On the systems intelligence of a learning organization: Introducing a new measure

Abstract

We introduce and validate the Organizational Systems Intelligence (OSI) scale, a measurement tool for learning organization, and propose the scale as a useful tool for human resource development (HRD) at the individual level. The scale complements the operationalization of Senge's “Five Disciplines” of the learning organization. OSI provides a new perspective that links employees' perceptions of various seemingly mundane everyday practices with the organizationally desirable effects of a learning organization. The model suggests developmental perspectives that highlight micro-level behavioral, informal, interactional, and accessible-to-all aspects of the learning organization as a route to improvement. Operating in the vernacular and focusing on human experience in organizations, the OSI perspective points to improvement possibilities in and among people in contrast to structural manager-level constructs. It contributes to HRD literature that explores developmental outcomes and theoretical understanding from human experience in contrast to rank, status, structure, or hierarchy. With its bottom-up logic as an operationalization of the Sengean learning organization as a form of applied systems thinking, the model introduces an employee-level perspective of systems thinking in action into the field of HRD. It is demonstrated that with respect to perceived performance, the OSI scale performs equally well as the widely used Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire.