HBR on Knowledge Mgmt
Chapters 1-3
Joey DeBono
Carolyn Coolidge
AGENDA

Chapter Introductions

Questions
• Assumptions
• Overview, details and examples
HBR Chapters 1-3
The Coming of the New Organization
• Peter F. Drucker, Jan 01, 1988
The Knowledge-Creating Company
• Ikujiro Nonaka, Nov 01, 1991
Building A Learning Organization
• David A. Garvin, Jul 01, 1993
HBR Chapters 1-3
The Coming of the New Organization
• Peter F. Drucker, Jan 01, 1988
The Coming of the New Organization
Peter F. Drucker, Jan 1988
Premise

Identifying
organizational
trends
The Coming of the New Organization
Peter F. Drucker, Jan 1988
Assumptions
•
•
•
Specialization
Changes in
management
Cross-discipline (function) task forces
(teams)
The Coming of the New Organization
Peter F. Drucker, Jan 1988
Examples
• Symphony Orchestra
• Hospitals
• British administration
in India
The Coming of the New Organization
Peter F. Drucker
Future Steps
• Management issues of Motivation/Reward
• Need for unified vision
• Management structure with Task Force Teams
• Top Management supply, prep, testing
HBR Chapters 1-3
The Knowledge-Creating Company
• Ikujiro Nonaka, Nov 01, 1991
The Knowledge-Creating Company
Ikujiro Nonaka, Nov 1991
• Uncertainty

Competitive advantage = Knowledge
The Knowledge-Creating Company
Ikujiro Nonaka, Nov 1991
Japanese Management Styles
•
Tapping tacit insights (soft…)
•
Redundancy
The Knowledge-Creating Company
Ikujiro Nonaka, Nov 1991
Japanese Management Styles
•
•
Slogans, metaphors
Analogies, symbols
HBR Chapters 1-3
Building A Learning
Organization
• David A. Garvin,
•
Jul 01, 1993
Building a Learning
Organization
Definitions
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993


What is a Learning Organization?
•
•
Peter Senge, the Fifth Discipline
5 component technologies
• Systems thinking
• Personal mastery
• Mental models
• Shared vision
• Team learning
Behavior v. Thinking
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

What is a Learning Organization?
• … an organization skilled at creating, acquiring,
and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its
behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights.
p51

5 Definitions of Organizational Learning, p77
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
Chronologically:
“Organizational learning is a process of
detecting and correcting error.” Chris
Argyris, 1977.
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
“Organizational learning means the
process of improving actions through
better knowledge and understanding.”
C. Marlene Fiol & Margorie A. Lyles,
1985.
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
“Organizations are seen as learning by
encoding inferences from history into
routines that guide behavior.” Barbara
Levitt & James G. March, 1988.
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
“Organizational learning occurs through
shared insights, knowledge and mental
models . . . [and] builds on past
knowledge and experience—that is, on
memory.” Ray Stata, 1989.
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
“An entity learns if, through its
processing of information, the range of
its potential behaviors is changed.”
George P. Huber, 1991.
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

Suspend disbelief and assume:
• … an organization skilled at creating, acquiring,
and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its
behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights.
p51
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
A: In the absence of learning,
 companies—and individuals—simply
repeat old practices.

change remains cosmetic, and
improvements are either fortuitous or
short-lived.
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
A: Learning  Improvement
180

3 M’s
• Meaning
• Management
• Measurement
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

A: “if you can’t measure it, you can’t
manage it [sic].” p70
• Current tools reveal little about sources of
learning or the levers of change
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
Learning Organization Skills
• Systematic Problem-solving
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
Learning Organization Skills
• Systematic Problem-solving
• Experimentation (new approaches)
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
Learning Organization Skills
• Systematic Problem-solving
• Experimentation (new approaches)
• Learning from past experience
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
Learning Organization Skills
• Systematic Problem-solving
• Experimentation (new approaches)
• Learning from past experience
• Learning from best practices (of others)
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
Learning Organization Skills
• Systematic Problem-solving
• Experimentation (new approaches)
• Learning from past experience
• Learning from best practices (of others)
• Knowledge transference
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

Measurement

How to Build a Learning Organization
• Slowly
• Cultivate cultural attitudes
• Commitment
• Mgmt processes accrued slowly/steadily
Building a Learning
Organization
Measurement
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

Assume traditional maxim: “if you can’t
measure it, you can’t manage it.” p70
•
Traditional measuring tools: learning curves,
manufacturing progress functions
• Incomplete: single-measure of output
• Focused on cost or price
• Ignoring quality, delivery, new product introductions
•
Tell little about sources of learning or the levers of
change
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

New[er] Measure p72
• Half-life cycle
• Developed by Analog Devices
• Measures the time it takes to achieve a 50%
improvement in a specified performance measure.
• Weakness:
focuses solely on results
• Unlikely to capture short-run learning
• Systemic changes are long-run, e.g. total quality
culture, or new approaches to product develop.
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

Measurement

How to Build a Learning Organization
Building a Learning
Organization
Building
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993
How to Build a Learning Organization
• Slowly
• Cultivate cultural attitudes
• Trust
• Commitment
• Mgmt processes accrue slowly/steadily
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

An Organization’s Learning Trace p73
• Three over-lapping stages
• Cognitive
• Behavioral
• Performance improvement
• Suggested capture tools (surveys, et al.)
• e.g., Mystery Shopper
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

Foster
environment
conducive to
learning

Open up
boundaries
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

Create Learning forums
Building a Learning Organization
David A. Garvin, Jul 1993

Shift focus toward a commitment to learning
HBR Chapters 1-3
Questions?