How Organizations Learn : An Integrated Strategy for Building
Learning Capability (Jossey-Bass Business and Management Series)
by Anthony J. Dibella, Edwin C. Nevis (Contributor)
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
The Authors
Part I: A Strategic Look at Organizational Learning
1. Developing Learning in Organizations: A
Matter of Perspective
2. Foundations of an Integrated Strategy
3. How Organizations Learn: Learning Orientations
4. Why Organizations Learn: Facilitating Factors
Part II: Helping Organizations Learn
5. Recognizing Your Organization's Learning Portfolio
6. Developing a Learning Strategy
7. Improving Organizational Learning
Capability
8. Enhancing Effectiveness at Each Phase of
the Learning Cycle
9. Assessing Learning Capability Over Time
Part III: Adapting and Assessing the Learning Strategy
10. Using an Integrated Strategy in
Different Contexts
11. Conclusion: What Is the Good of All This
Learning? Assessing the Impact of Learning on Performance
References
Index
Reviews
The author, Anthony DiBella;
ajdibella@orgtransitions.com , August 25, 1999
readable, comprehensive, goes beyond basic recipes
"The authors accomplish an amazing feat in providing an insightful synthesis of
numerous theories of the learning organization, ranging from Argyris to Senge, and moving
rapidly beyond them through case studies to identify a set of how-to tools for leaders and
change managers. For those interested in transformation, a most valued addition."
The above statement was written by one of the first reviewers of my book, Mr. James J.
Gannon, senior vice-president at the Royal Bank of Canada. I like it because it fairly
represents what my book is all about. "How Organizations Learn" provides a way
to understand and develop learning capability in teams and organizations that is not only
built on the work of such noted thinkers as Argyris and Senge, but as James Gannon points
outs, goes beyond them. We were able to do that because the book is based on our own
experience which although informed by previous theoretical works, involved applied
research and engagements with clients in real organizations.
If you need to follow a detailed recipe (five easy steps [or disciplines] to the
learning organization), then this book is probably not for you. However, if you want a
readable, yet detailed presentation on organizational learning that explains what it might
mean for your team to build learning capability and how to do so, then you will find true
value in this book. Readers have told me that Chapter 1 alone was worth the price since it
helped them figure out all the fuss (and confusion) about learning organizations. Another
reader thanked me because unlike other books which have only one idea that the author
repeats ad nauseum, "How Organizations Learn" builds from beginning to end and
continues to add value all the way to the last chapter. If you buy my book and aren't
satisfied, I will buy it back from you.
A
reader from Boston, MA
In-depth, practical, best book on learning organizations!
I am an organization consultant and have found DiBella and Nevis's book very useful. For
instance, they provide a practical framework for assessing learning in teams. This book
lacks the usual faddish gibberish surrounding learning organizations. I believe this book
is significant, particularly for trainers and consultants. I chose this book to review
in-depth for Training Media Review magazine. Solid, useful conceptual presentation.
