful demonstration of talented and trained workforce attracts top talent and winners into the organization. He further says :-Training and learning culture will be effective only when it starts from the top. Top leadership and senior management must embrace training and learning enthusiastically and trickle it down to the staff level by aligning it to the business plans and individual performance goals. They must complete the circle by creating opportunities and allowing employees to apply their newly acquired skills and reward them through their appraisal process. Just having a training and learning courses available but not having a formal process to measure its effectiveness and alignment will not produce the desired outcome, hence making it less effective and loss of interest from the top management to invest into these programs further.

The concept of Learning Organization attracted much attention in the 1990’s when Peter Senge (1990) popularized this concept in his landmark book “The Fifth Discipline”.He wrote "The rate at which organizations learn may become the only sustainable source of competitive advantage." Peter Senge described Learning Organizations are places, i)where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, ii) where new and expensive patterns of thinking are nurtured, iii)collective aspiration is set free and people are continually learning to see the whole together. He wrote that a learning organization values and derives competitive advantage from continuing learning, both individual and collective. He developed a model of learning organization.

Apart from Senge’s model, there exist various models of learning organization. This paper reviews the major models of learning organization.

MODELS OF LEARNING ORGANIZATION:

Senge’s model:

Peter Senge (1990) developed five essential disciplines of Learning Organization that can facilitate the transition to a learning organization including systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building shared vision, and team learning. i)Systems thinking:-A conceptual framework that sees all parts as interrelated and affecting each other, ii) Personal mastery:-A process of personal commitment to vision, excellence, and lifelong learning, iii) Shared vision:-Sharing an image of the future you want to realize together, iv) Team learning:-The process of learning collectively; the idea that two brains are smarter than one, v) Mental models:-Deeply ingrained assumptions that influence personal and organizational views and behaviours (Fred C. Lunenburg, 2011)

Fig. 1: Adapted From “The Fifth Discipline”, Senge (1990)

Pedler’s model:

Pedler et al. (1991) identified 11 areas critical to the transition to a learning organization:-(1) A learning approach to strategy;(2) Participative policymaking;(3) Informing;(4) Formative accounting and control;(5) Internal exchange;(6) Reward flexibility;(7) Enabling structures;(8) Boundary workers as environmental scanners;(9) inter-company learning;(10) Learning climate; and(11) Self-development for everyone.

Garvin’s model:

Garvin (1993) emphasized that learning organizations must be skilled at five main activities including systematic problem solving, experimentation with new approaches, learning from successes and failures, learning from best practices and transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout the organization. There are three essential elements of a learning organization :-( 1) A supportive learning environment, (2) Concrete learning processes and practices, and (3) Leadership behavior that reinforce learning.

Watkins and Marsick’s model:

Watkins and Marsick (1996) developed a model that integrates two main organizational components: people and structure. Watkins and Marsick (1993, 1996, 1997) proposed the DLOQ; a constructive concept of learning organization measures that has seven dimensions of learning-related factors in both people oriented and structure-oriented components.

Seven dimensions of DLOQ:-1)Continuous learning;- Opportunities for ongoing education and growth are provided; learning is designed into work so that people can learn on the job, 2) Empowerment;- People are involved in setting and implementing a shared vision; responsibility is distributed so that people are motivated to learn what they are held accountable to do, 3)Team learning;- Work is designed to use teams to access different modes of thinking; collaboration is valued by the culture and rewarded; teams are expected to learn by working together,4)Embedded systems;- Necessary systems to share learning are created, maintained, and integrated with work; employees have access to these high- and low-technology systems, 5) Systems connections;- The organization is linked to its communities; people understand the overall environment and use information to adjust work practices; people are helped to see the effect of their work on the entire organization, 6) Dialogue and inquiry;- The organizational culture supports questioning, feedback, and experimentation; people gain productive reasoning skills to express their views and the capacity to listen and inquire into the views of others, 7) Strategic leadership;- Leadership uses learning strategically for business results; leaders model, champion, and support learning.

Through integration of the aforementioned dimensions of the learning organization, Watkins and Marsick (1997) proposed an integrated model (Ji Hoon Song, Baek-Kyoo (Brian) Joo, and Thomas J. Chermack,). Watkins and Marsick’s (1996, 2003) model was operationalized by the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ). Watkins and Marsick’s model (Yang, Watkins, and Marsick 2004) of a learning organization has two major components, ‘people’ (for example, continuous learning, promoting inquiry and dialogue, encouraging team learning and empowerment) and ‘structural’ (for example, connection to environment, establishing systems and providing leadership).Watkins and Marsick’s model has several distinctive characteristics. First, it has a clear and inclusive definition of the construct of the learning organization. It defines the construct from an organizational culture perspective and thus provides adequate measurement domains for scale construction. Second, it is among the few that covered all learning levels (that is, individual, team, and organizational) and system areas. Third, this model not only identifies main dimensions of the learning organization in the literature but also integrates them by specifying their relationships (Birdthistle, 2006).

Other models:

Goh (1998) used interviews and focus groups to develop an archetype of learning organization that has five core building-blocks. These include clarity and support for mission and vision, shared leadership and involvement, a culture that encourages experimentation, the ability to transfer knowledge across organizational boundaries, and teamwork and cooperation.

(C. Jyothibabu et al 2010) developed an integrated scale for measuring the organizational learning sysyem. The scale consists of People level enablers – continuous learning (CL), dialogue and inquiry (DI), team learning (TL) and employee empowerment (EE) – and Structural level enablers – leadership for learning (LL), system connection (SC) and embedded systems (ES). Similarly there are individual level enablers – continuous learning and dialogue and inquiry-group level enabler – team learning – and organizational level enablers – employee empowerment, leadership for learning, system connection and embedded systems. Learning outcomes at three levels are – Individual level learning (ILL), group level learning (GLL) and organizational level learning (OLL). Learning outcomes at these three levels finally lead to organizational performance (OP).

LITERATURE REVIEW:

Learning models help in measuring learning in organizations. Many studies exist in the literature which used various learning models. Pak Tee Ng, (2004) wrote that innovative organisation can be developed from the foundation of the learning organisation and the five disciplines of the learning organisation mentioned by Peter Senge are the foundation stones of organisation-wide innovation. He further said, the spirit of innovation is an exercise in personal mastery. Thinking out of the box is an exercise in challenging mental models. To develop a truly innovative organisation, people should share the same vision for innovation. They should work closely and find synergy in teams because a team is more powerful than the sum of the individuals. Systems thinking allows the organisation to innovate in the areas where the highest payoff can be reaped and develop the platform to sustain innovation.

De Villiers, WA, (2008) conducted a study to validate Pedler et al’s measuring instrument. They wrote “this instrument is used to determine where the organization currently is on its way to become a fully fledged learning organization. Too little is known about what is being measured by this questionnaire.” Results indicated that Pedler et al. (1991) questionnaire must be regarded as measuring a uni-dimensional construct. The instrument has high internal consistency (reliability), as can be expected of a long scale. It was also found that the instrument has predictive/discriminatory ability. It could distinguish adequately between respondents from different economic sectors, working in different organizations, respondents with different levels of exposure to the construct, and in different fields of specialization or interest.

Fozia Rasheed, Sobia Sanaullah and Zilla Huma(2013) conducted a study to find out level of learning in public and private banks of Pakistan and also to analyze the relationship among major building blocks of David Garvin, that include (1) supportive learning environment, (2) concrete learning process and practices and (3) leadership that reinforce learning. Three building blocks are subdivided into;-Supportive learning environment:-1.Psychological safety, 2. Appreciation of differences, 3. Openness to new ideas, 4. Time for reflection,

Concrete learning processes and practices: -1. Experimentation, 2. Information collection, 3. Analysis, 4. Education and training, 5. Information transfer. Leadership that reinforces learning: - Questions related to leaders/ manager. Data was collected using five level likert scales. Frequency statistic, Arithmetic mean, reliability statistic and Correlation analysis were applied on data by using SPSS. Frequency statistic applied on all demographic variables, arithmetic mean applied on all dimension of each building blocks. To ensure the reliability of data and questionnaire Cronbach’s Alpha applied on each building block separately and collectively. And finally Pearson Correlation applied to examine the relationship/ correlation among the all building blocks of (Garvin, Edmondson et al. 2008). It was found out that correlation among all three building blocks of Garvin was positive.

Bijaya Mishra and A Uday Bhaskar (2013) have taken 9dimensions of DLOQ for their study “Impact of Learning Organization Attributes on Organization Performance: A Study of an Indian PSU” i.e. seven dimensions of learning organization plus two dimensions relating to performance. The seven dimensions are continuous learning, inquiry and dialogue, collaboration and team learning, systems that capture and share learning, people empowerment, connecting the organization to its environment, and strategic leadership for learning, and two dimensions relating to results/outcomes (financial performance and knowledge performance). They classified seven dimensions of learning organization into four levels: (1) Individual (continuous learning, inquiry and dialogue); (2) team (team learning); (3) organization (empowerment, systems that capture and share learning); and (4) global (strategic leadership and connection to environment). The study revealed significant relationship between the seven action imperatives and performance variables.

Ji Hoon Song’s study “The effects of learning organization culture on the practices of human knowledge-creation: an empirical research study in Korea” used the Dimensions of the learning organization questionnaire (DLOQ), developed by Watkins and Marsick (1993, 1996) to measure the cultural aspects of the learning organization. The two research questions of the study were:-RQ1: Are the measurements of learning organization cultures and knowledge creation practices valid and reliable in the Korean context? RQ2: To what extent do the seven dimensions of learning organization explain the covariances of practices of knowledge-creation in the Korean context? In order to assess and validate the hypothesized models of measurement in Korean culture, CFA, one of the sub-techniques of structural equation modeling, was used along with basic analyses, such as zero-order correlations and item internal consistency tests. The CFA analysis is the way to: (1) verify the adequacy of the item-to-factor associations; and (2) examine the construct validity of a proposed measurement theory. The construct validity is ‘the extent to which a set of measured items actually reflects the theoretical latent construct those items are designed to measure’. Second, multiple regression analysis was used to assess the associations between the cultural aspects of the learning organization and the perceived practices of organizational knowledge-creation. Finally, path analysis was considered to identify the overall influence of the learning organization culture to each practice of organizational knowledge-creation. The research reconfirmed that the DLOQ produces reliable and valid scores in Korea, and that the cultural differences between the US and Korea do not seem to affect the accuracy or consistency of scores.

(Ji Hoon Song, Baek-Kyoo (Brian) Joo, and Thomas J. Chermack,) conducted a study to test the validity of DLOQ in the Korean context and found that the DLOQ produces a reliable and valid measure in the Korean cultural setting.

Deborah Davisa and Barbara J. Daley (2008) the learning organization that Watkins and Marsick describe is one that captures, shares and uses knowledge continually to respond to challenges and change. They further stated that the model was chosen as a framework for their study because of its grounding in practice and its integrative perspective, which emphasizes three key components: (1) systems-level, continuous learning, that (2) is created in order to create and manage knowledge outcomes, which (3) lead to improvement in the organization’s performance, and ultimately, its value. Certain correlations between dimensions in the ‘people’ levels and the ‘structural’ levels were higher than.70. The reseach reinforced that a learning organization needs to be implemented at both people and systems levels, and found out that there is multicollinearity and a lack of adequate discriminant validity.

CONCLUSION:

The major models which we discussed in this paper are Senge’s model, Pedler’s model, Garvin’s model, Watkins and Marsick’s model and the other two models by Goh and Jyothibabu et al. The purpose of Senge’s model was to create an organization i)where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, ii) where new and expensive patterns of thinking are nurtured, iii)collective aspiration is set free and people are continually learning to see the whole together. Pedler’s model helps to determine where the organization currently is on its way to become a learning organization. Garvin’s model gives an insight into the three major building blocks of a learning organization. Among these models Watkins and Marsick’s model is the one which covers all learning levels (that is, individual, team, and organizational) and system areas, it can be the reason for its wide accepatance.

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