Since 1990s, the tide of informatization and economic globalization has swept the world, and the arrival of knowledge economy has made information and knowledge an important strategic resource. In this context, the theory of learning organization has been paid more and more attention, and it is considered as one of the most advanced management theories in the world today. Since 1999, with the establishment of a learning enterprise, L Steel has achieved leap-forward development. Steel output and sales revenue increased from 2140,000 tons and 6.4 billion yuan in 2000 to 654,338+0.34 million tons and 39.4 billion yuan in 2005, respectively, increasing by nearly 4 times and more than 5 times. L iron and steel group "building a learning enterprise with improving creativity as the core" won the first prize of the tenth national management innovation achievement. Combined with the practice of L Iron and Steel Company, the author talks about some understandings and experiences on how to promote the establishment of learning enterprises.
Create a learning enterprise
Breakthrough point problem
How to effectively organize and guide enterprise members to actively participate in the creation of learning enterprises, and continue to advance in depth, it is very important to choose a good starting point. Different enterprises have different situations, different development histories, different tasks and development goals, and different entry points. At present, the common entry points for establishing learning enterprises in China mainly include organizational learning (training), concept introduction, vision establishment, corporate culture construction and innovation system construction. For example, the cultivation of Jianghuai Automobile, the establishment vision of Yunnan Electric Power, and the introduction of the concept of Xukuang Group.
The starting point of L Steel is to solve the problems of enterprises. In enterprises, long-standing problems may mean defects in the internal mechanism of the organization. Therefore, it is of great significance for organizations to learn and practice from long-standing problems and find the real reasons. Every organization has its own characteristics and special problems. Grasping those important and urgent problems and using the ideas, tools and methods of learning organizations can often produce the leverage effect of "four or two thousand dollars".
During the Eighth Five-Year Plan and the Ninth Five-Year Plan, the technology and equipment of L Steel were obviously improved, and the production capacity was also greatly improved. However, due to a series of problems such as backward concept, extensive management, low efficiency and backward indicators, the existing production capacity can not be effectively exerted and released, and the development speed is not fast. At the same time, the trend of economic globalization is strengthening, the domestic market and the international market tend to be integrated, the competition in the steel industry is becoming increasingly fierce and cruel, and the difficulties and crises faced by enterprises are intensifying. In order to make L Steel stronger and bigger as soon as possible at the beginning of the new century, we actively seek measures to solve the bottleneck of enterprise development and explore effective ways to achieve leap-forward development. In this context, learning organization theory was introduced into L Iron and Steel Company.
In practice, they realize that paying attention to solving problems can make employees feel the advanced nature of learning organization theory, and the creation work can be widely recognized, which is conducive to the promotion of creating learning enterprises. For example, the shortage of molten iron has been a bottleneck that has plagued the production and operation of L steel for many years. They learned to use the concept of "systematic thinking" in the learning organization theory, changed the practice of grasping ironmaking, and thought and optimized ironmaking, sintering, coking, raw material supply and professional management as a system, so that blast furnace production completely got out of the strange circle of "repairing in the first quarter, catching up in the second quarter, grabbing in the third quarter and hitting in the fourth quarter" and achieved stable and high yield. Later, a series of management innovation schemes, such as improving the core competitiveness of electric furnace steel and optimizing the cost system, were implemented one after another, which fully released the efficiency of the main steel industry and strengthened our creative belief.
During the establishment of L Steel, all internal units also started from finding out the actual problems existing in their own units, and consciously regarded every new problem and contradiction as a good opportunity to "learn" and "learn from" and actively practiced. Now, "the problem is the resource" and "the problem that can't be found is the biggest problem" have become the unchangeable thinking of L Steel, forming a unique "problem management method". The vast number of employees analyze the internal relations of things from complex phenomena, find out the key links in the system chain, seek the "fundamental solution" of the problem, and learn to "work smarter and more effectively".
Grasping L Steel in Creation
Several key links
In the practice of establishing a learning enterprise, we pay attention to the following key links, namely, "learning is the foundation, improving mental model is the key, innovation is the core, and sustainable development is the goal", and take this as the main line, which runs through the whole process of establishing a learning enterprise.
Learning is the foundation.
"Learning" does not mean learning, but learning is an indispensable part of creating a learning enterprise. There are essential differences between the learning emphasized by L Steel and the traditional learning, which are mainly reflected in four aspects: paying attention to the perfection and improvement of people themselves; Emphasis on study and work requires employees to do three things well in their work-work, study and research; Emphasize team learning, manage knowledge on this basis, realize the mutual transformation between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge, and make knowledge spiral in the organization; Pay attention to action learning, reflect after learning, and have new behaviors. L Steel defines enterprise spirit as "learning beyond leadership", that is, learning is regarded as a spirit, not just a means, so that employees can realize the meaning of life in learning.
2. Improving the mind is the key.
The practice of establishing a learning enterprise in L Steel proves that the primary factor of a series of major changes in the enterprise is the change of the mental model of the enterprise members, which has led to changes in the way of thinking, management and work. To this end, they regard the improvement of mental model as the most important thing to create a learning enterprise, and pay attention to the change of concept level to promote the change of behavior level. First, through raising the national flag, military training, morning prayers, character training, "spiritual experience" training and other forms, shape the character of employees and cultivate a positive attitude. Second, pay attention to creating a strong atmosphere of advocating advanced ideas. According to the actual situation of the enterprise, we advocate the concepts of "systematic thinking", "not complaining about others", "not setting limits for ourselves" and "hanging assumptions", and use newspapers, television, light boxes, cultural cards and other carriers to publicize these advanced cultural concepts in a three-dimensional and high-density manner, so that employees can receive subtle education. Third, leaders take the lead in forming a situation in which everyone practices advanced concepts. Under the guidance of advanced concepts, enterprise members work, study and live passionately, forming an atmosphere of being good at learning, being brave in innovation and surpassing, making "L Iron Man" a concept with specific cultural connotations.
3. Innovation is the core.
Innovation is the essential feature of learning organization, and the improvement of learning ability is ultimately reflected in innovation ability. Only by continuous innovation can enterprises continue to surpass and develop. Therefore, in the process of establishing a learning enterprise, we should pay attention to grasping the core of innovation. They break the mystery of innovation, guide employees to establish the concept of "everyone can innovate, everything can innovate, as long as it can effectively improve work, technology, efficiency and create value", establish and improve the innovation mechanism, and form a strong innovation atmosphere. Take employees as the main body of innovation, respect the initiative of the masses, tolerate failures, and let innovation "fly into the homes of ordinary people." We not only advocate innovation in technology, research and development, management and operation, but also carry out party-mass work and spiritual civilization construction in an innovative spirit, hold an innovation conference on ideological and political work, and reward innovative projects. In L Steel, innovation has become the normal content of people's work and life in the organization, which has injected vitality and vitality into the enterprise.
4. Sustainable development is the goal.
What is the purpose of establishing a learning enterprise? Is to promote the sustainable development of enterprises. It is of little significance to create a learning organization for the sake of creating a learning organization. Some enterprises were full of confidence at the beginning of their establishment and invested a lot of time, manpower and material resources. When they develop to a certain stage, they encounter a lot of confusion and even struggle. The fundamental reason is that they have not focused on the long-term development of enterprises, and they are eager for quick success and instant benefit, going through the motions, engaging in formalism and losing their vitality. L steel regards the process of establishment as the process of promoting enterprise development. By establishing a learning enterprise, we can find and solve many key problems that restrict the development of the enterprise, break through the growth ceiling and make the enterprise enter the fast lane of sustainable development.
What should be paid attention to when deepening creation.
a few questions
At present, the upsurge of establishing learning organizations in all walks of life in China is gratifying. However, we must be soberly aware that most of them are not systematic, and a large number of learning organizations are just language games or mere formality, which looks quite impressive and the actual effect is not good. Generally speaking, there are three kinds of unhealthy tendencies: superficial, vague and general. The reason for these problems is that they don't really understand the essence of learning organization theory and lack the motivation to create continuously. Combined with the practice of L Steel, the author thinks that the following problems must be paid attention to in order to continuously and deeply promote the establishment of learning enterprises.
1, and establish a scientific evaluation system.
At present, many domestic enterprises have done a lot of work in improving institutions, concept education, strengthening training and typical guidance when promoting the establishment of learning enterprises, but the research and practice of institutional mechanism construction are relatively insufficient, which has become one of the important factors restricting the promotion. Although some have formed the implementation plan of creation, they are too macro and difficult to operate, and some have established relevant systems in some aspects of creation, but they are not systematic, especially the construction of evaluation system for the overall creation work, which is rare in China. This is a big shortcoming of establishing a learning organization in China. Only evaluation can lead to reflection and improvement; Without evaluation, it is difficult to create nature if you let yourself go. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an evaluation mechanism with clear responsibilities, clear methods and stable operation.
L iron and steel company has made some explorations in establishing evaluation control of learning organization. The Opinions on Deepening the Establishment of Learning Enterprises in L Steel, the Evaluation System for Establishing Learning Enterprises and the Evaluation Guide for Establishing Learning Enterprises have been formulated and issued successively, forming a relatively complete evaluation control system. The evaluation system of establishing a learning enterprise is divided into three levels, which are refined and quantified step by step. Among them, the first-level indicators include five aspects: organization and goal, organizational learning, innovative mechanism, creating characteristics and practical effect. The evaluation criteria include not only prescribed indicators, but also creative measures implemented by each unit according to specific conditions. Evaluation is divided into two parts: expert system evaluation and professional department evaluation. Professional indicators are inspected and evaluated by the competent department, and other indicators are evaluated by an expert group composed of an evaluation committee. According to the evaluation results, the advanced units of AAA and AA learning enterprises are named and commended, and rewarded, so as to promote the continuous improvement and promotion of the overall work with positive demonstration and encouragement.
It should be noted that although the establishment of a learning organization cannot be without certain carriers and forms, initiative and formalization should be avoided in evaluation. We should not only look at the form of creation, but also pay attention to the actual effects such as the atmosphere of organizational learning, the establishment of work improvement mechanism and innovation mechanism, the improvement of indicators, and the enhancement of creative ability to prevent flashy phenomena.
2. The center of gravity moves down and bears fruit at the grassroots level.
Most of the learning enterprises in China are established from top to bottom, and the understanding and actions of the leadership are undoubtedly crucial to the creation effect, especially in the initial stage. This has become the knowledge of many enterprises. However, a common problem worthy of attention is that in many enterprises, the leadership has great creative enthusiasm and determination, while the grassroots seem to have insufficient motivation to create lasting vitality and go deep into it. In the process of creation, we realize that the theory of learning organization can only take root if it is warmly supported by grass-roots managers and widely recognized by grass-roots organizations.
Team is the cell of an enterprise, and it is also the foundation for an enterprise to create a learning organization. Therefore, L Steel has made great efforts to build a learning team. Through research and practice, the basic ideas, principles, systems and assessment and acceptance criteria for creating a learning team have been formed, and the Practice of Creating a Learning Team has been edited and published. Grass-roots workshops and teams show great enthusiasm in the practice of creating learning teams. Although many grass-roots managers don't have a comprehensive and profound understanding, they are quick-witted and good at working creatively in combination with reality, which fully shows the vitality and vitality of grass-roots management. Through the establishment, the team's learning ability, creativity and self-transcendence ability have been continuously improved, which makes L Steel's organizational cells more energetic and creative, and provides a strong driving force for the continuous promotion of the establishment of learning enterprises.
3, everything from reality, pay attention to innovation, pay attention to actual effect.
Different enterprises have different objective conditions, so we can't stick to a fixed model and copy it mechanically when creating a learning organization. On the basis of meeting the needs of practice, we should extract the essence from many learning organization theories, help people grasp the basic viewpoints through study, discussion and practice, and creatively carry out the creation activities in combination with their own reality. After the initial success of the pilot project of establishing a learning enterprise in a steel plant, L Steel has not been promoted in the whole group according to a unified model, nor has it set goals and plans for all subsidiaries. Instead, it widely publicizes the experience and practices of steel mills and gives all units a process of full study, research, digestion and absorption. Through macro guidance, all units are allowed to explore and innovate boldly on the premise of keeping the overall value orientation consistent, and finally a situation of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is formed. In practice, some related units, such as No.4 Factory in Tiequ and No.5 Factory in Gangqu, broke the pattern of their own creation and established a * * * sharing platform and a * * * award-winning forum. , volunteered to form a team to create together, which promoted the deepening of creation.
The establishment of a learning enterprise should be combined with the actual work of the enterprise and deeply rooted in concrete practice, and it is necessary to avoid engaging in activities or sports from concept to concept. One of the important reasons why many units have not gone deep into the creation of learning enterprises is that they have not systematically regarded it as a holistic work, which has not attracted the attention and cooperation of the organizational system, but regarded it as an additional work, resulting in "two skins" between creation and actual work. L Steel integrates the creation work into daily management as a long-term work to promote management innovation, improve organizational operation mode, and improve the market competitiveness and economic benefits of enterprises. In the improvement work, we should carry out the learning organization theory, seek more effective working methods in the creation, and organically combine the creation with the central work, thus better eliminating the vague understanding that some employees have no time, energy and are too busy to do this work.
4. Inclusive, comprehensive and comprehensive application
Learning organization theory is an open theory, which emphasizes keeping pace with the times through learning, which shows that it does not exclude all advanced things or any advanced and scientific professional management theory, but should learn, accept all achievements of human civilization that are beneficial to the development of organizations and transform them into organizational capabilities. Because of this, this management theory is more in line with the development law of things.
There is a tendency to think that the establishment of learning organization is the most advanced management theory, which can replace all other management methods, which is unrealistic. Learning organization is not omnipotent, and it is impossible to cure all diseases. For example, solving problems at the action level, learning organizations are not as good as process combing; Corporate Identity System (CIS) is not as good as solving the problem of corporate image. It is better to solve the problem of site management than 5S management. Applying learning organization theory does not mean excluding other management tools. Many advanced management theories and learning organization theories are interrelated and integrated. L Steel pays attention to the comprehensive application of various management theories and methods, especially the close combination with corporate culture construction, and cultivates a corporate culture with distinctive "learning" characteristics. For example, the enterprise spirit of "learning beyond leading" and the enterprise concept of "thinking systematically and being brave in innovation". The establishment of learning enterprise has become the main carrier of L steel enterprise culture construction, and the cultivation of learning enterprise culture provides a deep soil for the establishment of learning enterprise, so that it can continue to advance in depth, thus achieving the effect of mutual promotion and complementarity.
Too much emphasis on learning organization theory and exclusion of other management theories run counter to the spirit of learning organization theory. On June 5438+065438+ 10, 2004, Peter Shengji issued an appeal on 13 "symposium on government, industry and learning". China famous management scholar Shi Zi Elanyin also wrote an article after the meeting, proposing to "forget the word" learning organization ". Of course, the premise of forgetting the learning organization is to understand its true meaning. "Forgetting" is not really forgetting, but for better action. David Calvin, a professor at Harvard Business School, once pointed out that when learning becomes an essential element to complete a job, it will neither be recognized alone nor mentioned publicly. Therefore, when we no longer deliberately mention the theory of learning organization, but apply it naturally and unconsciously, we are getting closer and closer to the real learning organization.