Practical steps towards a learning organisation: applying academic knowledge to improvement and innovation in business processes

This paper outlines research currently being carried out at the Nottingham Trent University, in collaboration with a recently privatised utility. The aim of the research is to synthesise a learning process model from relevant learning theory, and from this, to derive a practical model, which can be used by organisations to facilitate individual, team and organisational learning, resulting in continuous improvement and innovation in business processes. The learning process model has been developed, and was the subject of an article in The Learning Organisation (Buckler, 1996). Workshops, based on the model, have been held, with groups of managers, and feedback from these has been used to assess the usefulness of the models in an organisational context. This process has resulted in the design of a series of six workshops which aims to help organisational management teams develop a deep understanding of the learning process. This will lay the foundations for a systemic approach to learning within the organisation, and a move towards the elusive learning organisation. Research is continuing, with further field trials of the workshops, which will provide insight into the links between individual, team and organisational learning, the relationships between learning and performance, systemic barriers to learning, and necessary leadership skills.