Chapter 33: Facilitating Collective Learning

1. Swieringa and Wierdsma define organizations as:

a set of explicit and implicit rules open systems competing ideologies political arenas

2. Collective learning is most effective when:

organisational members, at all levels, have data that could provide a valuable input to strategy formulation responding to threats or opportunities requires individuals and groups located in different functions to collaborate and share information those leading change recognize how others can help to improve organizational performance All of the above

3. Which of the following can be an impediment to collective learning?

Members’ poor appreciation of the systemic qualities of organisations A lack of accessible channels for dialogue and the sharing of meaning The context in which sharing and dialogue must occur The characteristics of the sources and recipients of knowledge

4. What term does Janis use to describe the deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing and moral judgement that is the result of in-group pressure?

Self-reinforcing schema Groupthink Organizational silence Ideological conformity

5. Which of the following is NOT one of the sub-cultures referred to by Schein?

Operator culture Engineering culture Executive culture Shop-floor culture

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