A Holistic Approach to Knowledge Management and Social Learning: lessons learnt from military headquarters

Abstract

This paper reports on research conducted by the Enterprise Social Learning Architecture (ESLA) team of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation. The ESLA team is investigating collaborative social learning within the Australian Defence Organisation (ADO). Social learning is tightly coupled to knowledge management. Three studies in three different settings have been conducted to date. The studies have provided multi-layered findings about social learning, and validated the use of ethnography for this purpose. Preliminary findings are discussed in this paper in terms of identified enablers and motivators for effective social learning and knowledge management. Although the paper deals with the defence environment, the findings can be generalised to other organisational settings, as the study deals with understanding the issues inherent in building sustainable and adaptive learning organisations.