Which of the Following Is the Best Example of a Learning

question 63

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the best example of a learning organization?

• A) Patersons, a family firm, has been in business for a century and operates in much the same way as it did when it first began. Many find the company culture paternalistic, but it provides generous employee benefits, which is a definite advantage.
• B) Lowry Ltd emphasizes the reductionist philosophy in management: the company attempts to analyze and understand operational problems by reducing them to the interactions of their parts.
• C) Cleary Consulting takes pride in the fact that all its departments are autonomous and self-sufficient. Each functions independently, with minimal interaction with other departments.
• D) Nesbit & White has been in business for just two years, and the small firm still operates almost informally. The weekly company meeting gives employees a sense of community and a chance to know how everyone is working to achieve their common goals.
• E) Park Systems has been immensely successful in a very short time. The key to this has been the individual freedom that it offers employees, who develop their own ways of working and solving problems. The company concentrates only on the end result.

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Definitions:

Production Possibilities Curve

A graphical representation that shows the various combinations of two products that an economy can produce using all its resources efficiently.

Economies of Scale

Cost advantages reaped by companies when production becomes efficient, due to the scale of operation increasing.

Opportunity Cost

The abandonment of potential improvements from other possibilities once one choice is made.

Absolute Advantage

A country's ability to produce a good more efficiently than other countries, requiring fewer resources for the same output.