Wednesday, January 29, 2020
The Sense in Organisational Learning, Knowing and Sense making Essay Example for Free
The Sense in Organisational Learning, Knowing and Sense making Essay Experience in Learning            Learning is the acquisition of knowledge, ideas, concepts, experience and any other kind of element that can be acquired. Learning is the retention of knowledge. It is also a skill such as using tools, creating crafts or simply driving a car. Learning involves practice. Practice is a way of retaining learning. But most of all, learning is a change in behaviour.            As far as I could remember, I learned to walk, speak and do many types of activities in the house by the acquisition of these knowledge and experiences. Either I would learn by following and mimicking gestures that the elder people would show me or I would engage into the experience of the concept. For example, I learned not to run fast down the stairs because one time that I did, I fell three flights and bumped my head. I learned how to remember the names of many relatives by repeatedly seeing them in family gatherings. Conversing with these people required me to utter their names and so that helped me remember their names and how I was related to them.            As I entered formal learning, other tools where available for me to increase knowledge and experience. Reading books was a way to learn how to know things. Before operating machines such as household appliances or laboratory machines, it is imperative to read instruction manuals so that I could transform myself into someone who did not know how to operate the machine into someone who knew how. And therefore there was a definite change in behaviour because of this. Learning things on your own is different when learning inside an organization. Experience in Participating in an Organization            There are two general kinds of participants in an organization or in a group endeavour. One can either be an active or a passive participant. Active participation involves doing different roles at different times depending on the need of the organization. In group discussions for example, one can be an initiator, regulator, informer, supporter or an evaluator. All these roles must be found in the whole group embodied by its participants in order for the group to develop and evolve its visions.            Another insight I gathered from participating in organizations is that one can learn fully if one keeps an open mind and heart. Each participant has his unique person moulded from a definitive history. Each person has his own ideas and learning style. If participants do not cooperate in the organizations, it will be harder to achieve objectives. Sometimes, participating in an organization requires one to compromise some comfort zones. There will be moments when a co-participants’ idea does not match your own. Sometimes, this will be cause of conflict. However, after the exchange and debate on the idea, conflict is soon resolved. Even at times when breakdown of the organization occurs, this will also signify that the conflict was resolved.            I cannot be half part of an organization. Participation in an organization must be whole for it to be worthwhile. Being a part of an organization means adhering to its vision, mission and goals. If a person cannot embrace the organization’s objectives, then his participation will be futile. From what I observed, when organizations have members that are half believers of the organization’s goals, their participation in the organization are half done as well. Their motivations to act on the organization’s needs are also superficial and the tendency to protect one’s self interest over the group’s interest is stronger. Four Learning Theories            Learning whether it involves an individual or a group is possible. Four theories of learning guide many teachers, managers and leaders into helping their constituents acquire knowledge and experience. The behaviourists, cognitive, humanist and situational orientation of learning are four theories that have been developed in the field of learning. The Behaviourist theory developed by practitioners of psychology believes that a person learns according to how the environment gives it instructions. Experimental procedures have been used to study behaviour in this discourse.            The Cognitive orientation does not believe so. Scholars of the cognitive theory believe that the individual learns due to its mental abilities. The process of knowing or â€Å"cognition†was the one leading the act of learning therefore learning relied much on an individual’s thinking capacity. The Humanist approach followed a certain process of growth patterned from human growth. Learning for these theorists involves a person’s evolution of needs that Maslow and Rogers have defined. The Situational orientation in learning relies on the involvement of a person to different community events and practices. Through individual’s participation to these frameworks, learning is experienced and thereby achieved. The Organization’s capability of learning, sensing and knowing            The individuals that constitute the organization bring all their learning abilities into the organization thereby helping the organization achieve goals. When organizations are able to achieve their goals, learning, sense making and knowledge achieved is not only claimed by each participant in the organization but the organization as a single entity as well.            Organizational knowing creates three kinds of knowledge. Tacit knowledge is found the experience and expertise of participants. Explicit knowledge is visualized as rules and routines that participants undergo. Cultural knowledge can be found in the organization’s assumptions, beliefs and values. The ‘corporate culture’ idiom has been coined due to the effort to package cultural knowledge of the organization so that it can be taught to employees. New knowledge is achieved by sharing and integrating these three types of knowledge. With new knowledge, the organization has the capacity to act on decisions that help the organization transform their potentials. Although new alternatives are achieved, new uncertainties are also acquired but essential to the organization’s ability to form new knowledge is the capacity of the organization to evolve facing challenges of its industry and ever changing environment. â€Å"The central argument is that any organization is the way it runs through the processes of organizing This means that we must define organization in terms of organizing. Organizing consists of the resolving of equivocality in an enacted environment by means of interlocked behaviors embedded in conditionally related processes. To summarize these components in a less terse manner, organizing is directed toward information processing in general, and more specifically, toward removing equivocality from informational inputs.†(Weick 1979:90-91)            Besides knowledge making, the organization also goes through the process of sense making. If decision making leads to decisions, sense making leads to the sense of the organizations’ existence of its decisions thereby breaking all kinds of elements that leads to ambiguity and confusion in the organizations’ processes. Sense making is essentially answering Weick’s question, â€Å"How can I know what I think until I see what I say?†. â€Å"In dealing with organizational issues, sense making requires us to look for explanations and answers in terms of how people see things rather than rather than structures or systems. Sense making suggests that organizational issues strategies, breakdowns, change, goals, plans, tasks, teams, and so on are not things that one can find out in the world or that exist in the organization. Rather, their source is peoples way of thinking.†(Universiteit Twente, 2004)            Sense making is a better tool in arriving at information for use in the workplace. Studies have proved that sense making has been successful in understanding deaf culture, in reflective thinking in the nursing practice, has been experienced in media education in classrooms with students, and proven beneficial for hard discourses such as sexism, racism and the like.            While Weick emphasize sense making in the retroactive context, Gioia and Mehra deemed the importance of prospective sense making as well. These two approaches further cement the invaluability of sense making in organizations. Each time that participants work towards a common goal, they are compelled to gather past knowledge, experience and facts, make sense out of it collaboratively to learn a new tool that will help the organization achieve their prospects that they envision in the future. Conceptualization of the future in organizations therefore is facilitated by sense making.            In this light, sense making further becomes a strategic tool that helps organizations articulate their common visions which can be called prospective ‘sense-giving’ while the tools that helps organizations decipher differences in actions so the that their selection may work well for their group can be termed as retrospective â€Å"sense-discovering†. Furthermore, the notion of sense making being partly deliberate and part emergent makes it a powerful tool for organization management, leadership and organizational learning. At best, sense making is an on-going process much like what learning is. There is no limit to learning. The fact that man has yet to use 97% of his brain capacity, that there is much need for compassion in the world tells many scholars that there is much sense in the notion of sense-making. Summary            Learning is the ability that sets man apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Although there is learning in other animal species, organizational learning has captured man’s ability to prove himself as an intelligent animal in the social context. When a person enters and organization, he sets himself as a member of a whole. As a participant of the whole, the individual synergizes his learning capacities, styles and objectives with other members of the whole. Learning of the individual found in the whole is made possible only if the organization is able to learn first.            With the learning tools of sense making, the organization is able to form new knowledge. The knowledge formed has characteristics not found in individual learning. The knowledge formed from sense making in organizations hold both retrospective and prospective senses of the organization as a whole. Elements that form this knowledge is derived from the collective behaviour, cognition, experience and growth patterns of each individual making the collective acquire its own behaviour, experience, growth pattern and intelligence.            Reflecting on my own learning capacities including development of my own senses, I can prepare myself as I become a part of an organization. Many people enter organizations thinking that they are social institutions fully inorganic. With further understanding of sense making, I have become fully aware that organizations are alive because not only do they reproduce (forming other sub organizations, become global organizations and multinationals), react to stimulus (such as currency fluctuations, technological breakthroughs), grows (such as increase in revenue, increase in employees), they also essentially learn, produce knowledge and ultimately try to make sense in this world. References: Argyris, C. and Schon, D. (1978) Organizational Learning: a theory of action perspective, Addison-Wesley, Reading MA. Brookfield, S. (1987) Developing Critical Thinkers: Challenging Adults to Explore Alternative Ways of Thinking and Acting, Open University Press, Milton Keynes. Burke, P. (2000) A Social History of Knowledge, Polity Press, Cambridge. Choo, Chun Wei (2006) The Knowing Organization: How organizations use information to construct meaning, create knowledge and make decisions, Oxford Uni. Press, Oxford. Dimitrov, V., Kuhn, L. and Woog, R. (2002) Complexity Thinking: A Catalyst for Creativity, School of Social Ecology and Lifelong Learning, UWS Printery. Easterby-Smith, M., Burgoyne, J. and Araujo, L. (1999) (Eds.). Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization: developments in theory and practice, London, Sage. Field, L. and Ford, B. (1995) Managing Organizational Learning: From Rhetoric to Reality, Longman, Melbourne. Fitzgerald, A. and Teal, G. (2003) Organizational Learning and Development Reader, Mc Graw-Hill, North Ryde. Fineman, S., Sims D.and Gabriel, Y. (2006) Organizing and Organizations, SAGE Pub., London. Flood, R.L. (1999) Rethinking the fifth discipline: Learning with the unknowable. Routledge, New York. Foley, G. (Ed) (1995) Understanding adult education and training, Allen Unwin, St Leonards, NSW Glassop, L. and Waddell, D. (2005) Managing the Family Business, Heidelberg Press, Heidelberg, Victoria. Harvard Business Review (2001) Organizational Learning. McGraw-Hill, New York. Lassey, P. (1998) Developing a Learning Organization, Kogan Page, London. Nonaka, I. (1991) The Knowledge Creating Company, Harvard Business School Press, Boston. Pearn, M., Roderick, C., Mulrooney, C. (1995) Learning organizations in practice. McGraw-Hill, London. Polanyi, M. (1962) Personal Knowing; Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy, University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Senge, P. (1992) Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Random House, Milsons Point. Senge, P., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Smith, B. (1994). The fifth discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization, Double Bay Dell Publishing, New York. Senge, P. (1999) The dance of change: the challenges of sustaining momentum in learning organizations, Random House, Milsons Point. Shaw, P. (2002) Changing the Conversations in Organizations London: Routledge. Stacey, R., Griffin, D. and Shaw, P. (2000) Complexity and Management, London: Routledge. Stacey, R. (1996) Complexity and Creativity in Organizations, San Francisco: Berret-Koehler. Summers, J. and Smith, B. (2004) Communication Skills Handbook, Wiley and Sons, Milton, Qld. Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice; Learning, Meaning and Identity, Cambridge University Press, N.Y. Weick, Karl E. 1979. The Social Psychology of Organizing. 2nd ed. Random House: New York. Weick, K. L. (1995) Sensemaking in Organizations, SAGE Pub., London Universiteit Twente. 2004. Sense Making. [http://www.tcw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Organizational%20Communication/Sensemaking.doc/]
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Foothill Toll Roads :: Environmental Wildlife Essays
Foothill Toll Road's All those that are regulars of the I-5 south know how agitating it is to sit through the bumper to bumper traffic, especially on those 90 degree plus summer days. An alternative route is under construction which will help to alleviate some of these traffic woes. The proposed toll road will run parallel to the I-5 and will connect the current portion of the Foothill Tollway to the I-5, just south of San Clemente. As good as this sounds, many sacrifices must be made to accommodate this preferred route. Those that will feel the greatest wrath of the new road are the animals and plants that reside in the San Onofre State Park. The preferred route will be composed of a toll road which will cut directly through the 3,126 acre park. Those that are in favor of the toll road estimate that by the year 2010, the Foothill Corridor is projected to relieve Interstate 5 of 35,000 cars per day, Interstate 405 of 22,000, PCH of 13,000 and Moulton Parkway of 20,000. It is estimated that the corridor will carry 170,000 vehicle trips per day. The 15 miles of roadway will require 24 million cubic yards of earthwork and 1.1 million tons of asphalt paving. The Foothill Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) has designed a plan with the greatest transportation benefits and the least environmental impacts. The mitigation of biological impacts includes 4 wildlife undercrossings, the creation of over 26.7 acres of wetlands and planting or enhancing 262 acres of the coastal sage scrub habitat. Environmentalists oppose the development of this because of the wildlife that will be endangered and threatened, primarily the California Gnatcatcher. Species that will be endangered include the Pacific pocket mouse, Arroyo southwestern toad, Tidewater goby, Southwestern willow flycatcher, least Bell's vireo and the Riverside fairy shrimp. Those animals that will be threatened consist of the California red-legged frog and the southern steelhead trout (which will no longer have viable habitat in that area). The route would cut through the canyon area that is the home to the "core" population of the California gnatcatcher. The Fish and Wildlife officials estimate that 35 pairs of the birds, which are listed as an endangered species, would be disrupted or displaced by the road and effects of the noise created by construction. There are about 100 pairs of these birds occupying the canyon area and it is from this "core" that the gnatcatchers produce new birds to surrounding areas.
Monday, January 13, 2020
Critical Reflection
Reflection is one of the most important parts of any forms of learning, and is a great tool to be used to allow for greater learning. Reflection whether being a student at primary school, a university student or a member of the workforce has an effect on constructing knowledge about a person and the world around them. It is a vital part of any learning experience and will form the backbone in the transformation from study to application in a field. Reflection can be defined as ‘taking a look back’ on experiences in most contexts, and looking back at the experience analysing and learning from it so therefore ‘constructing the knowledge’ and making the person more knowledgeable and informed. Critical Reflection is â€Å"the process of analysing, reconsidering and questioning experiences within a broad context of issues (e. g. , issues related to social justice, curriculum development, learning theories, politics, culture, or use of technology). [(Wertenbroch & Nabeth, 2000)] People learn by engaging in experiences that allow them utilise their senses and interact with a subject matter. In addition to this interaction, reflection allows for one to link a recent experience with an interrelated mental experience which allows for the development of ‘higher order thinking skills’. [Dewey (1933)] Many philosophers consider Dewey the contemporary inventor of reflection, as most of his ideas stem f rom those of many famous philosophers from the likes of Aristotle, Confucius and Plato. Read also Critical appreciation of the poem â€Å"Old Ladies’ Home†. Critical Reflection In an article by Jack Mezirow (‘How Critical Reflection triggers Transformative Learning’) he states that â€Å"Critical reflection involves a critique of the presuppositions on which our beliefs have been built. Learning may be defined as ‘the process of making a new or revised interpretation of the meaning of an experience, which guides subsequent understanding, appreciation and action’. He implies by this statement that not just having an experience will somebody just learn from that but also reflecting on the experience and appreciating and understanding the experience in order to reap the full benefits of learning it. (Murray, Kujundzic, 2005) define four activities that are central to critical reflection. These are oâ€Å"Assumption analysis†– This is step number one and involves a person to think in such a way that it challenges how they perceive certain cultural and social values and practices in order to see here impact on their daily lives oâ€Å"Contextual awareness†– Which highlights the social and personal significance of historic and cultural contexts. oâ€Å"Imaginative speculation†– Thinking of other ways to go about usual practices to challenge the current ways of knowledge. oâ€Å"Reflective scepticism†– The interaction of all of the three above mentioned activities, and the ability to think about the subject at hand in order to determine an action or viability of a matter.
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Geography of Burma or Myanmar
Burma, officially called the Union of Burma, is the largest country by area located in Southeast Asia. Burma is also known as Myanmar. Burma comes from the Burmese word Bamar, which is the local word for Myanmar. Both words refer to the majority of the population being Burman. Since British colonial times, the country has been known as Burma in English; however, in 1989, the military government in the country changed many of the English translations and changed the name to Myanmar. Today, countries and world organizations have decided on their own which name to use for the country. The United Nations for example, calls it Myanmar, while many English speaking countries call it Burma. Fast Facts: Burma or Myanmar Official Name: Union of BurmaCapital: Rangoon (Yangon); administrative capital is Nay Pyi TawPopulation: 55,622,506 (2018)Official Language: Burmese  Currency: Kyat (MMK) Form of Government: Parliamentary republicClimate: Tropical monsoon; cloudy, rainy, hot, humid summers (southwest monsoon, June to September); less cloudy, scant rainfall, mild temperatures, lower humidity during winter (northeast monsoon, December to April)Total Area: 261,227 square miles (676,578 square kilometers)Highest Point: Gamlang Razi at 19,258 feet (5,870 meters) Lowest Point: Andaman Sea/Bay of Bengal at 0 feet (0 meters) History of Burma Burmas early history is dominated by the successive rule of several different Burman dynasties. The first of these to unify the country was the Bagan Dynasty in 1044 CE. During their rule, Theravada Buddhism rose in Burma and a large city with pagodas and Buddhist monasteries was built along the Irrawaddy River. In 1287, however, the Mongols destroyed the city and took control of the area. In the 15th century, the Taungoo Dynasty, another Burman dynasty, regained control of Burma and, according to the U.S. Department of State, established a large multi-ethnic kingdom that was focused on expansion and the conquest of Mongol territory. The Taungoo Dynasty lasted from 1486 to 1752. In 1752, the Taungoo Dynasty was replaced by the Konbaung, the third and final Burman dynasty. During Konbaung rule, Burma underwent several wars and was invaded four times by China and three times by the British. In 1824, the British began their formal conquest of Burma and in 1885, it gained full control of Burma after annexing it to British India. During World War II, the 30 Comrades, a group of Burmese nationalists, attempted to drive out the British, but in 1945 the Burmese Army joined British and U.S. troops in an effort to force out the Japanese. After WWII, Burma again pushed for independence and in 1947 a constitution was completed followed by full independence in 1948. From 1948 to 1962, Burma had a democratic government but there was widespread political instability within the country. In 1962, a military coup took over Burma and established a military government. Throughout the rest of the 1960s and into the 1970s and 1980s, Burma was politically, socially and economically unstable. In 1990, parliamentary elections took place but the military regime refused to acknowledge the results. During the early 2000s, the military regime remained in control of Burma despite several attempts for overthrow and protests in favor of a more democratic government. Government of Burma Today, Burmas government is still a military regime that has seven administrative divisions and seven states. Its executive branch is made up of a chief of state and head of government, while its legislative branch is a unicameral Peoples Assembly. It was elected in 1990, but the military regime never allowed it to be seated. Burmas judicial branch consists of remnants from the British colonial era but the country has no fair trial guarantees for its citizens. Economics and Land Use in Burma Because of stringent government controls, Burmas economy is unstable and much of its population lives in poverty. Burma is, however, rich in natural resources and there is some industry in the country. As such, much of this industry is based on agriculture and the processing of its minerals and other resources. Industry includes agricultural processing, wood and wood products, copper, tin, tungsten, iron, cement, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, fertilizer, oil and natural gas, garments, jade, and gems. Agricultural products are rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane, hardwood, fish and fish products. Geography and Climate of Burma Burma has a long coastline that borders the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Its topography is dominated by central lowlands that are ringed by steep, rugged coastal mountains. The highest point in Burma is Hkakabo Razi at 19,295 feet (5,881 m). The climate of Burma is considered tropical monsoon and has hot, humid summers with rain from June to September and dry mild winters from December to April. Burma is also prone to hazardous weather like cyclones. For example, in May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit the countrys Irrawaddy and Rangoon divisions, wiped out entire villages and left 138,000 people dead or missing. Sources Central Intelligence Agency. CIA - The World Factbook - Burma.Infoplease.com. Myanmar: History, Geography, Government, and Culture- Infoplease.com.United States Department of State. Burma.
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