The Fifth Discipline

However, there are differences. Undoubtedly, the fact that Senge seems to see in quality management, which soon enough metamorphosed into total quality management (TQM) and a lot of related jargon, the kind of pressure and anxiety for achieving results that could be quantified on the balance sheet, argues the limits of quality management as a defining concept. Senge seems to be working toward a method of accomplishing quality production and management that is, as far as possible, free of too much anxiety and stress.

Two factors of Senge's work stand out in this regard. First there is the notion of the so-called learning organization itself and the connection that Senge makes to the dynamic character of an organization that is characterized by learning and deve

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al accomplishment eludes many organizations. The fact that more than a third of all Fortune 500 firms of 1970 had disappeared by 1983 (Senge, 1994, p. 17) is instructive in this regard. The larger point is that change, whether anticipated or not, characterizes organizational behavior, and the competence with which change is addressed has consequences for the organization involved. To the degree possible, an organization should be as alert to change as it is to setting and meeting goals. The learning organization, i.e., the organization whose members are geared for encountering change competently, in full understanding of the consequences of acting toward change in a specific way, is the kind that can best respond to the vicissitudes of market development. The purpose of The Fifth Discipline can thus be interpreted as pointing organizational behavior in the direction of market and response competence, always with systems thinking in the background. This explains, too, Senge's description of the four other disciplines--personal mastery, mental models, building a shared vision, and team learning--each of which offers a way of thinking about organizational learning capacity (pp. 7-10). Senge contrasts this with hierarchical, top-down
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Approximate Word count = 1226
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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