Organizational Learning and Development: Key Differences Analysis

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of organizational learning and development, differentiating between organizational learning—the process of knowledge acquisition and application within a firm—and a learning organization—an entity that fosters continuous learning and adaptation among its employees. It highlights that organizational learning enhances a company's ability to adapt to changing business environments, improve operational efficiency, and boost employee satisfaction, while a learning organization cultivates an environment where employees continually expand their capabilities and collaboratively drive change. The analysis underscores the importance of both concepts for achieving competitive advantages, fostering innovation, and ensuring long-term success in dynamic markets, ultimately concluding that learning is a critical tool for organizational growth and performance enhancement.

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................2
TASK..........................................................................................................................................................2
Explanation of organizational learning....................................................................................................2
Explaining learning organization.............................................................................................................3
Differences between organizational learning and a learning organization...............................................4
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Learning and development are the two key elements that contribute in success and
continuous progress of individual person. Learning is the procedure of understanding new things,
while developing is consider as process of developing new skill, gain knowledge about other
subject and improving competencies. The combination of both procedures support to enhance an
individual competency, ability, and performance level, which made them much stronger than
earlier. The current assignment will explain meaning of organizational learning and learning
organization. Furthermore, it will define the differences between both terms.
TASK
Explanation of organizational learning
Organizational learning is defined as process of developing, retaining and transferring
greater understanding about varied things or subjects within a firm (Dodgson, 2019). With this
procedure a company may gain knowledge related to its organizational functions and utilizing
this kind of comprehending to adapt challenging as well as changing business environment in
sector where it may perform, sustain and conduct activities related to venture, whether it is retail
or fashion. As a company may gain experience, it may enhance over duration. It can be said that
organizational learning creates a wide base of knowledge which provide benefits to management,
leader, and existing as well as new workers who may perform at workplace to achieve common
aims and objectives (Obeso and et.al., 2020). Toyota is the best example of organizational
learning as it looks at each issue as a key business growth opportunity to determine the root
causes and efforts to develop countermeasures that play vital role in success and excellent
progress of its venture. In the world of business, organizations may already effort to train their
workers and arrange training and development sessions at workplace, but still these things may
not enough for continuous success in competitive world of corporate (Leeuw and Sonnichsen,
2020).
Organizational learning is the main element that help currently and in the future to made
a firm capable and much productive in a changing environment, where it is not so easy to sustain
and run venture for longer time (Organizational Learning, 2020). It is fact that business
environment may change rapidly more than it changing recently. In order to promote,

organizational learning and taking initiative to do so, there are several steps a manager may take
into their consideration such as create knowledge, retain understanding about specific things and
transfer it appropriate as well as systematically (Ahmad and et.al., 2020). It is so essential and
beneficial because organizational learning may enable a company to obtain key advantages such
as it helps to create productive and positive work culture at workplace where many people do
their job and effort to achieve strategic aims. The significance of this procedure may show by
several advantages that occur in companies that may attempt to develop a learning environment,
it may support to increase job satisfaction of workers and lower high employee turnover rates
that may lead to decrease organizational productivity and profitability. It is important because of
many reasons including above. For example, when a firm attempt to get understand about
particular topic then it may contribute to increase operational efficiency and effectiveness in
unexpected manner (Hedayati, Khalilzadeh and Bahari, 2021). It assists to develop leaders and
managers at all levels, who attempt to obtain desire outcomes and effort to fulfil the expectations
of stakeholders. Organizational learning along with obtaining above key benefits may also help
to enhance adaptability throughout a firm that is important to do so. It increases power or ability
of companies to actively and rapidly respond to change when it happens in the business world,
such as pandemic that destroy the whole world and put negative impact on everything from
living standard to corporate structure. It affects capability and ability of individual worker
performance.
Explaining learning organization
A learning organization is a company effort through which workers may continually
expand their ability or capacity to develop the best approaches and obtain positive outcomes,
which they desire to get from so long (Malik and Garg, 2020). It is one of those places where
new as well as existing workforce may learn new things and expansive patterns of thinking may
nurture. Learning organizations may effort to gain knowledge and drive the attention of
individual to do the same for gaining continuous benefits and making themselves much
productive and efficient than ever. In recent time, it is quite necessary for companies to support
learning. Without doing this, they may face many challenges and risks such as lose market share,
decrease productivity and performance extent due to maximizing market competition. This term
may include places where employees may expand their ability and key competence to develop,
but also a company where new as well as expansive forms of thinking (Gachanja, Nga’nga and

Kiganane, 2020). Learning firms may characterize by sum of worker’s involvement in a
procedure of collaboratively and coordinately conduct, effectively accountable change that direct
towards share principles.
In the corporate world, there are many companies as an example of learning organization
may accessible. For example, Great Atlantic and Pacific team firm, Greyhound Bus Co,
American railroads, etc. Learning companies and workers in each may effort to learn continually
from everything they do and gain experience while conducting each activity. Individual person
may utilize their own experience in appropriate manner and that of other to enhance their
productivity level, which is quite beneficial and necessary do to so (Choi, 2020). They may
understand and gain knowledge from their own success and procedure of growth whether it
relate to personal or professional. In an actual learning company, collaboration and interaction is
open and transparent, individuals at all extents may engage in most communications and
collaborative activities. For example, Cisco system is the best example of learning organization
because it attempts to build on wide base of its installed goods. It may boost morale of workers
and rewards them on the basis of their creative thinking that permit individual worker to stay
ahead of their co-workers. Just like this company, Walmart as a learning organization may effort
to enter in a market niche that already present. It may take ownership of low price target market
by rapidly making investment regarding new distribution and sourcing practices (Klimecka-Tatar
and Ingaldi, 2020). Those attempt that a learning organization made may enable each person to
gain future benefits as they may work hard to satisfy customers by offering products or services
according to their needs, they may do so because a company in which they perform effort to
learn new concepts and drive attention of its employees for the same.
Learning organization as process of being capability and competitive further may play
crucial role in progress and success of a brand. It enables companies to look forward and stay
ahead of business rivalry. It is one of those beneficial and essential places where people may
effectively and appropriately learn new skill and work to see everyone together.
Differences between organizational learning and a learning organization
Differentiation basis Organizational learning Learning organization
Focus The main difference between both
term is that organizational
While, learning organization may
focus on those learnings through

learning may concentrate on
gaining knowledge regarding
particular subject by own
experience and better
understanding gather from
continuous activities (Wiewiora,
Chang and Smidt, 2020). Instead
of prioritizing, individual
learning, this term may drive the
attention of management towards
gaining knowledge by conducting
particular activity and learn
through it.
which they may enhance
capabilities and competencies as
well as productivity of workers at
workplace, which made them
capable to achieve great success
and obtain competitive benefits.
Activities It is one of those procedures
where talented and productive
workers may act based on what
they had learned from several
things to deal with different
organizational situations that
affect their productivity and
performance as well as efficiency
in negative manner. The culture
of organizational learning may
drive towards aim setting and
achievements of set objectives.
On the other hand, learning
organization may conduct those
activities that target all staff
members to continually develop
their skills and improve
capabilities and abilities to handle
complicated situations at work
area that may arise intentionally
or unintentionally. In addition to
this, learning organization
environment may lean in the
context of more performance
base.
Sources of learning Business situations is the main
source of organizational learning,
because it drives attention of
workers towards understanding
particular situation and then take
Whereas, learning organization
term may accept different source
of understanding. For example,
individual may learn by
facilitated approaches such as

action as they may learn how to
deal it in effective and excellent
way.
training and development session
arrange by the human resource
management.
Organizational learning and learning organization are two different terms that focus on
separate areas. There are several bases discussed in above table format to define differences
between each concept. In addition to these, it can be said that organizational learning may refer
to process, while learning organization is defined as a structure. External and internal factors
within a company may enable candidates to conduct specific activity and effort to deal with each
situation that may create by specific factor (Hosseini and et.al., 2020). The overall process may
define organizational learning concept, which is quite different from term of learning company,
where management through training and development programs at workplace give power to each
candidate about learn skill and gain knowledge which they seek to obtain.
Organizational learning may provide benefits in term of gaining efficiency and increasing
business productivity, on the other hand, learning organization benefits workers who work for a
company and achieve strategic aims successfully (Kools and George, 2020). It benefits them in
term of boosting their morale and improving their key skills that allow to overcome the negative
impact of workload appropriately and excellently. In form of structure, learning organization
considered as main and valuable construct that connect strategic planning and management
together.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above analysis, it has been concluded that organizational learning has
provided unexpected benefits to those stakeholders or people who are connected with a company
and perform with it, in order to gain competitive advantages. It made organizations capable to be
competitive in market and strong against key rivals. A learning organization is also beneficial in
several manner as it helped to gained knowledge about current and further market needs.
Furthermore, from above discussion, it has been summarized that learning as effective tool or
approach of success and organizational growth has enhanced the productivity and performance
level of companies.

REFERENCES
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Online
Organizational Learning. 2020. [Online]. Available Through: <
https://www.valamis.com/hub/organizational-learning >