The Learning Organization

Program/Project Management Resource List #70

Revised March 2012

"research authorizations . . . are intended to be rather broad in scope so as to permit the technical staff to use their own initiative in pursuing the problems.", George Lewis, the NACA's first director of research, in Model Research, vol. I, p. 104.

A learning organization incorporates the best elements of knowledge management, innovation management, group dynamics, and change management to create an environment in which its workers freely share their experiences, where they're given the freedom to create products and processes which fulfill the organization's vision, and react quickly to changes in their environment. As one can see from the above quote, NACA, NASA's "ancestor", possessed many of the cultural attributes of a learning organization long before the phrase was used in 1990. They are part of NASA's recipe for a successful future.

All items are available at the Headquarters Library, except as noted. NASA Headquarters employees and contractors: Call x0168 or email Library@hq.nasa.gov for information on borrowing or in-library use of any of these items. Members of the public: Contact your local library for the availability of these items. NASA Headquarters employees can request additional materials or research on this topic. The Library welcomes your comments or suggestions about this webpage.

Contents: Policies Books E-books Articles and Reports Internet Resources

NASA Policies

The following policies and procedural requirements can be accessed by anyone through the NASA Online Directives Information System:
 
NASA Policy Directive 1000.3D: The NASA Organization
 
NASA Policy Directive 2200.1B: Management of NASA Scientific and Technical Information
 
NASA Procedural Requirements 2200.2B: Requirements for Documentation, Approval, and Dissemination of NASA Scientific and Technical Information
 
NASA Policy Directive 3410.2F: Employee and Organizational Development
 
NASA Procedural Requirements 7120.6: Lessons Learned Process

Books

Andriessen, J. H. Erik, and Babette Fahlbruch (eds.). How to Manage Experience Sharing: From Organisational Surprises to Organisational Knowledge. Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Boston, MA: Elsevier, 2004. ISBN: 0080443494
HD58.82 .H694 2004 PPM-STACKS
 
Bennet, Alex, and David Bennet. Organizational Survival in the New World: The Intelligent Complex Adaptive System. Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Boston, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004. ISBN: 0750677120
HD58.8 .B46 O74 2004 PPM-STACKS
 
Holton, Elwood F. III, Timothy T. Baldwin, (eds.). Improving Learning Transfer in Organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2003. ISBN: 0787965405
HD58.82 .I47 2003 PPM-STACKS
 
Mahler, Julianne G., and Maureen Hogan Casamayou. Organizational Learning at NASA: The Challenger and Columbia Accidents. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2009 ISBN: 9781589012660
TL521.312 .M32 2009 BOOKSTACKS
 
March, James G. The Ambiguities of Experience. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780801448775
HD58.82 .M3668 2010 PPM-STACKS
 

E-books

All e-books listed here are available to NASA civil servants and contractors through the Books 24x7 service of SATERN.
 
Deiser, Roland. Designing the Smart Organization: How Breakthrough Corporate Learning Initiatives Drive Strategic Change and Innovation. Jossey-Bass, 2009. ISBN: 9780470490679
 
Lytras, Miltiadis D., and Ambjorn Naeve (eds.). Intelligent Learning Infrastructure for Knowledge Intensive Organizations: A Semantic Web Perspective. IGI Global, 2006. ISBN: 9781591405030
 
Marquardt, Michael J. Building the Learning Organization: Achieving Strategic Advantage through a Commitment to Learning, 3rd Edition. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2011. ISBN: 9781904838326
 
Maula, Marjatta. Organizations as Learning Systems: ‘Living Composition’ as an Enabling Infrastructure. Emerald Group Publishing, 2006. ISBN: 9780080439198
 
Purington, Cliff, Chris Butler, and Sarah Fister Gale. Built to Learn: The Inside Story of How Rockwell Collins Became a True Learning Organization. AMACOM, 2003. ISBN: 9780814407721
 
Salisbury, Mark. iLearning: How to Create an Innovative Learning Organization. Pfeiffer, 2009. ISBN: 9780470292655

Articles and Reports

Carlson, Nancy M. Community of Practice: A Path to Strategic Learning. INEEL/EXT-03-01405. Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, April 2003.
(910604: (Aug. 2009) DOE Information Bridge)
 
__________. "A Path to Collaborative Strategic Learning", in: Northern Rocky Mountain Educational Research Association (NRMERA), Jackson Hole, WY, Oct. 8-11, 2003.
(910781: (Aug. 2009) DOE Information Bridge)
 
Cooper, Lynne P., et al. "Using Knowledge-Based Systems to Support Learning of Organizational Knowledge: A Case Study", in: Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-36), Big Island, HI, Jan. 6-9, 2003.
(20070034881: (Dec. 2007) NTRS)
 
Lemyre, Louise, et al. Literature Review on Best Practices in Collective Learning. DRDC CSS CR 2010- 11. Defence R&D Canada – Centre for Security Science, Ottawa, Ont., Nov. 2010.
(ADA551081: (Nov. 2010) DTIC)
 
Templeton, Gary F. "Using CASE to Adopt Organizational Learning at NASA", in: The 2002 NASA Faculty Fellowship Program Research Reports. NASA/CR-2003-212397. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, April 2003.
(20030093583: (May 2008) NTRS)
 
Wall, Gregory H. "Developing Learning Organizations at the Small Unit Level", in: Essays Submitted for the General Douglas MacArthur Military Leadership Writing Competition, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, 2010.
(ADA550350: (Jan. 2010) DTIC)

Internet Resources

Larsen, Kai. The Learning Organizations Homepage. 2002 [March 27, 2012].
http://leeds-faculty.colorado.edu/larsenk/learnorg.html
 
Smith, Mark K. The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. The Learning Organization. 2001 [March 27, 2012].
http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-organization.htm
 
__________. The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. Peter Senge and the Learning Organization. 2001 [March 27, 2012].
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/senge.htm
 
Skyrme, David J. KM Resources - Insights. The Learning Organization. 2010 [March 27, 2012].
http://www.skyrme.com/kmbriefings/3lrnorg.htm
 
Society for Organizational Learning. 2012 [March 27, 2012].
http://www.solonline.org/
  March 2012