by Catherine Leahy

Created on: April 18, 2008

Over the last twenty years the way people work has changed considerably, we no longer expect a secure job for life as downsizing and outsourcing have become standard practices for companies looking to attain competitive advantage. Nowadays the worker is expected to contribute more for less in the knowledge economy, where, in the developed world, we add value through the intangible knowledge we bring to products and services rather than through tangibles such as materials or lower prices. This is evident in our designer culture where what we are paying for are intangible attributes such as coolness' or improved design. In this economy the manager has to encourage more from the employee than merely showing up on time and doing what he or she is told. Nowadays we are hearing more and more about the learning organization and this is a useful concept to look at in exploring ways to achieve the maximum value from the workforce.

According to Senge who popularized the concept in the 1990s the learning organization is one in which learning is an integral part of the entire organization as a whole. The aim is to create and maintain knowledge rather than simply stocks and shares. In theories of the learning organization the organization is seen as a living organism that can learn and that has memory to store and access the knowledge it has. Just like human memory it is made up of invisible networks and interrelationships and is a complex living system in which the whole is the sum of all its parts. In this concept the employees are central to the effective working of the organization, there is a greater emphasis on people in companies who are vital for the organization's competitiveness. Using human resources effectively is now the key to success for businesses in the developed world as change is increasingly necessary to remain competitive. Change relies on the people who are the lifeblood of the organization and the learning organization is one of the concepts used to show how people can be used more effectively by organizations in order to continually change and grow.

What is a learning organization?
Learning is comprised or several elements, there is data or units recorded, information which is that data in a context that gives it meaning, knowledge which explains what can be created from the information, the what when and how. Finally there is wisdom which involves a deeper understanding of the why. According to Peter Senge a learning organization is one in which the

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