Organisational Analysis

The argument whether or not organisational learning can be encouraged within a mechanistic or bureaucratic organisation is an increasingly relevant one. The potential benefits of organisational learning have seemingly been left unexplored in many organisations. It is my understanding, from research and my own personal experience of bureaucratic organisations, that fundamentally organisational learning is something that does not fit in with businesses that are structured and operated in a bureaucratic or mechanistic style, but this is not to say that it is impossible.

There are many differing definitions for organisational learning within literature (Curado, 2006), for the purposes of this essay the definition of Curado (2006) will be used which is that “Organisational learning is the improvement of the organisational knowledge base.” However I will also be considering the view of Fiol and Lyles (1985) that “Organizational learning means the process of improve actions through better knowledge and understanding.” Both of these definitions imply that organisational learning features knowledge as the main focus, and utilising it to better the position of the company overall. It has been argued by many different scholars within literature whether or not organisational learning defines the process of learning, or the organisation’s knowledge increasing (Curado, 2006). This essay will take both viewpoints into consideration in order to represent the differing views in literature.

The first area to consider when thinking about the implementation of organisational learning, within a mechanistic or bureaucratic organisation, is the structure itself. Upon first look, it becomes apparent that for organisational learning to take place, the str...

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