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Introduction: Europe and the Learning Economy

Bengt‐Åke Lundvall and Daniele Archibugi

in The Globalizing Learning Economy

The emphasis in this book is on the ‘learning economy’ rather than the ‘knowledge‐based economy’ (as for example stressed by OECD), since the key to modern success is not so much as to have access to ... More

The emphasis in this book is on the ‘learning economy’ rather than the ‘knowledge‐based economy’ (as for example stressed by OECD), since the key to modern success is not so much as to have access to a stock of specialized knowledge, as to be able to learn rapidly and then forget when older ways of doing things get in the way of newer ways. It is argued that in Europe, the learning economy calls for new institutional set ups and new policies at the level of both the nation state and the European Union. The focus of the book is on how innovation policy needs to be designed in the new context. Some of the crucial aspects of the globalizing learning economy are illustrated by a simple model in which transformation pressure is linked to the ability to innovate and change, and to the cost and benefits of the change and their social and spatial distribution (which have become more uneven in the last decade). Since innovation is strongly related to competence building at the firm level, a second model is presented to illustrate the three sources that firms may draw on when building and renewing their competence (hiring and firing, internal competence building, networking and alliances); the building of a learning organization within the firm and its integration with strategies of internal competence building is then discussed, as is the role of trade unions.Less

Organizational Understandings: Rational, Learning, and Institutionalized Organization

in The Evaluation Society

This chapter introduces three different models that help in the study of evaluation from the viewpoint of organizational theory. These three models are the institutionalized organization, the ... More

This chapter introduces three different models that help in the study of evaluation from the viewpoint of organizational theory. These three models are the institutionalized organization, the rational organization, and the learning organization. The institutionalized organization provides important contrast to the ideals of the rational and learning organizations, while the rational organization gives a primary ideal for the very occurrence of organization within today's society. Finally, learning organization zeroes in on the ideal that most evaluators share.Less

Social Learning, Learning Organizations, and Adaptive Environmental Management

Bruce Mitchell

in Resource and Environmental Management: Third Edition

As outlined in chapter 1, complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity present challenges for resource and environmental management. In this chapter, three interrelated responses to deal with surprise, ... More

As outlined in chapter 1, complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity present challenges for resource and environmental management. In this chapter, three interrelated responses to deal with surprise, change, and wicked problems are examined: social learning, learning organizations, and adaptive environmental management. The characteristics of social learning and learning organizations are identified and reviewed. Then, basic ideas associated with adaptive environmental management are considered. Experience with applying adaptive environmental management is analyzed with regard to managing fish and wildlife, hydro-electricity production, and flood damage reduction in the Columbia River Basin in the United States. In her guest statement, Beate Ratter analyzes the collaborative approach to protecting the coastline of the EuropeanWalden Sea, shared by the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.Less

Learn or Die: Building a High-Performance Learning Organization

Edward D. Hess

in Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization

This book provides an actionable blueprint that makes use of science to build a leading-edge learning organization. More specifically, it explains how one can become a better and faster learner and ... More

This book provides an actionable blueprint that makes use of science to build a leading-edge learning organization. More specifically, it explains how one can become a better and faster learner and how to create an organization that is more adaptable and learns better and faster than the competition. It thus examines the process of learning from an individual and an organizational standpoint. From an individual perspective, it considers the cognitive, emotional, motivational, attitudinal, and behavioral factors that promote better learning. Organizationally, it looks at the kinds of structures, culture, leadership, employee learning behaviors, and human resource policies that are necessary to create an environment that fosters critical and innovative thinking, learning conversations, and collaboration. The book takes an indepth look at three exemplary learning organizations and the lessons they offer: Bridgewater Associates LP, Intuit Inc., and United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS).Less

Creating a Learning Environment

Edward D. Hess

in Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization

This chapter focuses on one key component of a High-Performance Learning Organization (HPLO): the right environment. Having the right people with the right learning mindsets is necessary but not ... More

This chapter focuses on one key component of a High-Performance Learning Organization (HPLO): the right environment. Having the right people with the right learning mindsets is necessary but not sufficient to be an HPLO. Those people need to be in the right environment that enables and promotes learning. The right environment is more than just having a learning culture; the culture has to be supported by an infrastructure that includes particular leadership behaviors, human resource policies and processes, and measurements and rewards that together enable and promote good learning behaviors. This chapter describes a systems approach to learning that focuses on enabling and driving learning behaviors at all levels of an organization: employees, managers, and leaders. It also presents research in education and business that helps further define some of the key ingredients of a good learning environment. Finally, it looks at two companies that are admired for their consistent high performance and innovation and which owe their success to high employee engagement and high learning: IDEO and W. L. Gore & Associates.Less

Social connections and lifelong learning

John Field

in Social capital and lifelong learning

This chapter examines the idea of both social capital and lifelong learning, and evaluates the relationship between them. It does so in the context of the notion of the learning society, along with ... More

This chapter examines the idea of both social capital and lifelong learning, and evaluates the relationship between them. It does so in the context of the notion of the learning society, along with such related ideas as the learning region, the learning city, and the learning organization. The chapter notes that what all these ideas have in common is the belief that the architecture of people's relationships with one another, and the quality of the learning they undertake, are fundamentally linked, and that the two can be harnessed to one another in a mutually beneficial manner. It provides an account of current debates over the social contexts of adult learning. Next, the chapter elaborates the concept of social capital, which has developed rapidly across the social sciences. It then analyses the ways in which social capital and adult learning might be related to one another. The chapter concludes by outlining a hypothetical taxonomy of possible relationships.Less

Bridgewater Associates, LP: Building a Learning “Machine”

Edward D. Hess

in Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization

This chapter examines how Bridgewater Associates LP has become a successful learning organization by focusing on the underlying fundamental principles and values on which the company's culture and ... More

This chapter examines how Bridgewater Associates LP has become a successful learning organization by focusing on the underlying fundamental principles and values on which the company's culture and learning processes were built. Based in Westport, Connecticut, Bridgewater is the largest hedge fund in the world, with more than $150 billion of funds under asset management for approximately 350 clients and a workforce of over 1,300 employees. The company was founded by Ray Dalio, who is still the controlling owner. This chapter considers the Bridgewater business model and Dalio's principles, including what he calls Radical Transparency and his conceptualization that systems and businesses can be thought of as machines. It also looks at people—the hiring, training, and measuring of employees and the personal transformation journey one goes through in adapting to the Bridgewater learning environment.Less

Learning: The Right People

Edward D. Hess

in Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization

This chapter focuses on one key component of a High-Performance Learning Organization: the right people. A learning organization needs employees who have the right motivation for and approach to ... More

This chapter focuses on one key component of a High-Performance Learning Organization: the right people. A learning organization needs employees who have the right motivation for and approach to learning—a learning mindset. Effective learning organizations hire and develop people who like to learn and who proactively seek to learn. Fostering learning by employees requires managers and leaders who are not only good learners themselves, but also are good learning facilitators (teachers) and role models. There has been significant research done over the last few decades on the characteristics of good learners. This chapter reviews some research on the characteristics of good learners and presents some of the science behind an individual's inclination and motivation to learn. It stresses the importance of hiring and training the right people and considers how meeting self-efficacy and self-determination needs enables learning.Less

Epilogue

Edward D. Hess

in Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization

This book concludes by reviewing some of the foundational points to keep in mind as you strive to build a learning organization. Learning basically is the process by which each one of us creates ... More

This book concludes by reviewing some of the foundational points to keep in mind as you strive to build a learning organization. Learning basically is the process by which each one of us creates meaningful stories about our world—with the aim of making these stories ever more accurate so that we can act ever more effectively. That process is enhanced by three mindsets. First, we have to accept the magnitude of our ignorance. Second, we must realize that everything we think we know is conditional and subject to change based on new evidence. Third, we have to define our self-worth by striving to be the best learner we can be—not by what we believe or think we know. Learning requires three good meta self-management skills: metacognition, metacommunication, and metaemotions. All of this applies both to individual and organizational learning. Finally, consistent high performance requires both high employee accountability and high employee emotional engagement.Less

Learning: How Our Mind Works

Edward D. Hess

in Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization

This chapter explores the nature of learning by focusing on how our mind works. It first provides an overview of the relationship between learning and cognition before discussing how learning skills ... More

This chapter explores the nature of learning by focusing on how our mind works. It first provides an overview of the relationship between learning and cognition before discussing how learning skills are improved through intentional practice with contemporaneous feedback that focuses on improving specific weaknesses. It then considers metacognition, the process of managing how we think, and how we can better control our thinking. It also evaluates the negative effects of ego and fear on learning and concludes by emphasizing the need to understand how people learn, as well as what environmental factors promote and inhibit learning, and embed them in the design and operation of a learning organization.Less

Learning Conversations

Edward D. Hess

in Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization

This chapter focuses on one key component of a High-Performance Learning Organization (HPLO): the right processes, specifically the right kind of communication processes. Learning, critical thinking, ... More

This chapter focuses on one key component of a High-Performance Learning Organization (HPLO): the right processes, specifically the right kind of communication processes. Learning, critical thinking, and creative/innovative thinking can best be achieved when facilitated by teachers and others we trust, and in a work environment by mentors, managers, leaders, and teammates. This is especially true when dealing with new situations, uncertainty, or ambiguity. Learning is a team sport. That is why effective learning conversations are so important. This chapter examines what makes learning conversations so difficult and describes good learning conversations that it calls “System 2 conversations.” Such conversations are a higher level of talking or conversing called “dialogue.” High-quality connections at work help build the kind of relationships that enable System 2 learning conversations.Less

Emotions: The Myth of Rationality

Edward D. Hess

in Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization

This chapter examines how and when we need to mitigate the negative effects that emotions can have on our thinking, collaborating, and learning. Research has shown that emotion and cognition jointly ... More

This chapter examines how and when we need to mitigate the negative effects that emotions can have on our thinking, collaborating, and learning. Research has shown that emotion and cognition jointly contribute to the control of mental activities and behavior. When it comes to decision making, we should be considering the interaction of our cognition and our emotions, rather than expecting to use only the former and completely ignoring the latter. According to leading neuroscientists Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and Antonio Damasio, the interaction of emotions and rational thought processes gives emotions a potent modifying role in how we see the world, learn, and make decisions. They call this interaction “emotional thought.” The processes of individual learning and the processes necessary to become a learning organization are much more complicated than just learning to think better and to make better decisions. Rather than rejecting the role of emotions in our so-called disembodied rationality, we must acknowledge and manage them to have better outcomes.Less

Improvement Methods for Human Service Organizations

Thomas Packard

in Organizational Change for the Human Services

A number of methods for improving organizational operations are becoming more common in human service organizations. Capacity building typically addresses enhancing management systems capacity in ... More

A number of methods for improving organizational operations are becoming more common in human service organizations. Capacity building typically addresses enhancing management systems capacity in areas such as strategic planning, information systems, and fund development. Benchmarking and best practices are tools that can be used at the level of the entire organization or for specific service delivery practices to search for models that can be adapted to one’s own organization. Implementing evidence-based practices, known broadly as implementation science, is a very common organizational change challenge for human service organizations these days. Formal evidence-based practice implementation methods for human service organizations include the exploration, adoption/preparation, implementation, and sustainment model and the work of the National Implementation Research Network. Organizational learning and learning organization principles are become increasingly better known in human service organizations and actually represent an arena of organizational change that can help organizations develop ongoing methods for continuous improvement.Less

Building on the Work of Ackoff, Deming, and Fromm

Michael Maccoby

in Strategic Intelligence: Conceptual Tools for Leading Change

Building on the contributions of Ackoff, Deming, and Fromm, we can describe great organizations. Great organizations are works of performing art. Learning organizations survive and maintain ... More

Building on the contributions of Ackoff, Deming, and Fromm, we can describe great organizations. Great organizations are works of performing art. Learning organizations survive and maintain profitability by adapting to change. They are learning organizations with the purpose of improving their customers’ quality of life and/or improving their capability. They develop people at work, their competence, and character. They work to continually improve their social and environmental impact. If successful, great organizations will attract the most talented young people and become the model for education to shape the social character.Less

Gaining Insight: Marketing Research for Competitive Advantage

Stacy Landreth Grau

in Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations: Insights and Innovations

Chapter 5 covers the fundamentals of marketing research. Research is vitally important to organizations, but it is not something many nonprofit organizations feel they can easily afford. This chapter ... More

Chapter 5 covers the fundamentals of marketing research. Research is vitally important to organizations, but it is not something many nonprofit organizations feel they can easily afford. This chapter outlines the process so that organizations can do it themselves or know enough to ask the right questions of others doing research for them. This chapter covers the various types of research and the advantages and disadvantages of each. It includes why to do marketing research and what types of questions should be asked. It also includes the role of the Internet—with social media in particular—as important avenues for research and insights. The chapter also includes a section on becoming a learning organization by putting these insights to systemic use.Less

Critical Thinking Tools

Edward D. Hess

in Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization

This chapter focuses on critical thinking tools as part of the right processes, which in turn are a key component of a High-Performance Learning Organization. It considers the impact of our humanness ... More

This chapter focuses on critical thinking tools as part of the right processes, which in turn are a key component of a High-Performance Learning Organization. It considers the impact of our humanness on our critical thinking abilities, along with tools developed and applied in real world situations that mitigate against the usual weaknesses in our thinking. It looks at some “tools” or processes that address four purposes: slowing down our reflexive, habitual way of thinking so we can appropriately think more deliberately and deeply; increasing the probability that we will attend to disconfirming data by priming ourselves to be more open to it; helping us unpack the assumptions underlying our beliefs so we can subject them to rigorous testing; and helping us continuously learn from the results of our decisions and actions. These tools include Dr. Gary Klein's Recognition-Primed Decision model, PreMortem tool, and Klein's “insight” process. Another tool is the U.S. Army's After Action Review.Less