Learning - BUSI 2101 F23 PDF

Learning Dr. Linda Schweitzer What is Knowledge? Knowledge Facts, information, and skills Acquired through learning (experience, education, reading, watching YouTube, training, etc.) An outcome of learning (Δ Learning = Knowledge) A resource A base of power Power Power...

Learning Dr. Linda Schweitzer What is Knowledge? Knowledge Facts, information, and skills Acquired through learning (experience, education, reading, watching YouTube, training, etc.) An outcome of learning (Δ Learning = Knowledge) A resource A base of power Power Power = ability to influence someone to do something they would not otherwise do. 5 Power Bases 3 Formal bases: Coercive: fear, threats, punishment, Reward: rewards, benefits, advantages Legitimate: positional, hierarchical, organizational 2 Personal bases: Expert: knowledge, skills, information, expertise Referent: attraction, charisma, admiration 2 Add-on bases: trust and respect Knowledge Explicit: tangible Easily articulated & codified Documents, databases, textbooks, policies, procedures, etc. Tacit: Intangible Cannot be easily written down or explained Experience, insights, intuition, motor-skills Hard to codify & share Individual-based, context-specific Implicit: Implied or understood Norms, assumptions, judgement Not always recognized & shared General Dependency Postulate Dependency and Power are inversely related: The greater B's dependency on A, the greater the power A has over B. Dependency is related to supply versus demand Dependency is proportional to: Scarcity Importance Non-substitutability: Lack of alternative sources (imitability) What is Learning? Learning A relatively permanent change in knowledge (behaviors, skills, values, preferences, understanding, etc.) A process Changes in knowledge = Learning Learning Challenges Learning = Change Learning is hard sometimes Encouraging individual learning Strategic unlearning The myth of multitasking Individual learning vs organizational learning Classical Conditioning § Based on experiments of Ivan Pavlov § Passive § Basic idea: § Creating a conditioned response to an unconditioned stimulus § Making you react in a specific way to something that didn’t make you react that way before § Not generally seen as a (good) organizational tool § https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBb1CH18Smg Operant Conditioning § Developed by B.F. Skinner § Applies to voluntary behaviour (different from Classical) § All about reaction to feedback/reinforcement: § Reinforcement § Punishment § Extinction Reinforcement Using rewards to increase the likelihood of repeating the behaviour § Positive reinforcement § Rewarding a behaviour with a favorable stimulus – give something good § Negative reinforcement § Rewarding a behaviour with the removal of an aversive stimulus – take away something bad Punishment Using punishment to decrease the likelihood of repeating the behaviour § Positive punishment § Punishing a behaviour with an aversive stimulus – enact something bad § Negative punishment § Punishing a behaviour with the removal of a favorable stimulus – take away something good Extinction Doing nothing to decrease the likelihood of repeating the behaviour (this includes stopping to provide the previous reinforcements) Social Learning § Learning through the experience and observation of others § Learn to anticipate consequences once we have observed them happening to others: § Good consequences = good behaviour § Bad consequences = bad behaviour § Danger: consequences are in the eye of the beholder Cognitive Learning § Note – cognitive learning is not necessarily observed § Cognition - the act or process of knowing. § Manifested by capacity and skills to learn better, or for potential behavioural changes § Reinforcement could be: § Intrinsic rewards § ‘Knowledge of results' or ‘feeling of accomplishment’ § Or sometimes extrinsic rewards How do Individuals Learn? Kolb’s Individual Learning Styles § Everyone learns by going through a 4- step process § Individuals put greater emphasis on some of the stages (we have stronger and weaker stages or preferences) § i.e. There are individual differences in learning Kolb’s Individual Learning Styles How do Organizations Learn? What is Organizational Learning? A process; a change An organization’s capacity to acquire, process, exploit/apply and disseminate knowledge in order to ensure its success An essential skill and strategic capability Basically: the concept of individual learning applied to the organization as a whole as opposed to just individuals This approach is also one of the most criticized aspects of OL Organizational Learning Challenges Individuals Summing up individual learning ≠organizational learning Fear of investing in individual development (fear of flight) – no time for reflection or synthesis Operational focus – “putting out fires” Intangible Learning = change Levels of Organizational Learning Learning Levels Individual – exploration and development Group – sharing of ideas and collaboration Organizational – developing and capturing knowledge across groups Inter-organizational – learning from competitors and other organizations & communities of practice As a total system – realizing how all of these levels work together to generate knowledge Organizational Learning Argyris & Schön (1978) § Single-loop learning: Adaptive Learning – coping § Changing according to existing procedures & strategies. § “Inside the box” § Double-loop learning: Generative Learning – creating § Questioning and possibly altering the governing assumptions, policies, procedures, and strategies and developing a new ones § “Outside the box” § Triple-loop or Deutero learning: learning to learn The Toyota Way (Liker, 2004) There is a puddle of oil on the floor - Clean up the puddle. WHY is there a puddle of oil on the floor? Because the machine is leaking oil - Fix the machine. WHY is the machine leaking oil? Because the gasket has deteriorated - Replace the gasket. WHY has the gasket deteriorated? Because we bought inferior gaskets - Order different gaskets. WHY did we buy those gaskets? Best price - Change the purchasing guidelines. WHY did we choose gaskets based on price? Evaluated on short- term cost savings – Change evaluation criteria. 2 “Ways” Organizations Learn § Exploitation: § Learn ways to refine and improve existing organizational activities and procedures § Exploration: § Search for and experiment with new kinds or forms of organizational activities and procedures Recap: Learning Knowledge = facts, information, and skills acquired through learning Knowledge = power (especially if it is unique and important) There are different types of knowledge (explicit, tacit, implicit) Learning: A relatively permanent change in knowledge There are different kinds of learning (e.g., conditioning, reinforcement, social, cognitive) Individuals learn in different ways Recap: Learning Organizational learning is based on knowledge capture, transfer, etc. and is founded on individuals learning Relying on existing policies, procedures, training is NOT OL