Learning Practices: Assessment and Action for Organizational Improvement [Paperback]

Anthony J. DiBella (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130173800 | ISBN-13: 978-0130173805 | Publication Date: August 5, 2000 | Edition: 1

This book offers a practical, hands-on, pluralistic approach to building organizational and team learning capability that is consistent with OD principles and that carefully explores the links between learning, corporate strategy, and knowledge management. Through a systematic series of applied exercises, it shows readers how learning in, of, and among organizations can be recognized, analyzed, and put into practice through a variety of learning actions and styles that improve organizational performance. It introduces the diagnostic Organizational Learning Inventory and provides guidance on how to use/benefit from it in assessing ANY organizational unit--e.g., department, workgroup, task force, or a company subsidiary. The Competitive Edge: Learning for Strategic Advantage. Assessing Learning in Your Team or Company: Learning Orientations. Assessing the Conditions for Learning: Facilitating Factors. Recognizing Your Best Possible Learning Profile. Ways to Enhance or Shift Learning Orientations. Promoting the Conditions for Learning. Learning across Team and Corporate Boundaries. Making Learning Investments: Learning Portfolios and Architectures. Critical Challenges in Learning “Best Practices.” The Learning Horizon. Chief Learning Officers, Chief Knowledge Officers, Directors of Organizational Development, Effectiveness, Training.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This book offers a practical, hands-on, pluralistic approach to building organizational and team learning capability that is consistent with OD principles and that carefully explores the links between learning, corporate strategy, and knowledge management. Through a systematic series of applied exercises, it shows readers how learning in, of, and among organizations can be recognized, analyzed, and put into practice through a variety of learning actions and styles that improve organizational performance. It introduces the diagnostic Organizational Learning Inventory and provides guidance on how to use/benefit from it in assessing ANY organizational unit--e.g., department, workgroup, task force, or a company subsidiary. The Competitive Edge: Learning for Strategic Advantage. Assessing Learning in Your Team or Company: Learning Orientations. Assessing the Conditions for Learning: Facilitating Factors. Recognizing Your Best Possible Learning Profile. Ways to Enhance or Shift Learning Orientations. Promoting the Conditions for Learning. Learning across Team and Corporate Boundaries. Making Learning Investments: Learning Portfolios and Architectures. Critical Challenges in Learning Practices. The Learning Horizon. Chief Learning Officers, Chief Knowledge Officers, Directors of Organizational Development, Effectiveness, Training.

About the Author

ANTHONY J. DIBELLA is President of Organization Transitions, Inc., a consulting firm engaged in applied research and training on learning and change issues in organizations, and Adjunct Professor of Management at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Organization Studies from the MIT Sloan School of Management where he was a visiting scholar at the Center for Organizational Learning. As an educator and thought leader in organizational effectiveness, culture, and change management, Dr. DiBella has consulted with a diverse set of companies and has also taught at Boston College, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of Rhode Island. His book, How Organizations Learn: An Integrated Strategy for Building Learning Capability, was co-authored with Edwin Nevis in 1998. Tony is a founding member of the Society of Organizational Learning and a fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 155 pages
• Publisher: FT Press; 1 edition (August 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130173800
• ISBN-13: 978-0130173805
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,772,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning Practices: Assessment and Action for Organizational, February 9, 2001

By 

Grazyna Urbanik-Papp (Poland, Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning Practices: Assessment and Action for Organizational Improvement (Paperback)

How to build the learning capability of an organization? Some researchers and consultants describe in details how learning organization should work. They advise to shape an organization according to their prescription. Approach presented by Dr. Anthony DiBella in his book is different. The first step in developing learning capability of a team or a company is to assess how it learns. After that we will be able to describe our "best possible" learning profile of the organization and start to make changes. This approach is rooted in OD theory and consulting practice. I would recommend this book becouse it is written for practitioners. DiBella presents very usuful tools to diagnose learning of a team, organization unit or even entire firm or institution. He also describes what to do when we have done our assessment. This book is of high value for people who would like to build or strengten the learning capabilities of an organization or a team.

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical, December 2, 2009

By 

P. Dionne - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Learning Practices: Assessment and Action for Organizational Improvement (Paperback)

I purchased this book as part of an organizational change class that the author was teaching at Boston University. As part of the class we had to assess a team using the framework provided in the book. I found the project and the book valuable and practical. The team I surveyed found the process useful too. I look forward to trying to use the framework in the future.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars short and practical, December 8, 2001

By 

M. H. Bayliss "book queen" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Learning Practices: Assessment and Action for Organizational Improvement (Paperback)

This book emphasizes the importance of developing learning organizations and then proceeds to outline a 3 step approach to actually doing so in your own organization. The chapters are very specific and lay out the process so just about anyone could analyze where their organization is to start (the first step), where they'd like to go and how to get there.

For knowledge officers, this book is a must read: it's easy to follow and clearly laid out with enough charts and examples to lead you through the process.