INLS 131
Management of Information Agencies
Fall 1999

Getting Ready for Class of Sept. 13, 1999

LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS AND STRATEGIC PLANNING

The notion of an organization that learns and adapts is currently much in vogue in management writing today. It comes as a reaction to the enormous changes wrought by technology and an increasing international orientation. Two readings that discuss this notion that I would like you to read are:

Choo, Chun Wei, "The Intelligent Organization," Chapter 1 of her Information for the Intelligent Organization. Information Today, 1998.

DiBella, Anthony I. "Recognizing Your Organization's Learning Portfolio," Chapter 5 of his How Organizations Learn. 1998.

Two additional readings that are not required but may be of interest to you are:

Janov, Jill, "Systems Thinking: Seeing Organizations as Relationships in Action," Chapter 6 of her The Inventive Organization. Jossey-Bass, 1994. [Probably of more interest to IS folks]

Stueart, Robert D. and Barbara B. Moran, "Management Development; A Historical Overview," Chapter 1 of their Library and Information Center Management. 5th ed. Libraries Unlimited, 1998. (On Reserve) [Probably of more interest to LS folks]

Think about how these ideas relate to the organization you described in the first assignment. Comment in your Portfolio and in class discussion.