Replying to LO29898 --
Rod,
Your questions and interests have indeed been the subject of many
conversations, although I couldn't point to one specific place in the
digest for reference. You are struggling with terminology that is often
ill defined and/or redefined by later readers. The confusion and muddiness
is to be expected and not resolved anytime soon.
Having said this, I'll say that for every 10 people you talk to you'll
probably get 15 answers to your question. Ultimately, you'll need to
arrive at your own understanding by reviewing what others have written and
the arguments they make for their perspectives.
As for myself, I take a pretty pragmatic and simplistic view. The learning
organization is the embodiment of an organizational learning system.
Organizational learning is a subsection of organization theory,
specifically concerned with learning processes and outcomes in
organizations (not just business), which are social units. Instead of
seeing Org.Theory as a segment of the management and business literature,
I see it more from the social science perspective and Org. Learning more
closely aligned with Org. Behavior. I know I'm splitting semantic hairs
here, but the worlds in which you play will offer up very different
perspectives and the Management/Business sandbox is too financially
focused for me to feel comfortable applying principles of human behavior.
That said, you will run into financial models for thinking about org.
learning (e.g.: intellectual capital) and varied perspectives on WHAT it
actually is. However, most discussions of Org. Learning continue to rely
on models of individual and team learning as a mechanistic process of
transferring and disseminating explicit knowledge within an organization.
Frankly, I think this is a very modernist perspective. Personally, I'm
more interested in the untapped dimensions of tacit knowledge and informal
knowledge transfer (such as leading by example).
Strictly speaking, competencies are skills, knowledge, and abilities that
have already been developed and (usually) are considered critical to the
success of the organization's future.
I would interpret capability building as developmental activities that can
foster competency development. This might include a merger, expanding
distribution outlets, or any numer of organizational changes (each of
which will require new knowledge and abilities).
Capacity building should be describing a dimension of growth in some
realm. If one is speaking of intellectual capacity building, I would
expect that to include formal and informal learning opportunities.
The single most useful book I've found lately on OL is
Dierkes, M., A. B. Antal, et al. (2001). Handbook of organizational
learning and knowledge. New York, Oxford University Press.
kind regards,
Vana Prewitt
Praxis Learning Systems
Chapel Hill, NC -- USA
> From: Rod Sarah <Rod.Sarah@monyx.com>
>
> I'd be interested in the different perspectives that some of the OL and
> LO literature refers to.
>
> I'm interested in the idea of building capabilities or org learning and
> whether these capabilities are at the individual level and/or at the org
> level. However, some of the literature and writings refer to
> 'capability building' and 'capacity building' and that learning is a
> 'competency' that an organisation needs to build.
--Vana <vana@praxislearning.com>
[Host's Note: In assoc w/Amazon.com...
Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge by Meinolf Dierkes (Editor), Ariane Berthoin Antal (Editor), John Child (Editor), Ikujiro Nonaka (Editor), Berthoin Antal (Editor)
Hardcover: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0198295839/learningorg
Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0198295820/learningorg
Thanks, Vana, for this reference! ..Rick]
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