SYLLABUS for AED 5270

FACILITATING LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS

Course Description

This course provides an overview of a model of the learning organization and offers tools for facilitating learning organization processes. Participants will explore the model and assess their own organizations against this template. The purpose of this course is for you to become familiar with what is empirically known about the learning organization while us-ing the laboratory of your current or previous work experiences to test the usefulness of these models for implementing planned change in educational systems and other organizations. We will examine research and practice with respect to the building of learning organizations: continuous learning at the individual, team, and organizational levels; organizational culture and its impact on learning; and action technologies (especially action science and action learning) for facilitating learning from experiences. Through a number of readings, activities, and experiences, participants will discuss readings, experience and assignments in a seminar format and identify implications of this work for adult education.

Course Objectives

As a result of this course, you will be able to:

1. Extend your current understanding of the nature, practice and elements of the learning organization and of its implementation.

2. Design implementation recommendations for a learning organization initiative that incorporates your current awareness of learning organizations and an empirical analysis of the context in one organization.

3. Critically examine and evaluate theories and research on aspects of the learning organization, as well as the way in which these concepts are being implemented in practice.

4. Examine the features and strategic role of learning relative to the shift from industrial to a knowledge based economy and the implications for adult education.

5. Develop an experiential understanding of action technologies as a theoretical underpinning of the learning organization.

6. Apply the seven action imperatives to an organizational setting both as an assessment framework and intervention.

Course Textbook Requirements

REQUIRED TEXT:

Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (1999). Facilitating learning organizations: Making learning count. Aldershot: Gower Press, Inc.

RECOMMENDED TEXTS:

Watkins, K., & Marsick, V. (1993). Sculpting the learning organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Watkins, K., & Marsick, V. (1996) In Action: Creating the learning organization. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

In addition, related handouts will be distributed during the course.

Course Outline/Topics

Definitions, Theory, History

Getting the Vision

Research

Application/Implications

Looking Ahead

Each day will involve lecture, large and small group discussion, and experiential activities.

Course Assignments and Activities

Grades will be based on the quality of your written work and contribution to the class as a learning organization via timely completion of readings, class discussion, group activities, and participation in various projects.

The following assignments are to be completed after the conclusion of our time together.

1. Complete a thorough written analysis of your current, past, or a simulated organization as a learning organization. Present a strategic plan for a learning organization initiative in your organization (or a simulated organization) that draws on the results from the questionnaire and the readings. This paper should not exceed 10 pages.

2. Write a 10-15 page, double-spaced paper on some aspect of the learning organization. This brief research paper is an opportunity to probe more deeply into a specific area within the learning organization and organizational learning literature.

Selected Bibliography: Facilitating Learning Organizations

Brooks, A., & Watkins, K. (Eds.). (1994). The emerging power of action inquiry technologies. New Directions in Adult and Continuing Education Series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Dickens, L., & Watkins, K. (1999). Action research: Reinterpreting Lewin. Journal of Management Learning.

Ellinger, A., Watkins, K., & Bostrom, R. (1999). Managers as facilitators of learning in learning organizations. Human Resource Development Quarterly.

Gephart, M., Marsick, V., Van Buren, M., & Spiro, M. (1996). Learning organizations come alive. Training & Development (December), 35-45.

Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (in press). Envisioning new organizations for learning. In D. Boud and J. Garrick (Eds.), New perspectives on learning in the workplace. Sydney: Publishers.

Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (1999). Facilitating learning organizations: Making learning count. Aldershot: Gower Press.

Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (1997). Organizational learning. In L. Bassi & D. Russ-Eft (Eds.), What works: Assessment, development, and measurement (pp. 65-86). Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (1999). Looking again at learning in the learning organization: A tool that can turn into a weapon! The Learning Organization: An International Journal, 6 (5), 207-211.

Marsick, V. J.,  & Cederholm, L. (1988). Developing leadership in international managers - an urgent challenge! Columbia Journal of World Business, Winter, 3 - 11.

Marsick, V. J. (Ed.) (1987). Learning in the workplace. Beckenham, Kent, U.K.: Croom-Helm.

Marsick, V. J., & Watkins, K. (1990). Informal and incidental learning in the workplace. London & New York: Routledge.

Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (1996). Adult educators and the challenge of the learning organization. Adult Learning, 7 (4), 18-20.

Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (1994). The learning organization: An integrative vision for HRD. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 5 (4), 353-360.

Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (1992). Continuous learning: A model for continuous improvement. Adult Learning.

Marsick, V., & Watkins, K. (1992). The learning organization. Organizational Relations News, 5 (1), 1.

Marsick, V. J., & Watkins, K. E. (1990). Informal and incidental learning in the workplace. London and New York: Routledge.

Watkins, K., & Dickens, L. (1999). Letters to Robert Putnam, Victoria Marsick and Judy O'Neil, Response to the Letters section. Journal of Management Learning.

Watkins, K., & Marsick, V. (1999). Sculpting the learning community. NASSP Bulletin, 83 (604), 78-87.

Watkins, K. (1997). Of course organizations learn! In R. Rowden (Ed.), Workplace learning: Debating five critical questions of theory and practice (pp. 89-96). New Directions in Adult and Continuing Education Series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Watkins, K. E. , & Marsick, V. J. (1996). In action: Creating the learning organization, Volume I. Alexandria, VA: ASTD.

Watkins, K. E., & Marsick, V. J. (1993). Sculpting the learning organization: Lessons in the art and science of systemic change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Watkins, K. E., & Marsick, V. J. (1992). Towards a Theory of Informal and Incidental Learning in Organizations. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 11(4), 287-300.

Watkins, K. E., Selden, G., & Marsick, V. J. (1997). Learning organizations. In R. Torraco (Ed.) Dimensions of the Learning Organization in family-run businesses. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual AHRD Conference. Baton Rouge, LA: AHRD.

Watkins, K. E., Yang, B., & Marsick, V. J. (1997). Measuring dimensions of the learning organization. In R. Torraco (Ed.) Proceedings of the Fourth Annual AHRD Conference. Baton Rouge, LA: AHRD.

Watkins, K., Ellinger, A., & Valentine, T. (1999). Understanding support for innovation in a large scale change effort: The manager-as-instructor approach. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 10 (1), 63-78..

Watkins, K., & Callahan, M. (1998). Return on knowledge assets: Investments in educational technology. Educational Technology, 38 (4), 33-40.

Watkins, K. (1995). Changing managers' defensive reasoning about work/family conflicts. Journal of Management Development, 14 (2), 77-88.

Watkins, K., & Golembiewski, R. (1995). Rethinking OD for the learning organization. International Journal for Organizational Analysis, 3 (1), 86-101.

Watkins, K., & Marsick, V. (1992). Building the learning organization: A new role for human resource developers. Studies in Continuing Education, 14 (2), 115-129.

Watkins, K., & Marsick, V. (1992). Toward a theory of informal and incidental learning in organizations. International Journal for Lifelong Learning, 7 (4), 287-300.

Watkins, K., & Marsick, V. (1996). (Eds.). In action: Creating the learning organization, Vol. 1. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

Watkins, K., & Marsick, V. (1993). Sculpting the learning organization: Consulting using action technologies. In S. Vernon & L. Zachary (Eds.), The adult educator as consultant. New Directions for Continuing Education Series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Learning Organization Web Resources:

http://www.tlainc.com/ifalcnf2.htm

http://educ.queensu.ca/~ar/#links

http://www.rootlearning.com/

http://www.brint.com/OrgLrng.htm

http://www.searchnet.org/

http://www.stanford.edu/group/SLOW/

http://commhum.mccneb.edu/PHILOS/senge.htm

http://www.albany.edu/~kl7686/learnorg.html

http://learning.mit.edu/

For Further Reading

Argyris, C., & Schön, D. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Argyris, C., & Schön, D. (1996). Organizational learning II: Theory, method, and practice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Argyris, C. (1985). Strategy, change and defensive routines. Cambridge, MA: Pitman Publishing.

Argyris, C. (1993). Knowledge for action: A guide to overcoming barriers to organizational change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Argyris, C., Putnam, R., & Smith, D. M. (1985). Action science. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (1991). Organizational learning and communities of practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovation. Organization Science, 2, 40-47.

Edmonson, A. C. (1996). Three faces of Eden: The persistence of competing theories and multiple diagnoses in organizational intervention research. Human Relations, 49 (5), 571-595.

Elmes, M. B., & Kasouf, C. J. (1995). Knowledge workers and organizational learning: Narratives from biotechnology. Management Learning, 26(4), 403-422.

Fiol, M, C., & Lyles, M. A. (1985). Organizational learning. Academy of Management Review, 10(4), 803-813.

Gephart, M. A., Marsick, V. J., Van Buren, M. E., & Spiro, M. S. (1996). Learning organizations come alive. Training & Development, 50 (12), 35 - 45.

Glynn, M. A., Milliken, F. J., & Lant, T. K. (1991). Learning about organizational learning: A critical review and research agenda. The Journal of Management Studies.

Hedberg, B. (1981). How organizations learn and unlearn. In Nystrom, P. C. & Starbuck, W. H. (Eds.), Handbook of Organizational Design, Vol. 1 (pp. 3-27). London: Oxford University Press.

Hedberg, B., Nystrom, P. C., and Starbuck, W. H. (1988). Camping on seesaws. Administrative Science Quarterly.

Huber, G. P. (1991). Organizational learning: The contributing processes and the literatures. Organization Science, 2 (1), 88-115.

Isaacs, W., & Senge, P. (1992). Overcoming limits to learning in computer-based learning environments. European Journal of Operational Research, 59, 183-196.

Kanter, R. M. (1989). When giants learn to dance. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Kaplan, R.S., & Norton, D.P, (1996). The balanced scorecard. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Lant, T. K., & Mezias, S. J. (1990). Managing discontinuous change: A simulation study of organizational learning and entrepreneurship. Strategic Management Journal, 11, 147-179.

Leonard-Barton, D. (1996). Wellsprings of knowledge. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Lynn, G. S., Morone, J. G., & Paulson, A. S. (1996). Marketing and discontinuous innovation: The probe and learn process. California Management Review, 38(3), 8-37.

March, J. G. (1991). Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organization Science, 2(1), 71-87.

March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1976). Ambiguity and choice in organizations. Norway: Universitetsforlaget.

Meyer, A. (1982). Adapting to environmental jolts. Administrative Science Quarterly, 27 (4), 515-537.

Miner, A. S., & Mezias, S. J. (1996). Ugly ducklings no more: Pasts and futures of organizational learning research. Organization Science, 7 (1), 88-99.

Moorman, C. (1995). Organizational market information processes: Cultural antecedents and new product outcomes. Journal of Marketing Research, 32, 318-335.

Nevis, E. D., DiBella, A. J., & Gould, J. M. (1995). Understanding organizations as learning systems. Sloan Management Review, 73-85.

Nonaka, I. (1994) A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organization Science, V (1), 14-37.

Nonaka, I, & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge creating company. New York: Oxford.

Pedler, M. (Ed.). (1983, Rev. 1990, Rev. 1997). Action learning in practice. Aldershot, Hants, U.K.: Gower.

Rheem, H. (1995). The learning organization: Building learning capability, Briefings from the editors. Harvard Business Review, 73 (2), 10.

Schein, Edgar H. (1991). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. NY: Doubleday Currency.

Sims, H. P., Jr., Gioia, D. A., & Associates. (1986). The thinking organization: Dynamics of organizational social cognition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Smith, K. K., & Berg, D. N. (1987). Paradoxes of group life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Zander, U., & Kogut, B. (1995). Knowledge and the speed of the transfer and imitation of organizational capabilities: An empirical test. Organization Science, 6 (1), 767-92.

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