Organizational learning is the process by which organizations create, retain, and transfer knowledge. Knowledge is created at four levels - individual, group, organizational, and inter-organizational. Organizational learning is measured by learning curves and allows organizations to improve over time and stay competitive. Knowledge transfer within and across organizations is key for continuous organizational learning and improvement.

1. Organizational Learning
March 26, 2021

2. Organizational Learning
• Organizational learning is the process of
creating, retaining, and transferring
knowledge within an organization.
• An organization improves over time as it gains
experience. From this experience, it is able to
create knowledge

3. Organizational Learning
• This knowledge is broad, covering any topic
that could better an organization.
• Examples may include ways to increase
production efficiency or to develop beneficial
investor relations.
• Knowledge is created at four different units:
individual, group, organizational, and inter
organizational.

4. Organizational Learning
• The most common way to measure organizational
learning is a learning curve.
• Learning curves are a relationship showing how as an
organization produces more of a product or service, it
increases its productivity, efficiency, reliability and/or
quality of production with diminishing returns.
• Learning curves vary due to organizational learning
rates. Organizational learning rates are affected by
individual proficiency, improvements in an
organization's technology, and improvements in the
structures, routines and methods of coordination.

5. Organizational Learning
• Organizational learning happens as a function
of experiences within an organization and allows
the organization to stay competitive in an ever-
changing environment.
• Organizational learning is a process improvement
that can increase efficiency, accuracy, and profits.
• Example of making Pizzas. With experience
workers make Pizzas faster and learn to work
together to improve efficiency

6. Organizational Learning
• individuals' knowledge only facilitates learning within
the organization as a whole if it is transferred.
• Individuals may withhold their knowledge or exit the
organization. Knowledge that is embedded into the
organization, in addition to its individuals, can be
retained.
• Organizations can retain knowledge in other ways than
just retaining individuals, including using knowledge
repositories such as communication tools, processes
• Organizations also prepare logs and reports

7. Organizational Learning
Communities of learning
• organizational learning is the study of
experience, knowledge, and the effects of
knowledge within an organizational context
• Organizations gain knowledge in one of the
four organizational communities of learning:
individual, team, organizational, and inter-
organizational.

8. Communities of practice
• Individual learning is the smallest community at which
learning can occur. An individual learns new skills or ideas,
and their productivity at work may increase as they gain
expertise.
• Group learning is the next largest community.
group learning is a process in which a group takes action, gets
feedback, and uses this feedback to modify their future
action.
Another belief is that group learning happens when members
shares their individual knowledge with other group members.
Others have suggested that group learning is primarily a
process of error detection and correction

9. Communities of practice
• "increased experience working together in a
team promotes better coordination and
teamwork.
• Working together in a team also allows
members to share their knowledge with
others and learn from other members.

10. Communities of practice
• Organizational learning is the way in which an
organization creates and organizes knowledge
relating to their functions and culture.
• Organizational learning happens in all of the
organization's activities, and it happens in
different speeds.
• The goal of organizational learning is to
successfully adapt to changing environments, to
adjust under uncertain conditions, and to
increase efficiency

11. Communities of practice
• Inter-organizational learning is the way in which
different organizations in an alliance collaborate,
share knowledge, and learn from one another. An
organization is able to improve its "processes and
products by integrating new insights and
knowledge" from another organization.
Collaboration between schools or between
industries.
• Franchising is an interesting example
• This saves time and you do not have to reinvent
the wheel

12. Context and learning
• An organization's experience affects its
learning, so it is important to also study the
context of the organizational climate, which
affects an organization's experience.
• This context refers to an organization's
characteristics, specifically its "structure,
culture, technology, identity, memory, goals,
incentives, and strategy

13. Organizational forgetting
• Knowledge acquired through learning by doing can
depreciate over time.
• The depreciation rate is affected by the turnover rate
of individuals and how knowledge is stored within the
organization.
• Organizations with higher turnover rates will lose more
knowledge than others.
• Organizations with knowledge embedded in
technology rather than individuals are more resistant
to organizational forgetting
• What happens when key teachers leave a school or
they resist continuous professional development?