A Critical Review of Learning Organizations in the 21st Century

Abstract

With the forces of globalization, economic turbulence and persistent change bearing down on organizations, it is imperative to an organization's survival that it ‘stays ahead of the game'. Knowledge and the ability to learn faster than competitors is ultimately what will sustain the organization in the 21st century. In the present chapter, the authors critically analyse what it means to be a learning organization. An analysis of organizational components such as structure, atmosphere, management philosophy and attitudes, decision-making and policy-making, and communication is used to help distinguish learning organizations from static organizations. It is argued for an organization to be a learning, rather than static, organization, its leaders must be flexible and people-centered, and engage in the use of supportive power, involving high participation at all levels, and conducting multidirectional communication in order to turn static organizations into learning organizations.