Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organization to Work

Garvin, David A.

ISBN 10: 1578512514 / ISBN 13: 9781578512515

Published by Harvard Business Review Press, 2000

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 1578512514-3-25646197

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organization to Work
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1578512514
• ISBN 13: 9781578512515
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 21 ounces

About this title

Synopsis

Most managers today understand the value of building a learning organization. Their goal is to leverage knowledge and make it a key corporate asset, yet they remain uncertain about how best to get started. What they lack are guidelines and tools that transform abstract theorythe learning organization as an idealinto hands-on implementation. For the first time inLearning in Action, David Garvin helps managers make the leap from theory to proven practice. Garvin argues that at the heart of organizational learning lies a set of processes that can be designed, deployed, and led. He starts by describing the basic steps in every learning processacquiring, interpreting, and applying knowledgethen examines the critical challenges facing managers at each of these stages and the various ways the challenges can be met. Drawing on decades of scholarship and a wealth of examples from a wide range of fields, Garvin next introduces three modes of learningintelligence gathering, experience, and experimentationand shows how each mode is most effectively deployed. These approaches are brought to life in complete, richly detailed case studies of learning in action at organizations such as Xerox, L. L. Bean, the U. S. Army, and GE. The book concludes with a discussion of the leadership role that senior executives must play to make learning a day-to-day reality in their organizations.

About the Author

David A. Garvin is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.