Modèles et apprentissage organisationnel

Abstract

Models and organizational learning. In this paper, the authors attempt to specify under which conditions a decision-aiding model can contribute to the process of organizational learning. Considering that an organization can be viewed as the resuit of delegation, coordination and evaluation Systems, the authors hold that organization modelling always conveys an implicit representation of the organization to which it is applied. A decision-aiding model is indeed always bound to make some assumptions as to the basic mechanisms which define the organization. However, the knowledge available on the inner mechanisms of an organization is necessarily limited, as is the knowledge of the model designer. Consequently, the implicit organization of the model always reveals a more or less significant discrepancy with respect to the actual organisation. Either this discrepancy cannot be managed, and the chances are the model will be ineffective, or it can be managed, that is interpreted, and then the model can actually describe the determining factors in the organization will allow the organizational learning process, by introducing either a better understanding of the situation or a convergence towards new management policies. Two real examples of this process are mentioned in the paper. In thefirst example, the authors attempt to apply the theory of decision to the prospects and production choices of an oil company. They show that the model implies a great deal of communication between experts from diverse areas within the company, whereas, in reality, the study of investment projects is organized so as to limit this communication as much as possible. The second example involves a car manufacturer and the design process of a new vehicle. The desired change consists in improving the information flows between the various designers. The tools implemented in this study shows that intense communication is already the rule, and that the problems, concerning quality in particular, resuit from other causes. These two contrasting examples, which are almost antithetical, demonstrate that the model indicates an existing organization of which the people involved have only a fuzzy perception.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 41 citations exist upstream.