Chapter SevenTangling with Learning Intangibles
Dave Ulrich
Norm SmallwoodJordan Pettinger, senior vice president for human resources of a
global insurance company, was frustrated. Over the past eighteen
months, her company had invested hundreds of thousands of
dollars in consultants and technology to improve its knowledge
management capability and create a “learning organization.”
Jordan had spent countless hours interviewing other executives
to understand what areas needed to be leveraged across the
geographies. Her expectations were not even close to being
fulfilled. The company, organized as a matrix by region—North
America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Asia), and Latin
America—and by major products, continued to operate as if each
region were an independent company. Knowledge sharing across
regions had improved incrementally for a short period of time after
the Global Learning Organizations Work! (GLOW) conference
but had tapered off in the last few months. The company did not
seem any further ahead, yet expectations for improvement had
increased.
Jordan’s frustration is not unique. In our experience, some
organizations seem to have the ability to learn better than others,
creating intangible value in the process. These organizations are
not only able to change but also able to learn from each change
experience so that cumulative progress occurs. This ability to learn
has value in the marketplace. Our view of learning starts with
understanding market or shareholder value. Why is a firm’s stock
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