Bente Elkjaer (2004) writes about the case of a company called Administrative Case Consideration (ACC) a Danish public enterprise employing just under 300 people involved in processing claims for economic compensation. The company launched a project on developing a learning organization, involving a training programme that took place partly off site and ran over the course of a year. The programme aimed to change employees so they would adopt new ways of thinking and acting more appropriate in a learning organization. At the start the professionals, mainly law graduates, were sceptical about developing a learning organization. When the training programme turned out to be very stressful, they became even more sceptical about ACC becoming a learning organization. Rather than teaching the participants how to cooperate in problem-oriented projects, representatives from management commented on and evaluated these projects in a top-down fashion. Whether or not the projects continued depended on management’s say so. While the training programme was aimed at the professionals taking on new and more responsible roles, no skills or knowledge were taught in any depth. The organization did not become more democratic, and more control measures were introduced on which the professionals had little real say.

Questions

1. If you had been in control of this organization, what would you have done?

2. What does the author suggest should have been done?

3. Do you agree?