THE ROLE OF LEARNING IN TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Technological changes are proceeding so fast in response to competition that individuals and organizations keep having to update their capabilities and adapt quickly to the changing work environment. As such, learning becomes increasingly important. In particular, the challenge is for companies to move towards the Learning organization, which may just become the front-line of future business strategies. The preoccupation of this Thesis in its discussion of the role of learning in technological development is hence: the challenge of the Leaming Organization. Although the concept of learning has been widely studied in many countries, this thesis can be considered one of the first in Singapore. As a result, this thesis needs to take a wide perspective and give an overview of the background work in this area. This is done in Chapter 2 where the various literature on organizational learning is appraised with a Singaporean touch. From the many recommendations given in the literature, the characteristics of the Learning Organization are derived. In Chapter 3, learning is then linked to technological development. The discovery is that learning for technological progress goes beyond learning technical capabilities. Intangible forms of learning (learning to learn, to change and adapt) are crucial, and learning is a precondition to innovation, an integral part of the technological development process, and is itself undergoing changes, making it a form of process innovation. A more narrow focus is provided in Chapters 4 and 5 where training, a form of learning which is already widely practiced in Singapore, is looked into. Some general analysis on training is presented together with a case-study done by the author, thus injecting some empirical information. The challenge is to transform from extensive training to becoming learning organizations. Finally in Chapter 6, the government's role in promoting learning by organizations is discussed and areas for further studies are suggested