Activity 5-By Angie

Activity 5:Applying an online survey in your workplace as an learning organization.

In order to realize the organization and “determine how well is performing with each building block” (Garvin etal., 2008), the survey was used and completed.

My organization-the industrial association belongs to the local governmental department-Industrial and Commercial Bureau. Due to its special status, the organization almost is in a monopolistic circumstance. However, there is a change from 2008. The individual companies could choose to handle their industrial and commercial yearly check, by themselves. This change made the staffs stressful. Although the leaders took some measures to train their staffs and publicized their advantages to do the industrial and commercial yearly check,

the effect was quite a little. Based on on-line survey, the following statement is the survey results and a concrete analysis.

As the figure 1 indicated, the overall scores of my organization are quite low. But, the scores of three building blocks are quite consistent. They are all in the bottom quartile, and at a comparative low place. These results showed that my organization does not function as a good learning organization.

Figure 1： Learning organization Scores Summary of Industrial Association

Following is the concrete analysis of every aspect in each building block. The scores of Figure 2 pointed the five subcomponents situation in the building block of “Concrete Learning Process and Practices”. There are four scores in the bottom quartile, and experimentation gets the lowest score among them. Apparently, my organization does not receive the new ways of working. On the other hand, the score of analysis is comparatively high and in a forward position in the third quartile. It is beyond my imagination, because I always assumed the analysis of my organization being bad. It reveals that the leaders need “to think about the degree to which people test assumptions, engage in productive debate, and seek out dissenting views” (Garvin etal., 2008).

Figure2： Scores of Subcomponents in Concrete Learning Process and Practices

In the third figure, there is an interesting situation. The score of “Openness to new ideals” is below the bottom quartile, while the “Time for reflection” is in the first quartile. Although the “Appreciation of difference” is in the bottom quartile, it is quite close the second quartile. Yet the “Psychological safety” is also in the bottom quartile, at a lower position.

The report by Garvin etal. (2008) pointed that “‘openness to new ideals’ and ‘Education and training’obvious links to organizational improvement and personal development ”. In fact, these two aspects are the most difficult problems my organization faced in currently. The staffs lack enough training and further education, and staffs always feel that they could not get the respects. Indeed, staffs are eager to self-improve.

The “Psychological safety” suggested that “employees must be comfortable expressing their thoughts about the work at hand” (Garvin etal., 2008). It implied that leaders need to create a supportive environment to encourage employees to express their own opinions. The current situation is that the leaders always dislike the different opinion, or seemingly accepted. However, there is a positive sign about that the leaders gradually began to realize the significance of the difference options and appreciate them, which led to the score of “Appreciation of difference” being close to the second quartile.

The score of “Time for reflection” is the highest among the all scores. “Supportive learning environments allow time for a pause in the action and encourage thoughtful review of the organizations’ process” (Garvin etal., 2008). In fact, as a governmental department, the organization has a good schedule and a series of rules about post-audits and reviews, which had a positive function of self-reflection.

Figure 3： Subcomponents of Supportive Learning Environment

In conclusion, it is clearly indicated that my association is not a good learning organization, and there many aspects need to be improved through analysis of the above three building blocks. Admittedly, the subcomponent of “Openness to new ideas” is one of the toughest problems. If the leaders will to receive the new ideas and put into practice, the overall performance may be obviously improved. Four principles from Garvin etal. (2008) are also suitable for my organization. The leaders need to be clearly aware of “leadership alone is insufficient; organizations are not monolithic; comparative performance is the critical scorecard; and learning is multidimensional” (Garvin etal., 2008). If leaders can transfer their working style from leader-orientation to employee-orientation, it is believed that the performance will be more effective, and the organization will gradually become a good learning organization.