| Summary: | Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. === In the fast-changing environment of today, organisations have a tendency to change their
strategy to be able to adapt to changing circumstances. It has become increasingly
important for organisations to remain competitive in the marketplace. The management
of organisations is therefore showing more interest in concepts such as organisational
learning and innovation. These concepts are seen as contributing factors to the success of
the organisation. History has proven, however, that this is not always true. The infrequent
success of applying these concepts has resulted in the approach towards organisational
learning and innovation concepts being vague. This study aimed to examine the
conceptual ambiguity in order to arrive at a better understanding. The problem statement
is examined in some detail in Chapter One of this study. The second and third chapters
aim to investigate the concepts of organisational learning and innovation separately.
To understand the concept of organisational learning better, other related concepts such
as organisation, individual learning, knowledge, knowledge management and change
management were studied. The focus, however, remained on organisational learning. To
elaborate on the concept of organisational learning, the organisational learning cycle was
of specific importance together with the characteristics of organisational learning. Aspects that are seen as restrictions to organisational learning were studied and
consequently strong theoretical arguments could be provided regarding organisational
learning. Aspects that were prominent were the notion that the presence of certain
attributes can influence organisational learning, of which organisational structure and
organisational culture stand out. There were also certain stumbling blocks that might
prevent organisational learning, and individual learning was identified as essential for
organisational learning.
In Chapter Three a similar approach was followed regarding the concept of innovation.
The characteristics of the individual are as important for the sake of innovation as the
individual’s tolerance of change. The concepts of change management and structure of
the organisation are important to allow for innovation to take place. These concepts were studied separately and in Chapter Four the aim was to compare the
two concepts to determine any possible similarities and differences. By doing this, points
of correlation as well as possible relations in terms of a systems approach were identified.
In this chapter the attributes that support the concepts were listed along with aspects that
are seen as stumbling blocks.
In Chapter Five the most important aspects relating to organisational learning and
innovation are summarised. The one prominent aspect is the impact that the structure of
an organisation has on the success of both organisational learning and innovation. The
structure of an organisation, however, is based on the strategy of the organisation. The
last contributing aspect that needs to be mentioned is the culture of the organisation. The
study has indicated clear similarities as well as relations between the concepts, but as
with any learning process there are always questions and therefore the study points
towards further research. The research can be extended to determine the impact of the
shortage of time on organisational learning and/or innovation processes in terms of
knowledge management.
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