6. Learning from Experience

Question 1

Organisational Learning

Answer 1

• shapeless, lifeless and formless entities
• requires systems and processes to be put in place
• collecting, reflecting and sharing information to improve their performance
• methods: single and double loop learning, learning organisations and analytics

Question 2

Single Loop Learning

Answer 2

repeated attempts at the same problem with no variation of method and without ever questioning the goal
- doing things right

Question 3

Double Loop Learning

Answer 3

having attempted to achieve the goal on various occasions, to modify the goal in light f experience or possibly even reject it

• constantly challenging the assumptions and goals about the world (for potential transformative changes)
• doing the right thing

Question 4

Difficulties in Double Loop Learning [SBP]

Answer 4

Status Quo Bias

• required to challenge and question business models and organisational assumptions
• managers think they are always right since they have experience

Bandwidth
- managers are not given enough time and resources to think about the bigger issues and implement fundamental changes

Power and Social Equation Dynamics

• lack of power and authority to implement changes (balance of top down and bottom up approach)
• system-wide change is necessary

Question 5

Creation of Learning Organisations

Answer 5

• recognise that learning is a system-level phenomenon (knowledge management and codification; actionable intelligence)
• to institutionalise knowledge and making sure it stays in the system even when people come and go
• learning organisations = learning orientations + facilitating factors

Question 6

Learning Organisations: 3 Stages of Learning

Answer 6

Knowledge Acquisition

• development or creation of skills, insights, relationships
• through discussions, surveys, interviews, etc

Knowledge Sharing
- dissemination of what has been learnt

Knowledge Utilisation

• integration of learning so it is broadly available and can be generalised into new situations
• inscribing knowledge into organisational processes

Question 7

Learning Organisations: Assumptions [CALF]

Answer 7

• learning conforms to culture (the need to pose a learning method that is relevant to your culture)
• all organisations are adaptive learning systems (with well-developed core competencies, continuous learning attitude and the ability to renew and revitalise)
• style varies between learning systems (depends on learning orientations)
• generic processes that facilitates learning (facilitating factors, always enhanced regardless of learning orientations)

Question 8

Learning Organisations: Learning Orientations

[1 source, 4 focus, 2 modes]

Answer 8

Values and practices that reflect where learning takes place and the nature of what is learnt (highly contextualised to operating climate)

• knowledge source: internal vs external; innovate vs imitate
• product-process focus: accumulation of knowledge about what products are vs the process of developing products and services
• learning focus: incremental vs transformational; corrective learning vs transformative/ radical learning
• value chain focus: design vs deliver
• skill development focus: individual vs group
• documentation mode: personal vs public knowledge
• dissemination mode: formal vs informal

Question 9

Learning Organisations: Facilitating Factors [O LEVElS]

Answer 9

Structures and Processes that affect the difficulty in learning to occur and the amount of effective learning that takes place

• *climate of openness
• *involved leadership
• *experimental mindset
• *operational variety
• *continuing education
• *systems perspective
• scanning imperative
• performance gap
• concern for measurement
• multiple advocates

Question 10

Analytics 1.0

Answer 10

The era of business intelligence

Data - rudimentary, sourced in-house

• about production processes
• small and static data sets

Outcome - objective, deep understanding of important business phenomena; give managers the fact-based comprehension to go beyond intuition

• no predictions, no explanation
• descriptive analysis

Skills - more time was spent preparing for analysis than the analysis itself; low computing and analytical power

Question 11

Analytics 2.0

Answer 11

The era of big data

Data - generated in-house, sourced externally

• the help of the internet
• large data sets

Outcome - to build models and make sense of data to transform to strategy

• predictive analysis
• analyse data quicky

Skills

• the need for new methods
• the need for data scientists: computational and analytical skills
• to generate, curate and consolidate data vs to interpret

Question 12

Analytics 3.0

Answer 12

The era of data-enriched offerings

Data

• everywhere due to the Internet of Things
• seamless integration of data into our lives and decisions
• online footprint

Outcome

• generate algorithms to analyse browsing patterns
• information providers –> insight providers
• for enriched offerings: the benefit of the customer and for creating more valuable products and services

Skills

• prescriptive analysis: foresees what will happen, when it will happen and explains why it will happen
• provides recommendations on how to act upon it in order to take advantage of predictions
• modelling

Question 13

Challenges in Big Data Analysis [D-HHAM]

Answer 13

Figuring out which data to use

• mixed-method analysis of quantitative and qualitative data
• quantitative: strength and direction of relationship
• qualitative: underlying explanations of those relationships

The need for a hypothesis

• to give a direction and focus, but also need to let data speak for itself
• balancing between direction and exploration

Balancing data with a human touch

Transforming data into actionable plans

Analytics and Modelling
- specialised training is required