Intranets and Org Learning LO10479

Daphne Donaldson (daphne@UVic.CA)
Mon, 14 Oct 1996 10:57:25 +0800

I have been watching this list with great interest for the past two weeks
- I have found it very informative! I work in Occupational Health & Safety
(part of Human Resources) at the University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C.
Canada, and I am currently working on an MA in Adult Education. I started
to hear about the concept of organizational learning earlier this year and
became intrigued by systems thinking and the issue of collective learning.
I am just reading "The Fifth Discipline" for the first time, as well as
"Sculpting the Learning Organization" by Watkins & Marsick. Although much
of what I read refers to the corporate world, there are obvious
applications for public institutions as well. (Incidently, I noticed that
one or two participants on this mailing list are from other universities).

I would like to raise a specific question, and would appreciate your
thoughts and comments. I have become interested in the role of Intranets
in organizational learning. Although Intranets are often described as a
system which will reduce paper/printing costs and ensure up-to-date
information for employees, I wonder if organizations are using this tool
in innovative ways to enhance organizational learning? It ties in with a
comment made by Senge in "The Fifth Discipline" with respect to the
principle of the system boundary (page 66).

"What makes this principle difficult to practice is the way organizations
are designed to keep people from seeing important interactions. One
obvious way is by enforcing rigid internal divisions that inhibit inquiry
across divsional boundaries, such as those that grow up between marketing,
manufacturing, and research."

Can an Intranet be a useful mechanism for encouraging interactions and
fostering organizational learning (i.e. breaking down some boundaries)?
How would this be different from using email and a corporate Web Site
(i.e. on the Internet)?

As someone who knows very little about Intranets, and as a newcomer to
your mailing list, I am concerned that this may seem either naive or old
news, but I would be grateful if any of you are willing to share your
insights on this issue.

Daphne Donaldson
daphne@uvic.ca

Daphne Donaldson
daphne@uvic.ca
University of Victoria
Victoria, B.C. Canada

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daphne@UVic.CA (Daphne Donaldson)

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>