In our Human Resource studies related to Training and Development, we read and hear about collaborative learning and systems thinking as key concepts and drivers for the learning organization. Systems thinking, in particular, brings forward the need for understanding organizational and management issues in context with each other. Research and analysis are all part of systems thinking which allow for organizations to learn and to grow using evidence based methodologies. It seems, however, that there is a continuing divide between the learning that business organizations achieve based on management research and the learning that is produced in post-secondary communities, based on purely academic research.
This divide is explored in an interesting article, by Fiona McQuarrie.
Click here to read the article
Isn’t it time for research that results in management learning and research that results in academic learning to come together and be shared in order to be truly collaborative? Ms. McQuarrie’s article speaks very clearly to the need for all of us to start communicating about what we have learned, so that we move out of a silo-based mentality that hoards information and into a collaborative, shared learning community that benefits all members of our respective academic, management, and Human Resources related constituencies.
Discussion Questions:
- How will you apply what you have learned through research in your HR studies into practical application as an HR professional?
- What benefit does academic research bring to the Human Resources profession?
- How should organizations share research based learning inside and outside their respective communities?
- Where can you access current Human Resources related research that provides leading edge learning?