Customer Reviews

An Intelligent Organization

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An Intelligent Organization: Integrating Performance, Competence and Knowledge Management.

The author was Director of Human Resources at the Finnish company Nokia. What the book adds to the literature on organizational learning is the detailed integration, in every aspect of operation, between development of the individual, the work group or team and the organization as a whole. He insists that ensuring that organizational learning takes place at a greater rate than external change is an holistic endeavour. For success, all aspects must be addressed together in a coherent way,

Virtually all of the separate principles, tools and techniques set out in the book are accessible from other sources, but the author explains clearly, with the help of good charts and diagrams, how these all fit together. The Introduction and first Chapter provide a particularly good overview of the issues.

The author seeks to provide an integrated answer to the key questions of:

* how to improve an organization's capacity to learn
* how to improve organization competence and individual and team performance
* how to integrate the efficiency, the renewal and the well-being of the organization.

His solution is based on personal experience plus an overview of the literature of organizational learning. The book is largely concerned with three elements of:

* performance management, which he relates to the individual and identifies as bringing together clarity of direction with management both for current results and continuous learning;
* knowledge management which he identifies with team learning; and
* competence management, which he identifies with strategic management of the organization as a whole.

The careful strategic integration of these three elements produces what he calls the intelligent organization, defined as one that is capable of continuous renewal, of anticipating changes and of learning fast. Its capacity to learn fast is in turn based on its capacity to develop, understand and effectively apply knowledge.

The book also serves as an excellent introduction for those who are new to the ideas of the learning organization/organizational learning, because it provides an excellent framework within which to fit the many elements that make up effective organizational learning. It also provides useful references to many of the main authors in the field.