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Biz NewsManaging Organisational Knowledge for Sustainability and Competitive Advantage
- Introduction to the unit
- Learning outcomes
- 1. Sustainability, Greening and Entrepreneurship
- 2. Managing Knowledge
- 3. The Natural Step Framework
- 3.1 The Natural Step Framework
- 3.2. The experiental learning cycle
- 3.3. The System Conditions
- 4. TNS: Five Levels
- 5. Developing Human Resource: Problem Based Learning for Sustainability Professional
- 5.1. Developing Human Resource: Problem Based Learning for Sustainability Professional
- 5.1. The learning organisation
- 6. Problem Based Learning and KM
- 7. HRD, Work Relations, Organizational Change and Sustainability
- 8. The Making of an Ecopreneur
- 8.1. The Making of an Ecopreneur
- 8.2. Putting it all together
- References
The University of Exeter made this course available within the Creative Commons framework under the CC Attribution - Non-commercial licence :
Source : labspace.open.ac.uk
Introduction to the unit
There are a number of challenges associated with personal and organisational learning. There are issues accociated with the failure to innovate and to change. We should consider the figure below that graphically illustrates the interactions and ovelaps of key components.
Fig 1. Interactions between learning, change and managing organisational knowledge.
So, what are the challenges of initiating? In summary, they might be:
- Not enough time
- No help (coaching and support)
- Not relevant
- Walking the talk
And sustaining? Consider:
- Fear and anxiety
- Assessment and measurement
- True believers and non-believers
And how about redesighing and rethinking? Consider:
- Governance
- Diffusion
- Strategy and purpose
Failures to learn and change then are often due to issues embedded in the prevailing system of management. For example, the managers' commitment as long as change doesn't affect them. There might be 'undiscussable' topics that feel risky to talk about. The habit of attacking the symptoms and ignoring deeper, systemic causes of problems.
In terms of ecological/systematic thinking:
The more we study the major problems of our time, the more we come to realise that they cannot be understood in isolation. They are systemic problems - interconnected and interdependent. Stabilising world population will only be possible when poverty is reduced worldwide. The extinction of animal and plant species on a massive scale will continue as long as the South is burdened with massive debts. Only if we stop the international arms trade will we have the resources to prevent the many destructive impacts on the biosphere and on human life... these problems are just different facets of one single crisis, which is essentially a crisis of perception.
(Capra and Pauli, 1995:2)
So to some up this introduction on learning capabilities, we could do worse than observe that for change:
- We need to focus on reflection and inquiry skills which enable people to talk openly about complex, conflictive issues without invoking defensiveness.
- We need to induce skills of 'systems thinking' which allows people to see and deal with interdependencies and deeper causes of problems.
Knowledge Management (KM), problem identification and organisation creativity
KM case studies: applying the Natural Step Framework
Sustainability and Human Resource Development
Learning outcomes
The aims of this unit are to explore:
1. Sustainability, Greening and Entrepreneurship
The adoption of environmentally responsible business practices can, conceivably, open up an additional range of opportunities for entrepreneurs. The move to a sustainable business framework provides numerous niches that enterprising individuals and firms can successfully identify and service. These include, among other things, the development of new products and services, improvements to the efficiency of existing firms, new methods of marketing and the reconfiguration of existing business models and practices.
However, green entrepreneurship is not only important because it provides new opportunities for the nimble firstmovers who identify and exploit such opportunities but also because it has the potential to be a major force in the overall transition to a more sustainable business paradigm. In a market-based economy, entrepreneurs play a critical role in the eventual adoption of green business practices by the wider business community through the lead role that they provide to other firms. By demonstrating the economic benefits that come from being greener, ecopreneurs act as a 'pull' factor that entices other firms to proactively go green, in contrast to the 'push' factors of government regulation and stakeholder or lobby-group pressure.
To continue this course : labspace.open.ac.uk