Strategies for changing a university into a 'learning organisation'

If organisational learning and the consequent development of a learning organisation are possible, it might be expected that those organisations that derive their raison d'etre and income from the development of learning capacities and knowledge would be the leaders in utilising and modelling effective organisational learning. Thus universities might be expected to be not only organisations for learning but also learning organisations for they contain staff already highly skilled at individual learning. Most also contain Business and Education Faculties, disciplines that provide theoretical frameworks to guide both individual and organisational learning.

With the ultimate aim of examining the extent to which universities are or could be learning organisations, this paper will review selected literature on organisational learning and the learning organisation. It will discuss the extent to which practical manifestations of these concepts are found in an Australian university by describing the structures and systems at that university which contribute to or impede the development of a learning organisation. Subsequently, modifications to existing structures and systems necessary for the development of organisational learning and a learning organisation will be proposed and then the role of leaders and teams in facilitating effective learning will be discussed. This latter discussion will take place with reference to the ways in which leadership and teamwork currently contribute to development of the University as a learning organisation and how current leadership and teamwork strategies might be adjusted to better reflect the requirements of a learning organisation. Finally, the relevance of this case study to universities generally will be discussed.