Class Session 7
- 1 Class Session 7
- 2 Synthesis of Organizations as Brains
- 3 Morgan (2006) Chapter 4 - Organizations As Brains
- 4 Katz & Kahn (1996) - Organizations and the System Concept
- 5 Kezar (2005) What Campuses Need To Know About Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization
- 6 Senge (1990) - The Leader’s New Work: Building Learning Organizations
- 7 Additional Information to Chew on....
- 8 But wait, there's more...
- 9 Other Resources
Class Session 7
Austin, Aimee, Anne, Marylou, Melinda
This week’s readings and class discussion revolved around the concept of “Organizations as Brains.” The authors note a wide variety of connections between the structures and functions of the human brain and the organization and governance of groups. Morgan (2006) draws upon three such comparisons: information processing capabilities, adaptability to changes aka the ability to learn, and holographic abilities. Katz & Kahn (1996) discuss the concept of organizations as open systems, focusing on energy inputs and outputs, but also on how organizations learn and change over time. Kezar (2005) examines learning and organizations, specifically comparing the concepts of organizational learning with learning organizations. Finally, Senge (1990) details specific organizational recommendations for creating a learning organization with great focus on the role of leadership in that process. One trend across the readings and class discussions was the focus on how organizations “learn” and thus change over time as a way of adapting to new situations.
| Synthesis of Organizations as Brains | Morgan (2006) Chapter 4 - Organizations As Brains | Katz & Kahn (1996) - Organizations and the System Concept | Kezar (2005) What Campuses Need To Know About Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization | Senge (1990) - The Leader’s New Work: Building Learning Organizations | Additional Information to Chew on.... | But wait, there's more... | William and Mary: Showing Signs of the Learning Organization | | Other Resources
Synthesis of Organizations as Brains
A concept that ties all of the readings and class discussion together is learning. Each of the authors addresses how organizations adapt to current realities aka “learn.” This provides great insight into how we think about organizational learning or learning organizations and how these concepts can be implemented into the organizations that we work with. Additionally the authors provide critiques and limitations of organization as a learning entity.
When we think about the brain one of the first thoughts that comes to mind is the brain’s close association with thinking and the learning process. Our brains enable us to take a variety of external stimuli, process them and make meaning from them. We adapt as a system and make changes based on the information processed by the brain. We see the same principle in both Morgan’s (2006) and Katz & Kahn’s (1996) discussion of organizations. Both authors discuss the strong connection between this environmental information and how organizations are altered as a result. Morgan (2006) specifically discusses the use of single- and double-loop learning to detect information from the environment, evaluate that information, and then make corrective action as necessary. Katz & Kahn (1996) expand upon this concept in their discussion of “information input, negative feedback, and the coding process” as a key component of organizational systems. Additionally, they expand upon the desire for “steady state or homeostasis” and how organizations just like systems will adapt to external/environmental influences. These aspects of open systems are very similar to the single-loop decision making process described by Morgan.
Kezar (2005) also discusses the process through which organizations learn via a discussion of organizational learning and learning organizations. Kezar’s analysis of these two concepts relates very strongly to the learning processes described by Morgan and Katz and Kahn. Furthermore, Kezar discusses organizational activities and features 