Deck 2: Organizational Learning

Question 1

Intellectual capital is an organization's knowledge,experience,relationships,process discoveries,innovations,market presence,and community influence.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A learning culture is best described as the norms and values an organization has toward its stakeholders.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Communities of practice are typically formed in an informal manner.For that reason,management plays no role in supporting and nourishing such communities of practice.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Organizational learning refers to the process of creating,sharing,storing,and applying knowledge in organizations.

Question 5

In order to survive and develop,organizations must learn how to manage their capacity to learn and change.

Question 6

Peter Senge characterized learning organizations as having five core principles.Of these five principles,mental models embody the concept of viewing the organization holistically.

Question 7

According to the Conference Board of Canada,senior management needs to be explicit in defining the type of knowledge that is important to their organizations.

Question 8

Learning organizations improve their effectiveness and attain their goals by acquiring,sharing,creating,and storing knowledge and information.They are constantly in a state of learning.

Question 9

Organizational learning can be represented with a multilevel systems model that has four levels of learning including societal,organizational,group,and individual.

Question 10

According to the Conference Board of Canada,approximately 61 percent of Canadian companies have in place procedures ensuring that knowledge is codified,stored,and freely shared amongst employees.

Question 11

Human capital includes elements of cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence.

Question 12

Informal learning could be characterized as a standardized cross-training program.

Question 13

If individuals in an organization learn,then the organization becomes a learning organization.

Question 14

Human capital includes the knowledge,skills,and abilities of employees.

Question 15

Tacit knowledge could be described as policies and procedures often found in a company's intranet site and procedures manuals.

Question 16

Recent advancements in technology are playing a significant role in supporting knowledge sharing within and between companies.

Question 17

VanCity's employees have a wide array of programs available in supporting their development.In fact,VanCity will reimburse up to 100 percent of expenses should an employee decide to take a course that is not related to his/her current role.

Question 18

An example of structural capital would be a company's policy manual.

Question 19

Peter Sengalis is known as the originator of the concept of learning organizations.

Question 20

Intellectual capital is knowledge that may or may not have value to a company.

Question 21

Who are the typical internal sources of information used in environmental scanning?

A) employees
B) customers
C) suppliers
D) creditors

Question 22

According to research conducted by the Conference Board of Canada,what percentage of respondents indicated that systems and structures exist within their organizations to ensure that important knowledge is coded,stored,and made available to those who need it?

A) 11 percent
B) 21 percent
C) 31 percent
D) 41 percent

Question 23

With what category is intellectual capital grouped?

A) organizational assets
B) organizational liabilities
C) organizational expenditures
D) organizational income

Question 24

Which of the following best captures the role management can play in supporting communities of practice?

A) provide the necessary funding
B) provide the infrastructure and evaluate relevance to the company
C) control topics, timing, and participation
D) ensure all communication between group members is codified

Question 25

A senior manager in an organization asks you to describe the most important way for an organization to acquire or create new knowledge.How would you respond?

A) brainstorming with internal and external partners
B) scanning the environment by leveraging internal and external means
C) benchmarking competitors for best practices and adopting them
D) using scenario forecasting to develop plans to deal with internal changes

Question 26

What must an organization do to become truly competitive and effective with its organizational learning initiatives?

A) It must make a strategic shift in orientation in order to transform itself into a learning organization.
B) It must secure the support and commitment of all organizational stakeholders, past and present.
C) It must link its initiatives to the relevant sources of information and knowledge available.
D) It must be willing to adapt to the external environment and change its values in order to achieve its objectives.

Question 27

Carlos,a manager at a local manufacturing firm,often changes his approach to annual performance conversations based on his understanding of what factors motivate each employee.What is Carlos demonstrating?

A) explicit knowledge
B) human capital
C) tacit knowledge
D) intellectual capital

Question 28

Which of the following best describes the relationship between formal and informal learning?

A) formal learning must first occur before informal learning can take place
B) formal learning and informal learning share the same characteristics
C) formal and informal learning are not mutually exclusive
D) informal learning must first occur before formal learning can take place

Question 29

According to the textbook,what are the two most-used methods for informal learning?

A) face-to-face interactions and email communication
B) social networking and internet searches
C) structured mentoring and coaching sessions
D) email communications and intranet sites

Question 30

The intellectual capital cycle moves through four types of work.What begins the intellectual capital cycle?

A) investments in human capital
B) renewal capital and structural capital
C) productive relationship capital
D) financial performance

Question 31

Which of the following is a factor used to differentiate formal and informal learning?

A) culture
B) climate
C) management style
D) process driven

Question 32

What is a potential indicator that knowledge is being shared in an organization?

A) problem solving becomes more complex yet, less effective
B) expertise is not captured and stored as explicit knowledge
C) unnecessary and needless staffing changes continue to take place
D) employees attract and obtain increased opportunities

Question 33

Which of the following is characterized as human capital?

A) a company's patent on a new manufacturing process
B) an employee's ability to create products with a zero error rate
C) a company's strong working relationship with a key supplier of inputs
D) a company's consistently high engagement score

Question 34

At D&D Automation,what is the most important input for maintaining the company's learning culture?

A) manufacturing and technology-state of the art systems and processes
B) training and development-both internal and external
C) community involvement-supports robotics skills competitions at local high schools and co-op programs
D) employee empowerment-measured via annual employee engagement surveys

Question 35

Your textbook contains the quote,"Individual learning does not guarantee organizational learning.But without it,no organizational learning occurs." Which author said this about organizational learning?

A) Alan Saks
B) Judy Shuttleworth
C) Josh Blair
D) Peter Senge

Question 36

In 2011,VanCity committed to double its expenditures in training and development.What need(s)was VanCity trying to address with this new expenditure?

A) maximizing profits for its current members while growing its footprint as a credit union
B) creating a more efficient workforce
C) delivering on its corporate social responsibility mandate of helping create a sustainable community
D) strengthening its workforce capacity to enable the company to meet its objectives

Question 37

What estimated percentage of what employees know about their jobs is acquired via a formal process?

A) 30 percent
B) 50 percent
C) 66 percent
D) 70 percent

Question 38

According to the Conference Board of Canada,what percentage of Canadian organizations do NOT consider themselves to be learning organizations,even to a moderate extent?

A) 29 percent
B) 45 percent
C) 34 percent
D) 67 percent

Question 39

Which of the following disciplines incorporates the other four by looking at the organization holistically?

A) personal mastery
B) systems thinking
C) mental models
D) building a shared mission

Question 40

What are the typical characteristics of informal learning?

A) spontaneous, immediate, and task-specific
B) strategic, goal-oriented, and short-term
C) structured, individual-focused, and unplanned
D) defined, organization-wide, and explicit

Question 41

Define "communities of practice," provide an example of a community of practice,and explain their importance to organizational learning.

Question 42

Identify and briefly describe the four dimensions the Conference Board of Canada has identified as critical in creating and sustaining a learning organization.

Question 43

Why is the concept of informal learning receiving so much attention from managers?

A) because of the need to reduce expenditure in training and development
B) because of the speed of change and demographic realities
C) because of the level of attention the topic of informal learning has received from academics and management gurus
D) because it requires fewer resources and management attention

Question 44

What statement best describes the insights offered by a multilevel systems model of organizational learning?

A) group learning is the most critical variable given its central role
B) group learning is a necessary and sufficient condition for the organization to learn
C) if individuals learn, then the organization must also learn
D) organizational learning can take place only if the group and individuals learn

Question 45

Which of the following is typically considered a level of analysis for organizational learning?

A) society
B) task
C) divisional
D) individual

Question 46

Briefly define "explicit knowledge" and "tacit knowledge," and provide an example for each.

Question 47

What two benefits can be realized from communities of practice?

A) promoting best practices, and adapting skills
B) driving strategy, and initiating restructuring
C) solving problems, and aiding in recruitment
D) generating new business, and improving quality

Question 48

Which concept is defined as deeply ingrained assumptions,generalizations,or images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action?

A) mental models
B) organizational culture
C) implicit knowledge
D) informal learning

Question 49

Which of the following factors are important at the group level?

A) vision and leadership
B) group structure and reporting relationships
C) level of complexity and task interdependence
D) a reward system must be in place to reward individuals for learning and applying newly found skills/knowledge

Question 50

Describe four ways in which organizations can encourage informal learning.Briefly discuss the role that informal learning plays in organizational learning.

Question 51

What specific factor has made knowledge repositories more widespread and accessible?

A) available technology
B) a more technologically savvy workforce
C) management's commitment to knowledge repositories
D) decreasing cost of managing these repositories

Question 52

Knowledge was traditionally disseminated by oral traditions.What are two of the current techniques used for disseminating knowledge?

A) virtual conference rooms and wikis
B) electronic bulletin boards and libraries
C) connected knowledge bases and professional associations
D) information technology and teleconferencing

Question 53

According to the textbook,what is one unique method for capturing tacit knowledge that does not typically rely on computer technology?

A) transcripts
B) stories
C) narratives
D) artefacts

Question 54

What is an effective way to develop shared mental models?

A) create work processes that require team involvement
B) remove physical barriers so as to facilitate regular contact between management and employees
C) develop communities of practice focused on solving specific challenges facing the organization
D) provide social networking sites so as to facilitate informal learning

Question 55

Identify and describe barriers that may exist in an organization that impede knowledge sharing between employees.How would a manager begin to remove some of the barriers you have identified?

Question 56

Differentiate between the terms "information" and "knowledge" from the perspective of a learning organization.Provide an example for each.