Building a learning organization 2600-MSMz2rpsBOU
Knowledge and learning in organizations
• types of knowledge
• knowledge as resource, constraint and product (Tuomi)
• practical intelligence (Sternberg) and tacit knowledge (Polanyi)
• knowledge, competences, intangible resources
• intellectual capital (Edvinsson and Malone)
• single and double loop learning (Argyris and Schön)
• organizational learning as "Fifth Discipline" (Senge)
Knowledge as resource
• key knowledge management processes (Probst, Rauch, Romhardt)
• codification strategy and its limitations
• importance of employee attitudes in knowledge management (organizational commitment, Meyer and
Allen)
• personalization strategy - importance of socialization, mentoring and teamwork
• boundary spanning individuals and theory of weak ties (Granovetter)
• valuation of intellectual capital (Edvinsson and Malone, Kaplan and Norton)
• benefits and limitations of Information Technology for knowledge management initiatives
Knowledge as constraint
• decisional biases (Tversky, Kahneman) and the influence of managerial perception on business strategies
• dominant management logic (Prahalad, Bettis)
• sources of business failures and learning from mistakes (Finkelstein)
• core competencies (Hamel, Prahalad) versus core rigidities (Leonard-Barton)
• political games (Mintzberg) and organizational myths (Kostera, Klincewicz)
• restrictions of rational decision making processes (Simon, March)
• neoinstitutionalism and organizational isomorphism (DiMaggio, Powell)
• bandwagon, consulting firms and management fashions (Abrahamson, Kieser, Klincewicz)
• organizational façades (Nystrom, Starbuck)
• espoused theories and theories-in-use (Argyris, Schön)
Systems dynamics
• system thinking and modern organizations (Lorenz, Forrester, Senge)
• “The Fifth Discipline” and system archetypes (Senge)
• diagnosing organizational problems
• modeling in organizational dynamics (use of computer software Vensim)
Knowledge as product
• creation of knowledge and R&D activities (Nonaka, Takeuchi)
• knowledge-based products
• knowledge workers and sources of their motivation (Drucker, Florida)
• creativity, inventions and innovativeness
• innovation management and technology transfer
• knowledge-based economy (Solow, Romer, Castells) and EU's strategy
• sectoral, regional and national innovation systems (Lundvall)
• creative class and 3T: technology, talent and tolerance (Florida)
Final case study and team project
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
Upon the completion of the course, a student can:
• Identify the examples of explicit and tacit knowledge in organizations
• Explain the benefits derived from managing knowledge
• Propose activities, contributing to knowledge codification and personalization strategies
• Indicate possible sources of decision biases
• Interpret relations in an organization based on the systems dynamics approach
• Explain the interdependencies in the system of innovation
• Prepare a proposal on behalf on a consulting firm
• Carry out a diagnosis of organizational problems related to human resource management and knowledge management
Assessment criteria
Consulting project - solution to the case study, prepared in groups of 3 to 5 students, representing fictional 'consulting firms'. The case study contains a 'request for proposals' (case materials and requirement definitions). The solution should be handed over at a defined, impassable deadline, indicated during classes and announced on the course website
• the project cannot be submitted later – in such cases, students fail the source and can retake it by taking a written test
• course grade results from either consulting project or test – it cannot be improved
Practical placement
-
Bibliography
Obligatory literature:
• Handouts including presentations, articles and case studies published on the course website
• Senge, Peter M. (1998), Piąta Dyscyplina. Teoria i praktyka organizacji uczących się, Dom Wydawniczy ABC, Warszawa (dostępne także wydanie II: Senge (2003), ~, Oficyna Ekonomiczna. Kraków
Supplementary literature:
• Edvinsson, Lei i Malone, Michael S. (2001), Kapitał intelektualny, PWN, Warszawa.
• Hamel, Gary i Prahalad, C.K. (1999), Przewaga konkurencyjna jutra. Strategie przejmowania kontroli nad branżą i tworzenie rynków przyszłości, Business Press, Warszawa.
• Jasiński, Andrzej H. (2006), Innowacje i transfer techniki w procesie transformacji, Difin, Warszawa.
• Matusiak, Krzysztof B. (red.) (2005), Innowacje i transfer technologii. Słownik pojęć, Polska Agencja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości, Warszawa, http://pliki.parp.gov.pl/wydaw/inn_transfer_tech/inn_transfer_tech.pdf
• Nonaka, Ikujiro i Takeuchi, Hirotaka (2000), Kreowanie wiedzy w organizacji, Poltext, Warszawa.
• Probst, Gilbert, Raub, Steffen i Romhardt, Kai (2002), Zarządzanie wiedzą w organizacji, Oficyna Ekonomiczna, Kraków.
• Tyszka, Tadeusz (2000), Psychologiczne pułapki oceniania i podejmowania decyzji, Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne, Gdańsk.
• Zimniewicz, Kazimierz (1999), Współczesne koncepcje i metody zarządzania, PWE, Warszawa.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: