SO WHERE DOES TRAINING FIT IN?
In a learning organization, the role of training is to support the forces and methods that favor widespread, spontaneous learning. This means that the training function needs to be redefined.
Traditionally, corporate training programs have served mainly to pass on the learning of the higher-ups to the lower-owns. That is, executives or specialists figure out what everybody needs to know and how everybody ought to do things; training courses exist to organize and transmit that information. This model assumes that organizational learning occurs primarily at the top levels. Managers ask specialists--such as consultants or people from R&D--to help them do the learning. The training function then spreads this learning (as well as existing expertise) around the organization, particularly to lower-level employees who would not have been exposed to it on their own. To be fair, training often introduces and spreads learning to the management ranks as well.
This model of training's role remains valid only if we limit our view of organizational learning to executives and specialists. In a full-fledged learning organization, however learning occurs at all levels. The role of training is to support everyone's learning efforts, although the type of support offered depends on the individual's level of responsibility.