Introduction
Stuart MacDonald in his 1995 article, Learning to Change: An Information Perspective on Learning in the Organisation published in the Organisational Science Journal puts forward certain theories on learning. His hypothesis is that organisation change should not only depend on internal factors such as corporate culture, core competence and firm’s capacity but should also rely on information outside the organisation. Secondly, the important thing is not the acquisition of the information but the use of the information. The information should be gathered by the individuals and not necessarily by the senior management.
Organisational Learning
It is not realistic to believe that an organisation will have all the necessary information needed for change within its boundaries. Information from suppliers, customers and competitors is also crucial. It completes the information jigsaw puzzle. Not all the information from external sources will be useful. The company will spend considerable time sieving the external information to get what they need. It is not an easy task (Simon, 1959). This process of acquiring and sieving the information is known as learning.
There is a lot of focus on the management when it comes to acquiring information and initiating change. However the individual worker is in the best position to acquire the external information that is crucial for the firm’s survival. The individual gets information through being aware of the external environment, enquiry and general experience. Most of the valuable information is achieved through informal networks where there is giving and taking of information.
The senior managers may be regarded with suspicion when they try to interact a lot with other senior managers in other companies. They will also find it hard to give away information in their quest to get information. The best people to be in these informal networks are the middle managers and officers. It is a hard concept to follow due to the fear of industrial espionage. Senior managers would rather hoard information and seek new information. However to get quality external information there must be an exchange. As the senior managers act rationally, it causes barriers to change, true learning and innovation.
The author highlights the fact that as changes takes place, in that process of accepting and implementing change, the change itself keeps changing such that the organisation cannot fully predict the change that will take place. It is not certain how the future will look like completely. In other words change is not a tidy affair but quite messy. However it is necessary for survival or sustainability. There is the element of resistance to change in an organisation however the resistance is higher when it comes to external information. The managers know the nature of information acquired and used within the organisation. They are familiar with it. However, the information from outside is usually difficult to manage as it is tacit and uncodified data that comes from people or goods in the market.
The management can control the internal information however external information is uncontrollable, it seems to signify dangerous territories. The large firm will therefore seek to acquire or purchase the external knowledge in order to control it and in the process make external information internal. They should be like small firms which are able to learn, they do not seek to control the external information as they know it is not really possible. They choose to use the external information for their change processes. Radical innovation requires the organisation to acquire foreign information from the least expected places and seek to understand. Getting the usual information will lead to minor changes in the organisation.
Conclusion
I agree with the author’s thoughts on change and learning. He has given his points well and given the points in support of his hypothesis. In getting external information through informal exchange networks, the firm may find itself losing valuable information. I appreciate the author’s cautious words and advice that the information network exchanges need to be handled with caution.
References
MacDonald, S. (1995) Learning to Change: An Information Perspective on Learning in
the Organisation. Organisational Science Journal, 6(5), 557-568.
Simon, H. (1959). Theories of Decision- Making in Economics and Behavioural Sciences.
American Economic Review, 69(3), 253-283.
