Action e-learning: An exploratory case study of action learning applied online

Abstract

Web-based instruction, also called e-learning, is currently one of the most talked-about education and training media. To prepare courses for online delivery and to maintain their effectiveness, the designer must have an understanding of e-learning instructional design principles. Action learning is a proven, effective management development process that has not been implemented to date as an e-learning instructional methodology. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to examine the impact of the action learning process on the effectiveness of management level web-based instruction (WBI). A leader-led, management-level course using face-to-face delivery was converted to web-based instruction where action learning was the delivery methodology. Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Evaluation served as the evaluation tool to determine effectiveness of the intervention. It was found that, though challenging to facilitate, the action learning online method is effective and yields changes in participants' knowledge. However, contrary to expectations, online learning communities did not form.     

A multilevel approach to building and leading learning organizations

A multilevel model is offered proposing that organizational learning is an interdependent system where effective leaders enact intervention strategies at the individual (micro), network (meso), and systems (macro) levels. We suggest that leaders approach organizational learning by setting the conditions and structure for learning to occur, while limiting direct interference in the actual creative processes. First, leaders may increase the level of developmental readiness of individual followers, thereby increasing their motivation and ability to approach learning experiences and adapt their mental models. These individuals then serve as catalysts of learning within and between social networks. Second, leaders may promote the diffusion of knowledge between these knowledge catalysts within and across social networks through influencing both the structure and functioning of knowledge networks. Finally, leaders may target actions at the systems level to improve the diffusion to, and institutionalization of, knowledge to the larger organization.     

Learning in and from projects: the learning modes and a learning capability model

Abstract

The notion of ‘project delivery’ is well embedded in and across the management and organizational sciences literature – generating a narrative that reflects and recognizes the instrumental nature of projects and programmes in strategy execution. Project management, as a distinct and well-established body of research enquiry, has increasingly sought to focus our attention on the impacts of complexity, risk and uncertainty in projects; the corollary being a desideratum to strengthen our theoretical understanding of how insight and learning from projects may influence improvements to organizational efficiency. The wider literature suggests that organizational learning remains a challenging proposition, particularly in the context of organizations operating in environments of high complexity. In this paper, we enhance the conversation on organizational learning through a series of case studies, generating evidence of thirteen ‘learning modes’. The paper proposes that mature organizations tend to exhibit a greater number of learning modes and that there is a tendency to capture and socialize knowledge with a greater emphasis on the context of the learning situation rather than the learning artefact in isolation. The empirical evidence gathered in this paper forms the basis of a capability model, characterized by the thirteen modes of learning. The model intimates that learning occurs, and is more effective, when knowledge and information are enacted in practice through the learning modes which form a nucleus of the organizational learning capability. The research concludes with a 'call to action' that emphasizes the strategic importance of learning practices and routines in project oriented-organizations.     

“造山”:以知识和学习为基础的企业的新逻辑

在知识经济时代经营的企业需有不同于以往任何时代的企业的新逻辑 .本文将这一新逻辑概括为以知识和学习为基础 ,并以地质史上的“造山运动”作比 ,对新企业观进行了全面框架性的研究 .新企业观的理论基础是知识与学习理论 ,新企业组织的典型模式是团队型组织 ,管理的实质在于通过知识的转化和联合获得能力提升 ,经营逻辑追求知识超越 ,从而全面回答了以知识和学习为基础的企业的主要特征     

Organizational learning and knowledge in public service organizations: A systematic review of the literature

This paper is a systematic review of the literature on organizational learning and knowledge with relevance to public service organizations. Organizational learning and knowledge are important to public sector organizations, which share complex external challenges with private organizations, but have different drivers and goals for knowledge. The evidence shows that the concepts of organizational learning and knowledge are under-researched in relation to the public sector and, importantly, this raises wider questions about the extent to which context is taken into consideration in terms of learning and knowledge more generally across all sectors. A dynamic model of organizational learning within and across organizational boundaries is developed that depends on four sets of factors: features of the source organization; features of the recipient organization; the characteristics of the relationship between organizations; and the environmental context. The review concludes, first, that defining 'organization' is an important element of understanding organizational learning and knowledge. Second, public organizations constitute an important, distinctive context for the study of organizational learning and knowledge. Third, there continues to be an over-reliance on the private sector as the principal source of theoretical understanding and empirical research and this is conceptually limiting for the understanding of organizational learning and knowledge. Fourth, differences as well as similarities between organizational sectors require conceptualization and research that acknowledge sector-specific aims, values and structures. Finally, it is concluded that frameworks for explaining processes of organizational learning at different levels need to be sufficiently dynamic and complex to accommodate public organizations.     

‘Talking the talk’ – a discursive approach to evaluating management development

Much evaluation practice is guided by a theoretical anachronism. Systematized and formulaic approaches of chain reaction models of evaluation are based on conceptions of management which are over 50 years old. This study presents an evaluation of a management development intervention which used evidence of discursive shift in learners as an indicator of attitudinal and behavioural change brought about by the learning programme. The approach taken characterizes the learning event and the evaluation process as interventions which have the capacity to help learners to shape their identity and in which language is a mediator of learning. The results of the study, which applies both quantitative and qualitative techniques, are used to argue in favour of the deployment of a model of evaluation which has a focus on social and relational aspects of a managers' role.     

An evaluation of social learning and learner outcomes in a massive open online course (MOOC): a healthcare sector case study

ABSTRACT

This paper responds to calls for new inquiries into the use of technology in HRD. We examine how, and to what extent, social media tools contribute to learner experiences and learner outcomes in an HRD intervention in a workplace context. We analyse qualitative and quantitative data relating to a massive open online course (MOOC) in a healthcare sector case study setting. We examine the interaction between the MOOC programme, social learning through social media tools and learner outcomes. The results of our evaluation show that usage of social media tools does not significantly affect knowledge outcomes but social media usage enhances affective outcomes. We conclude that social media tools can foster productive social learning processes. We also find evidence of some reluctance to engage with the technologies and declining patterns of interactivity using social media over the duration of the MOOC programme. We conclude that a more nuanced theorization to take account of personal and professional workplace context is necessary to explain how learners regulate their engagement with social media tools and the effect of social technologies for sustained social learning in HRD interventions.     

Organization and Work Situations: Which sources for the learning process?

ABSTRACT: The observation of economic activity grants an equally important place to learning as some recent theoretical problems. However, what is meant by learning, and what in the productive activity enables the application of the learning process? This paper examines the notion of learning, as far as the firm is concerned, putting the emphasis on two main directions. On one hand, learning is not only a dynamic but also a process: it is not only a matter of going from one point to another, but also a process of construction of knowledge and rules. On the other hand, this process must be understood as an articulation between individual and organizational learning.     

Accessing local knowledge: action learning and organizational learning in Walsall

This paper addresses a central question in organizational learning, namely: how can local knowledge be accessed to improve organizational direction, performance and learning (Argyris 1957; Argyris and Schon 1978, 1996; Kim 1993)? It is partly provoked by Nonaka and Takeuchi's (1995) claim, via their 'Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation', that the knowledge of individual members can be systematically accessed and harnessed for corporate benefit. A related focus concerns the practice of action learning within a whole systems perspective and how it may serve to support local actors and promote a mutual learning exchange with their organizational leaders. A case study from local government centres on a group of 'neighbourhood facilitators' pioneering community regeneration and local democracy in the Borough of Walsall in the UK's West Midlands. The experiences and learning of this group, together with their interactions and dialogue with the leadership of the initiative and with the wider political system, are used to draw some lessons for facilitating organizational learning. The paper concludes that this is a hard-won and far from predictable accomplishment and questions the apparently reproducible process proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi.     

组织知识转移与学习能力的系统研究

知识转移可以为组织带来比较竞争优势,而组织学习可以提高其对未来不确定环境的适应能力,因此,两者的共同作用可实现组织的持续成长.在回顾关于组织的重叠知识、知识转移以及学习的相关文献基础上,分析了重叠知识与组织知识转移,以及与组织学习的关系;从组织生态学角度构建了它们之间的关系模型,进一步论证了重叠知识可以充当优化知识转移效率与组织学习能力的调节器;最后给出了一些知识转移的管理寓意分析.     

The trend of blended learning in Taiwan: perceptions of HRD practitioners and implications for emerging competencies

The purpose of this study was to explore the status and future directions of blended learning in workplaces in Taiwan and to probe into emerging competencies of human resource development professionals. One hundred and twelve participants who worked in various types of organizations were surveyed. The survey results revealed that the most significant issue related to blended learning is a lack of understanding of what it is. Instructional strategies anticipated to be employed during the next few years included authentic cases, virtual teaming, problem-based learning and coaching. The technologies deemed useful were knowledge management technologies, cell phones and electronic books. When comparing different sizes of organizations, large enterprises were more likely to have adopted blended learning and to perceive diverse benefits related to blended learning. Based on these findings, we recommend additional professional development related to the design, development and evaluation of blended learning for practitioners in Taiwan.     

Knowledge recontextualization by returnee entrepreneurs: The dynamic learning perspective

Effective knowledge recontextualization is key to successful knowledge transfer in cross-cultural context. This paper explores how returnee entrepreneurs in Vietnam learn to recontextualize their overseas knowledge while establishing new ventures back in their home country. Our dynamic learning process model suggests that (1) in the pre-founding phase, an interactive vicarious learning and intuitive learning mechanism enables returnees to make sense of overseas knowledge; (2) during the founding phase, blended learning mechanism – the balancing act between market response versus market imposing - helps returnees manage the paradoxical cross cultural tension, importantly (3) in the growth phase, the cycling between unlearning and relearning helps them discard, select and recreate new knowledge in the pursuit of sustainable entrepreneurial growth. The study advances the literature on knowledge recontextualization by clarifying key underpinning learning mechanisms essential for ensuring “effectiveness” outcomes. It also contributes to the work on returnee entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning by demonstrating how international entrepreneurs learn overtime to thrive in a conflicting cultural context.     

MOOCs 平台学习使用影响因素研究——基于隐性和显性知识学习视角

随着信息化的快速发展, MOOCs平台为广大学习者提供了随时随地通过网络免费知识学习的机会.知识学习存在显性知识学习和隐性知识学习, 这两类知识对MOOCs学习使用效果发挥着极为重要的作用.基于知识学习理论及技术采纳理论, 对MOOCs平台学习使用影响因素进行了研究.通过1 752份问卷调查、数据分析发现, 显性知识下的网站设计要素和课程教学要素, 以及隐性知识下的认知隐性知识、技能隐性知识和社交隐性知识学习对MOOCs平台学习者使用存在显著正向影响;通过回归分析发现, 技能隐性知识和社交隐性知识学习的重要性明显高于课程教学相关要素以及网站设计这两类显性知识.基于研究和分析的结果, 可以为互联网环境下国家教育模式及相关产业的发展规划提供建议.     

Brokering knowledge: Linking learning and innovation

This paper presents a model of innovation, knowledge brokering, that explains how some organizations are able to routinely innovate by recombining their past knowledge in new ways. While existing theories of organizational learning and innovation are useful, the links between them are crucial for understanding how existing knowledge becomes the raw materials from which individuals in organizations construct innovative solutions. This model develops these links by grounding processes of learning and innovation in the larger social context within which they occur. Using a microsociological perspective, this article draws together research spanning levels of analysis to explain innovation as the dissembling and reassembling of extant ideas, artifacts, and people. Previous research has suggested that firms spanning multiple domains may innovate by moving ideas from where they are known to where they are not, in the process creating new combinations of existing ideas. This paper more fully develops this process by linking the cognitive, social, and structural activities it comprises. Knowledge brokering involves exploiting the preconditions for innovation that reside within the larger social structure by bridging multiple domains, learning about the resources within those domains, linking that knowledge to new situations, and finally building new networks around the innovations that emerge from the process. This article also considers the origins of knowledge brokers as firms committed to this innovation strategy, the structural and cultural supports for the knowledge brokering process, and several obstacles to the process that these firms experience. Finally, I discuss the implications of this model for further research on innovation and learning, and the implications for other organizations seeking to establish their own capabilities for brokering knowledge.     

Task partitioning in new product development teams: A knowledge and learning perspective

R&D alliances and outsourcing elements of the new product development process are now commonplace practices among many firms. However, little previous work has examined how these organizational choices influence project knowledge and learning. Based on a comparison of three new product development projects in the software industry, this paper examines how task partitioning in the project influences learning and knowledge development within the firm. The paper suggests that internal development projects encourage synthetic learning and development of architectural and tacit knowledge; in contrast, outsourcing and joint ventures encourage analytic learning and development of component and explicit knowledge.     

Knowledge versus learning in internationalization of offshoring activities in China: A case study

This paper deals with the role of existing knowledge in the learning process of the internationalizing organisation. Using an organisational routine approach to organisational knowledge, the paper explores the dual role of pre-existing knowledge in internationalisation. Organisational learning is guided by pre-existing knowledge but is also providing a hindrance to further knowledge development. Experiential learning may challenge existing assumptions in the firm which trigger organisational resistance. The empirical context of the study consists of two in-depth case studies of offshoring activities in China.     

When in Rome: Intercultural learning and implications for training

Learning requires acquiring and using knowledge. How do individuals acquire knowledge of another culture? How do they use this knowledge in order to operate proficiently in a new cultural setting? What kinds of training would foster intercultural learning? These questions have been addressed in many literatures of applied and basic research, featuring disparate concepts, methods and measures. In this paper, we review the insights from these different literatures. We note parallels among findings of survey research on immigrants, expatriate managers, and exchange students. We also draw on experiment-based research on learning to propose the cognitive processes involved in intercultural learning. In the first section, we focus on acquiring cultural knowledge, reviewing longstanding literatures on immigrant acculturation and expatriate adjustment investigating antecedents of intercultural adjustment and performance. In the second section, we focus on displaying proficiency, examining how newcomers to a cultural setting deploy their knowledge of it in order to adjust their behavior and judgments. We draw upon findings about individual differences and situational conditions that predict performance to suggest training for optimal use of cultural knowledge by adapting behaviors and judgments according to situational factors.     

基于知识管理的敏捷组织学习二维度模型框架

如何在知识管理先进思想的基础上,充分利用信息技术来促进组织学习,是当前企业管 理的主要研究问题之一. 在剖析了两个具有代表性的组织学习模型基础上,提出了一种基于知 识管理的敏捷组织学习二维度模型框架. 在该模型框架中,充分考虑了组织学习的核心内容, 并围绕学习主体和学习工具的互动关系,对组织学习过程进行了构建. 文章不仅详细给出了该 模型框架的建立过程以及实施要素、原则和方法,而且通过一个案例具体说明了该模型框架在 企业项目建设中的实际意义和应用价值.     

A learning vector quantization neural network model for the classification of industrial construction projects

In several key functional areas of contemporary engineering and management science, neural networks have steadily been gaining recognition as robust and reliable tools for classification problems. This paper describes a new application of the learning vector quantization neural network: the classification of the degree of modularization appropriate for the construction of an industrial facility. This neural network uses variables related to plant location, labor issues, organizational issues, plant characteristics, project risks, and environmental issues as inputs to perform the classification. The neural network training and performance evaluation is also discussed.     

Not more learning logs! A research based perspective on teaching reflective learning within HR professional education

The challenges of teaching reflective learning, whilst not peculiar to the HR profession, assume a poignancy given HR's claim to be the natural custodians of ‘all things learning’. The paper discusses the impact of attempts to enhance the reflective learning curriculum within one professional HR programme. Tensions in terms of the positioning of reflective learning within a predominantly functionalist management curriculum can, in part, be ameliorated. Developing a capability amongst students for reflective dialogue and careful construction of assessment work, for example, can enhance engagement with reflective learning rather than simply ‘knowing’ about it. More problematic is impact beyond the classroom. Research revealed ambivalence in respect of transfer and significance beyond the specifics of the professional programme. HR graduates need a capability that extends beyond individual reflective learning and into creating and supporting reflective learning in organizations. Herein lies the distinctive and fundamental challenge facing tutors of reflective learning within HR professional education.