LEARNING TO BUILD AN INNOVATIVE WORK CULTURE AND WORKING ENVIRONMENTS

Working environments will suffer significant changes with the introduction of new techno¬logies, materials and work processes. New designs for the working environment and a work culture supporting creativity and innovation in companies are required. Learning for creativity and innovation in organizations is often a slow process based on iterative cycles of experimentation. Lack of knowledge, skills and resources particularly in small and medium sized companies (SMEs) are often the cause of inability to innovate and/or to change modes of work. In this paper the issues linking work culture and environments are presented. Two learning approaches, which support the building of an innovative work culture and new working environments are discussed, viz. action learning and informal, cooperative learning in Communities of Practice (CoP), both supported by eLearning. Illustrative examples are given of these approaches being applied in SMEs.