Never before have North American businesses been faced with so much change. Experts
say that more information has been produced in the last 30 years than was produced
in the previous 5,000. They estimate that the total body of knowledge now doubles
every five years. New knowledge, skills and attitudes inevitably have to be learned
in order to keep pace with required changes in business practices, processes and
products to meet increasingly more discriminating customer demands.
Small- and medium-sized enterprise owners or managers cannot leave learning to chance for
either themselves or their employees. Continuous learning is linked to better
organizational performance and to a richer life and a better future for owners
and their employees.
Lessons learned at one stage in our careers must be restudied
within each and every business framework we encounter. Likewise, all employees
must reassess and refresh their knowledge and know-how.
While many large companies can invest in comprehensive quality improvement programs,
the associated costs are generally prohibitive for small- and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs). As an alternative, SMEs can make a dramatic impact by making a modest
investment in creating a "continuous learning" culture within their
organizations.
The goal for the SME should be to create "Knowledge-Powered Organizations", which can be
defined as:
"An organization that knows how to learn with people who freely share what they know and are willing to change,
based on acquisition of new knowledge".
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