Installing mechanisms and instilling values: the role of leaders in organizational learning

The approach to organizational learning in this article is anchored in structural and cultural facets. The structural facet focuses on organizational learning mechanisms, which are institutionalized structural and procedural arrangements allowing organizations to systematically collect, analyze, store, disseminate, and use information that is relevant to the performance of the organization. The cultural facet focuses on the shared values, without which these mechanisms are likely to be enacted as rituals rather than as means for real learning. The article describes examples of this approach and focuses mainly on the role and style of organizational leaders in determining values that facilitate effective learning.