Thesis advisor: Rebecca Lowenhaupt / This qualitative study examined the organizational learning mechanisms (OLMs) used by school district educational leaders to improve the implementation of curriculum reform. This portion of the study focused on the OLMs used by central office boundary spanners to help school principals implement curriculum reform chosen by school district leaders. Drawing from interview and document data analysis, the results of this study indicated that OLMs used by central office boundary spanners are critical to the successful implementation of school reform. Examples of the OLMs used by central office boundary spanners included utilizing online technology and providing whole and small group support as well as individualized coaching to help school principals implement curriculum reform. Frequent communication, collaborative opportunities, and consistent messaging with school principals surfaced as the key OLM techniques used by central office boundary spanners to consistently improve the implementation of school reform. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Joseph O'Keefe / This qualitative case study examined how, when faced with an externally driven policy, central office administrators worked as an internal team to interpret mandates, match mandates to current needs, and reorient the organization through professional learning opportunities. In order to comply with state mandates, in this case the Massachusetts Model System for Educator Evaluation (MMSEE), central office administrators had been called upon to interpret the requirements of the new system, thus impacting professional development, decision-making, relationships, and forcing COAs to consider how best to meet the needs of the mandate and constituents simultaneously. Through interviews with one district’s COAs and principals, in addition to a document review, findings revealed a district COA team committed to the full implementation of the MMSEE for teachers, but who were in the middle of figuring out how best to accomplish the mandate’s goals to support principal growth and development. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Este estudo objetivou principalmente analisar, sob a lente da aprendizagem organizacional, se as mudanças ocorridas nas relações do trabalho afetaram Organizações de Apoio às Entidades Sindicais. Sua atenção recaiu em especial nas negociações coletivas e atividades dos sindicatos nos anos 90. As finalidades específicas deste trabalho foram: identificar as competências organizacionais destas organizações antes do período da década de 90; as competências organizacionais demandadas pelas organizações a partir da primeira metade dos anos 90; como os processos de aprendizagem organizacional desenvolvidos foram percebidos pelos sindicatos após 1994 no Brasil; os eventos que originaram estas novas competências, os conhecimentos associados a estas competências e como a rede constituída a partir destes processos de aprendizagem organizacional afetou os demais agentes da mesma; e, finalmente, elaborar histórico das organizações no período da década de 90 em diante para contextualização do estudo. Os pontos de partida teóricos foram dois: a aprendizagem organizacional (inclusive a discussão econômica sobre conhecimento e aprendizagem), relações de trabalho (para a contextualização do ambiente de atuação destas organizações). Sobre aprendizagem organizacional abordaram-se o debate sobre competências organizacionais e, particularmente, a própria aprendizagem organizacional. A discussão teórica sobre aprendizagem - organizacional concentrou se nas compilações existentes e vertentes nelas identificadas. A abordagem teórica baseou-se no construcionismo social interpretacionista. A pesquisa empírica investigou as atividades de duas organizações de apoio ao movimento sindical brasileiro com foco temporal no período de 1990 em diante. A pesquisa realizada foi qualitativa, descritiva, com coleta de dados por meio de análise documental e bibliográfica e entrevistas semi-estruturadas. A pesquisa realizada demonstrou que as organizações experimentaram importantes processos de aprendizagem organizacional nos quais novas competências foram desenvolvidas. Destacou-se a competência de relacionamento, responsável pela estruturação de redes de conhecimento sindical que permitiram a introdução de inovações nas organizações estudadas e sua incorporação ao sistema nacional de inovação. / The main target of this study was to use the organizational learning approach to analyze whether the changes that took place regarding labor relationships affected organizations that supported unions, causing new competencies and creating organizational learning processes. The thesis was especially interested in collective bargaining and union activities during the 90?s. The thesis intended to get these following specific targets: to identify, under Mills? concept, the organizational competencies before the 90?s; the organizational competencies demanded by these organizations from the first half of the 90?s; what the unions noticed about the organizational learning processes after 1994 in Brazil; how the organizational net formed through these organizational learning processes affected the other net partners; finally, to describe the organizational historic reports about the 90?s to design the study context. Regarding the theoretical point of view, two starting points were considered: the organizational learning (including also the economic elements of the discussion about knowledge and learning), labor relations (from where the contextual elements of the organizational enviroment were taken). Regarding organizational learning, some aspects about organizational competencies and, more deeply, about the organizational learning itself were studied. As for this point, theoretical discussion was focused on the compilation works and the several tendencies identified by them. The theoretical approach was based on social constructionist interpretativism. The empiric research covered two important supportive union organizations in the Brazilian union movement as of in 1990. The research was qualitative, descriptive and obtained data from documents, bibliographie analyzis and semi-structured interviews. The research showed that both organizations experienced important organizational learning processes new competencies were developed on these processes. Among these competencies, the relationship competencies, responsible for the nets?union knowledge that allowed the introduction of innovation inside the two studied organizations, as well as the system of national innovation.

The capture and beneficial application of learning from past experiences in projects has been an area of interest and debate for many years. The implementation of lessons learnt is commonly acknowledged as difficult. Existing studies point to the deficiencies in current practice but few propose practical approaches to improve the situation. A key barrier to learning in projects is the time-critical nature of most projects which makes the creation of time and space to learn and then apply the resultant learning problematic. Other inhibitors include the variety and temporality of project teams, the geographical spread of many projects and client pressures to reduce costs. The aim of this research was to improve project learning processes in multi-phase project environments through the identification and application of relevant organizational learning and knowledge management theories. The research was based on a single company longitudinal case study in an infrastructure support services organization. An event-based approach to project lessons was developed which focuses on benefits realisation and measurement. The processes employed overcome some of the key barriers to the effective capture of lessons learnt and their subsequent implementation i.e. shortage of time, different learning styles of individuals, lack of effective capture mechanisms, poor articulation of benefits realisation, lack of management sponsorship. A model was also developed which acts as a multi-faceted lens which aids the understanding of the dynamics of project-based learning. The model was tested through a series of workshops. In order to assist the roll-out of the new approach across the case study organisation and outline implementation guide that has been developed. The approach can also be promoted externally to improve project management practice across the wider construction industry. In addition, the study also revealed that event-based enactment of complex/abstract theories can be used as a tool to create improved praxis by overcoming the need to explain the theories to the actors involved. The main contribution to research is the development of a new approach which extends existing theory in the areas of learning, knowledge management and boundary objects in multi-phase project contexts. It achieves this through the synergistic use of the theories employed which support the development of reflective practitioners with the skills to engender a 'learning how to learn' culture within project-based environments. Further testing of ongoing benefits monitoring and establishing causality is needed. Overall, the methodology developed is highly adaptable and can be used by others in different organizational contexts to improve organizational learning, business performance, client satisfaction and wider stakeholder outcomes.

Este estudo visa analisar a relação entre Aprendizagem Organizacional (AO) e Centro de Excelência (CoE), através de um estudo de caso em uma multinacional do setor de Tecnologia da Informação nos Estados Unidos (matriz) e no Brasil (filial), para validar as seguintes hipóteses: a) AO afeta positivamente CoE; e b) a condição de matriz ou subsidiária afeta a relação entre a AO e CoE. Para a formação de um Centro de Excelência é fundamental ter uma estrutura de Aprendizagem Organizacional efetiva, que promova troca de competências que possam agregar valor para a empresa, e que possibilite que elas sejam compartilhadas entre as unidades da organização. Apesar da importância estratégica desses temas para alavancar a vantagem competitiva das empresas, ainda há poucos estudos na literatura acadêmica que os relacionam, havendo uma lacuna ainda maior quanto à metodologia quantitativa. Sendo assim, foi feito um estudo de caso quantitativo, com o uso de Survey, em que foram analisadas as respostas de 91 funcionários através de equações estruturais, usando o software SmartPLS. Os resultados evidenciam a influência positiva de Aprendizagem Organizacional em Centro de Excelência, sendo que há alguns subprocessos de AO que apresentaram uma alta significância nessa influência. Não foram encontradas evidências que confirmem a moderação da condição de matriz ou subsidiária nessa relação / This study aims to analyze the relationship between Organizational Learning (OL) and Center of Excellence (CoE), through a case study in an information technology multinational in the United States (headquarters) and in Brazil (subsidiary), to validate the following hypotheses: a) OL positively affects CoE; and b) the matrix or subsidiary condition affects the relationship between OL and CoE. In order to form a Center of Excellence, it is essential to have an effective Organizational Learning structure that promotes the exchange of competences that can add value to the company and that allow them to be shared among the units of the organization. Despite the strategic importance of these themes to leverage the competitive advantage of companies, there are still few studies in the academic literature that relate them, and there is an even larger gap regarding quantitative methodology. Thus, a quantitative case study was done using Survey, in which the responses of 91 employees were analyzed through structural equations using the SmartPLS software. The results evidenced the positive influence of Organizational Learning in a Center of Excellence, and there are some subprocesses of OL that presented a high significance in this influence. No evidence was found to confirm the moderation of the condition of matrix or subsidiary in this relation

Este estudo visa analisar a relação entre Aprendizagem Organizacional (AO) e Centro de Excelência (CoE), através de um estudo de caso em uma multinacional do setor de Tecnologia da Informação nos Estados Unidos (matriz) e no Brasil (filial), para validar as seguintes hipóteses: a) AO afeta positivamente CoE; e b) a condição de matriz ou subsidiária afeta a relação entre a AO e CoE. Para a formação de um Centro de Excelência é fundamental ter uma estrutura de Aprendizagem Organizacional efetiva, que promova troca de competências que possam agregar valor para a empresa, e que possibilite que elas sejam compartilhadas entre as unidades da organização. Apesar da importância estratégica desses temas para alavancar a vantagem competitiva das empresas, ainda há poucos estudos na literatura acadêmica que os relacionam, havendo uma lacuna ainda maior quanto à metodologia quantitativa. Sendo assim, foi feito um estudo de caso quantitativo, com o uso de Survey, em que foram analisadas as respostas de 91 funcionários através de equações estruturais, usando o software SmartPLS. Os resultados evidenciam a influência positiva de Aprendizagem Organizacional em Centro de Excelência, sendo que há alguns subprocessos de AO que apresentaram uma alta significância nessa influência. Não foram encontradas evidências que confirmem a moderação da condição de matriz ou subsidiária nessa relação / This study aims to analyze the relationship between Organizational Learning (OL) and Center of Excellence (CoE), through a case study in an information technology multinational in the United States (headquarters) and in Brazil (subsidiary), to validate the following hypotheses: a) OL positively affects CoE; and b) the matrix or subsidiary condition affects the relationship between OL and CoE. In order to form a Center of Excellence, it is essential to have an effective Organizational Learning structure that promotes the exchange of competences that can add value to the company and that allow them to be shared among the units of the organization. Despite the strategic importance of these themes to leverage the competitive advantage of companies, there are still few studies in the academic literature that relate them, and there is an even larger gap regarding quantitative methodology. Thus, a quantitative case study was done using Survey, in which the responses of 91 employees were analyzed through structural equations using the SmartPLS software. The results evidenced the positive influence of Organizational Learning in a Center of Excellence, and there are some subprocesses of OL that presented a high significance in this influence. No evidence was found to confirm the moderation of the condition of matrix or subsidiary in this relation

Este estudo objetivou principalmente analisar, sob a lente da aprendizagem organizacional, se as mudanças ocorridas nas relações do trabalho afetaram Organizações de Apoio às Entidades Sindicais. Sua atenção recaiu em especial nas negociações coletivas e atividades dos sindicatos nos anos 90. As finalidades específicas deste trabalho foram: identificar as competências organizacionais destas organizações antes do período da década de 90; as competências organizacionais demandadas pelas organizações a partir da primeira metade dos anos 90; como os processos de aprendizagem organizacional desenvolvidos foram percebidos pelos sindicatos após 1994 no Brasil; os eventos que originaram estas novas competências, os conhecimentos associados a estas competências e como a rede constituída a partir destes processos de aprendizagem organizacional afetou os demais agentes da mesma; e, finalmente, elaborar histórico das organizações no período da década de 90 em diante para contextualização do estudo. Os pontos de partida teóricos foram dois: a aprendizagem organizacional (inclusive a discussão econômica sobre conhecimento e aprendizagem), relações de trabalho (para a contextualização do ambiente de atuação destas organizações). Sobre aprendizagem organizacional abordaram-se o debate sobre competências organizacionais e, particularmente, a própria aprendizagem organizacional. A discussão teórica sobre aprendizagem - organizacional concentrou se nas compilações existentes e vertentes nelas identificadas. A abordagem teórica baseou-se no construcionismo social interpretacionista. A pesquisa empírica investigou as atividades de duas organizações de apoio ao movimento sindical brasileiro com foco temporal no período de 1990 em diante. A pesquisa realizada foi qualitativa, descritiva, com coleta de dados por meio de análise documental e bibliográfica e entrevistas semi-estruturadas. A pesquisa realizada demonstrou que as organizações experimentaram importantes processos de aprendizagem organizacional nos quais novas competências foram desenvolvidas. Destacou-se a competência de relacionamento, responsável pela estruturação de redes de conhecimento sindical que permitiram a introdução de inovações nas organizações estudadas e sua incorporação ao sistema nacional de inovação. / The main target of this study was to use the organizational learning approach to analyze whether the changes that took place regarding labor relationships affected organizations that supported unions, causing new competencies and creating organizational learning processes. The thesis was especially interested in collective bargaining and union activities during the 90?s. The thesis intended to get these following specific targets: to identify, under Mills? concept, the organizational competencies before the 90?s; the organizational competencies demanded by these organizations from the first half of the 90?s; what the unions noticed about the organizational learning processes after 1994 in Brazil; how the organizational net formed through these organizational learning processes affected the other net partners; finally, to describe the organizational historic reports about the 90?s to design the study context. Regarding the theoretical point of view, two starting points were considered: the organizational learning (including also the economic elements of the discussion about knowledge and learning), labor relations (from where the contextual elements of the organizational enviroment were taken). Regarding organizational learning, some aspects about organizational competencies and, more deeply, about the organizational learning itself were studied. As for this point, theoretical discussion was focused on the compilation works and the several tendencies identified by them. The theoretical approach was based on social constructionist interpretativism. The empiric research covered two important supportive union organizations in the Brazilian union movement as of in 1990. The research was qualitative, descriptive and obtained data from documents, bibliographie analyzis and semi-structured interviews. The research showed that both organizations experienced important organizational learning processes new competencies were developed on these processes. Among these competencies, the relationship competencies, responsible for the nets?union knowledge that allowed the introduction of innovation inside the two studied organizations, as well as the system of national innovation.

Financial service industry leaders successfully incorporating a knowledge management system (KMS) into the overall organizational strategy experience several benefits over firms that do not implement an effective KMS. This multiple case study was an exploration of the strategies financial service industry leaders use to incorporate a KMS in organizational strategy. The case population consisted of 5 leaders from 4 financial services organizations with successful experience implementing a KMS into their overall organizational strategy. The conceptual framework for this study was knowledge conversion theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews, interview notes, and review of company documents. Data were compiled and organized, disassembled into fragments, reassembled into a sequence of groups, and interpreted for meaning. Methodological triangulation and member checking validated the trustworthiness of those interpretations. Three themes emerged from the 5 interviews: a continuous improvement environment facilitated KMS incorporation, supportive leadership facilitated KMS incorporation, and a learning organization environment improved KMS incorporation. Financial services leaders could use these themes to increase knowledge-sharing capabilities and the potential for innovation and creative capabilities of their organizations to ensure long-term organizational sustainability. The implications for positive social change include the potential for increased revenue that leaders could use to make charitable contributions to further the development of local communities. In addition, leaders' use of lean processing could reduce environmental waste, which would benefit the local community because its residents could enjoy a cleaner environment.

The primary objective of this thesis is to evolve a method for assessing and developing features of a learning organization . To fulfill this, I approached the thesis by examining several research questions and using multiple research methodologies. The research questions were not all established at the outset. Rather, they evolved as features of a journey down a road less traveled. With this journey came the decision to write the thesis in the first person. The first research question was Q1: What will bridge the divide between organizational learning and the learning organization? By reviewing the extant literature on organizational learning and the learning organization, I developed a theoretical framework that linked these two streams. The framework suggests that the extent of divide between the two streams is determined by the extent of learning transfer. The learning transfer is affected by the learning barriers operating at the levels of learning (i.e., individuals, groups, and organizational). This led me to my second research question Q2: What are these barriers to learning transfer and how do they impact the levels of learning in the organization? I cumulated the dispersed literature on learning barriers, and synthesized the learning barriers into five key dimensions: Intrapersonal, relational, cultural, structural, and societal. I then used the Delphi technique on 17 individuals to investigate the impact of the learning barriers on the levels of learning. This generated two additional research questions. The third research question was Q3: How do individuals initiate a double-loop change? This deals with the little researched area of initiation of double-loop change whilst engaging with the interfaces at the levels of learning. I used multiple case studies to examine this question and found that individuals transit through four distinct stages when initiating double-loop change: 'embedded', 'embedded discomfited', 'scripted', and 'unscripted'. Once double-loop learning has been initiated at the individual level, it is important that it is transferred across the organization. Therefore, my fourth research question was Q4: How does a new shared understanding for a double-loop change develop across the organization? I did an in-depth, single case based investigation of an organization. Using Identity and Complexity theory perspectives, I tracked the evolving new shared understanding through four phases: de-identification phase, situated re-identification phase, transition phase, and identification with core ideology phase. The key insights from examining these research questions, particularly insights from examining Q3 and Q4, enabled me to suggest nine key organizational interventions necessary to overcome the learning barriers and develop a learning organization: Identifying, developing, and dispersing double-loop mastery; Enabling constructive contradictions; Creating a superordinate organizational identity; Building emotional intelligence (in individuals and groups); Ambidextrous leadership; Strategic support for experimentation; Promoting 'systems doing'; Accessibility of valid information; Institutionalizing scanning across industry boundaries. When these nine organizational interventions are implemented, they produce five new learning organization orientations: genetic diversity, organizational ideology, organizational dualism, organizational coupling, and strategic play. These five new learning organizational orientations provide the archetypes of the learning organization. I then developed an instrument to assess these five new orientations, and did a preliminary testing of the instrument. While aspects of my work overlaid with previous knowledge, new advances in knowledge were established by: Postulating a link between the streams of organizational learning and learning organization Synthesizing learning barriers into the five key dimensions, and investigating their impact on the levels of learning Understanding the stages of double-loop learning initiation by an individual, whilst engaging with the interfaces at the levels of learning Understanding the process of a new shared understanding evolving Postulating five new orientations of the learning organization

Sustained success for an organization is based upon its ability to constantly realign with opportunities that emerge within their markets. Thus, organizations must continually evolve as markets evolve. This thesis examined how mature stage organizations within the financial services industry can adopt entrepreneurial approaches to learn, evolve and improve their competitiveness. Despite the rate of technological change, globalization, and convergence of industries that has occurred in the last decade, there is no clear model to support the adoption of entrepreneurial activities within mature stage organizations. Adopting an exploratory qualitative case study approach, the researcher interviewed informants with experience in the financial services industry in Australia, Europe, North and South Asia, and the United States of America to explore the research question: How do mature stage organizations integrate strategic alliances as an entrepreneurial approach and capitalize on learning in response to evolving markets? Interviewing key informants within the financial services industry, the study confirmed a range of means of conceptualizing, introducing, and managing new business initiatives through strategic alliances. These findings were synthesized into a hypothetical organization in which, it became evident, the more entrepreneurial and innovative the organization became, the more capable it was of sourcing and responding to new opportunities within existing and related markets. The study confirmed the need in strategic alliances for shared vision, strong leadership, effective communication of the organization's direction and strategy, a culture that embraces flexibility, business competence, a commitment to respect and manage differences between organizations, an ability to work collaboratively, and a willingness to upgrade or replace business processes and technologies to support innovation. The study sought to provide an understanding of how entrepreneurial approaches can remain fluid rather than become static, and how they can be preserved within mature organizations. The importance of leadership, commonality of vision, collaboration, communication, integration of business structures and processes, and willingness to learn from each other began to emerge as central issues from the initial interviews. Consequently, a second research question was added: How do partnering organizations operating in the mature stage of a corporate life cycle within the construct of a cross industry agreement strategic alliance adopt an entrepreneurial approach and mutually learn to recast the direction of their relationship? The study confirmed that organizations should develop and support a culture that embraces learning, flexibility and change. Entrepreneurial organizations require vision, leadership, business structures, processes, and competencies to support innovation. This research adds to the field by establishing that innovation is embedded in the ability of partnering organizations to learn continuously and collaboratively. In doing so, they become more capable of realigning with changing markets and creating and capitalizing on new markets. The research concludes that less hierarchical organizational structures within partnering organizations support strategic alliances and promote the ability of organizations to learn how to cooperate, collaborate, and grow individually and mutually together.