A project action learning (PAL) based organizational learning (OL) strategy

: from theoretical dilemma to practical reality

Abstract

This thesis is a discourse of an organization's long journey towards the ultimate goal of being a learning organization. The case company, SAE Magnetics has been a very successful manufacturer of high technology electronic components since the 1980s. To counter the challenge of relentless pace of technology development and severe competitive pressure, its senior management was attracted by the promises of the learning organization (LO) concept. A collaborative research project with City University of Hong Kong was set up in 2002 to help launch the case company down the LO path. An organizational learning (OL) tool was needed. The literature is full of articles about OL and LO but no ready-to-use tool for real life implementation. So, the first task of this collaborative research was to develop an appropriate OL tool, which was called Project-based Action Learning (PAL). In essence, PAL is a framework that allows a team of people to work on and learn from meaningful projects. Meanwhile, a long-term organizational learning strategy was formulated and the necessary supporting infrastructure, in the form of four PAL Pillars, was built up. It was recognized at the outset that this was a long journey. This PAL driven OL implementation was carried out in a wave-like manner in selected business units of the case company. Almost a decade since its inception, PAL is still alive and kicking. Although, the LO destination is still to be reached, the way ahead for SAE Magnetics has been paved. This study explores and extends the understanding and definition of the concept and terminology of OL, learning strategies and practices in a real-life setting. A number of authors have defined OL as a process of knowledge acquisition that involves continuous change to create, acquire and transfer knowledge (Garvin 1993; Miller 1996; Williams 2001). This research examines if this conceptualization has been realized in the case company's OL experience. The study demonstrates how OL can be moved from theory to practice via a carefully crafted PAL-driven OL strategy, with a 3 phases 5 steps OL implementation model. This thesis discusses the evidence collected through periodic surveys during the case company's OL journey. The results have shown that, to many staff who have gone through the PAL-based OL experience, slogans like "knowledge is most productive when it is shared by all", "an LO is an organization that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future", "an LO continuously learns new ways of doing things and is not afraid to forget the bad old ways", etc., have become part of their working life in the case company. Admittedly, to date these findings are still limited to the small number of business units of the case company which have come aboard this OL vehicle. Nonetheless, given the top management's strong commitment to OL, the journey will continue. There are still very few empirical studies in industry about wide-scale, long-term OL implementation. This study serves as a very valuable case experience for those companies interested in OL implementation to learn from or follow. This decade-long OL journey demonstrates that, with commitment and patience, modern management concepts and organizational theory can be put into effective use.

Date of Award	16 Jul 2012
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Kong Bieng CHUAH (Supervisor)