[u05a2] Unit 5 Assignment 2, The Learning Organization

OBJECTIVES
To successfully complete this learning unit, you will be expected to: Apply the principles of organization design to real-world examples. Reflect on current challenges and opportunities in the practice of designing organizations. Explain how organization members engage in learning through a collaborative sense-making process to enhance performance.

Readings: Use your Designing Organizations text to complete the following: Read Chapter 11, “The Value-Adding Conglomerates,” pages 235–254. Read Chapter 12, “Synergy Portfolio Strategies,” pages 255–283. Read Chapter 13, “Organizational Design Challenges,” pages 286–299. Reading Reflection Paper 5:

Resources:
Website icon Reading Reflection Paper 5 Scoring Guide. Website icon APA Style and Format. Note: Complete this unit’s first discussion before you start working on this assignment.

Overview
Like people, healthy organizations learn. An organization becomes a learning organization when it develops processes, systems, and human resources that are capable of sharing knowledge, innovating continuously, and benefitting from mistakes and failures as well as successes. This process leads to a corporate mindset of continuous improvement, always striving for perfection along the way, while understanding that perfection is a state that will never be fully achieved. For this assignment, you will gather ideas and examples about what a learning organization is and how it works.

Instructions
Research the Capella library for articles on the concept of a learning organization. In a 1–2-page paper:

Explain what a learning organization is.
Describe at least three ways that an organization might learn.
Describe the benefits of an organization being a learning organization.
Describe any disadvantages to an organization being a learning organization.

Submission Requirements: Your paper should meet the following requirements: Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message. APA format: Resources and citations should be in current APA format. Be sure to include title and reference pages. Length: 2–3 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title and reference pages. Font and font size: Arial, 11 point.