those organizations are more successful that
learn earlier, better and faster than competitors.
This is the reason why the concept of learning
organizations has been raised in recent years.1
In today's changing environment that very rapid
changes are seen in different areas of science
and technology and the increasing complexity
and dynamics of environmental factors, the only
organizations that can survive and remain
capable of growth are those with active adaptation
(dynamic equilibrium). Learning organization
is an organization where people constantly
increase their capabilities. The new patterns of
thinking develop and staffs learn how to learn
together.3 Learner organization is an organization
that created the power of obtaining and
transferring of knowledge and changes behaviors
based on new knowledge and insights.4
This organization focuses on model development
and applying knowledge and information
capabilities in order to create impact and value
of information.5
The idea of learning organization was popularized
by Peter Senge (1990); he stated that at
the core of the learning organization are five
essential learning disciplines: personal mastery,
mental models, shared vision, team learning,
and systematic thinking; that may be briefly
described as follow.
Personal mastery is the discipline of continually
clarifying and deepening our personal
vision, focusing on our energies, developing
patience, and seeing reality objectively.
Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions,
generalizations, or even pictures or
images that influence how we understand the
world and how we take action.
The practice of shared vision involves the
skills of unearthing shared "pictures of the future"
that foster genuine commitment and enrollment
rather than compliance.
The discipline of team learning starts with
"dialogue," the capacity of members of a team to
suspend assumptions and enter into a genuine
"thinking together."
Systematic thinking is based on system dynamics;
it is highly conceptual; it provides ways
of understanding practical business issues.6