The World Health Organization as a Continuous Learning Organization

April Hord Yovhane Metcalfe

Amanda ParksVirginia Commonwealth University

Objectives

Summarize organizational structure and recent history

Compare organizational learning cycle during smallpox effort with that of today

Examine WHO’s contemporary infrastructure

Apply learning exercise

A global organization

Our Health, Our FutureOur Health, Our Future

© Copyright World Health Organization (WHO), 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Organizational learning

‘the intentional use of learning processes at the individual, group and system level to continuously transform the organization in a direction that is increasingly satisfying to its stakeholders”

(Dixon, 1999)© Copyright World Health Organization (WHO), 2009. All Rights Reserved

Global organization structure

Constitution objective: The attainment by all peoples of the highest

possible level of health Health – state of complete physical, mental

and social well-being; not simply absence of disease or infirmity

The World Health Assembly Governing body with delegate representatives

from 193 member states meets annually each May in Geneva

Work Force 8,000 health experts & support staff serve fixed-

term appointments Staff spread across Headquarters + six regional

offices + 193 countries

WHO since 1999

The WHO Learning The WHO Learning CycleCycle20092009

© Copyright World Health Organization (WHO), 2009. All Rights Reserved

I. Widespread Generation of Information- Internal

Documentation – After Action Reviews of projects, initiatives, efforts are catalogued and recorded

Translucency - Regional offices integrate open reporting to be analyzed, shared & linked to resources used

Daily Emergency Situation Report via the HAC website www.who.int/disasters

I. Widespread Generation of Information - External Regular multidisciplinary

teleconferences for:research labs governmental

organizationsfield offices WHO

headquarters Global distribution and execution of

2006-2015 World Health Plan strategic plan

August 2009 – H1N1 global monitoring and advising notices

Operations

Strategic Operations CenterStrategic Operations Center

© Copyright World Health Organization (WHO/PAHO), 2009. All Rights Reserved.

II. Integrate new & local information into organizational context2009 H1N1 pandemic response October 2009 – assistance response to

Western Pacific Region natural disasters HAC Program Global/regional ALERT distribution Blue Trunk program Proclaim as a Knowledge Management (KM)

Strategy: Strengthen organizational capacity Advocate adoption of KM in the field of public health Improve capacity implementing KM at country level

III. Collectively interpret information

Involve all WHO and local stakeholders: contingency building events external training programs/seminars

Knowledge Management Strategy goal: to bridge the “know-do gap” in global health by fostering an environment that encourages the creation, sharing, and effective application of knowledge to improve health

Identification of Effective Employee Behaviors:

to ensure that knowledge and learning is shared across the organization and that staff learn from each other

IV. Authority to act on interpreted meaning Proclaim as a Knowledge Management

Strategy: Translating knowledge into policy & action

Six regional offices with separate governance structure to react to regional level issues

Pan American Health Organization covers 35 countries www.paho.org 2002 PAHO implemented annual vaccination week

HAC Program – Geneva enables regional offices to be self-sufficient providing all necessary resources

communications equipment operational budget to be utilized at regional, sub-regional and/or country levels

Infrastructure for Organizational Learning

Integrate

Collectively Interpret

Authorization to Act

• Publication of global Publication of global Weekly Weekly Epidemiological RecordEpidemiological Record

• Regular multidisciplinary Regular multidisciplinary teleconferences for labs, gov’t teleconferences for labs, gov’t organizations, field offices and organizations, field offices and WHO HQWHO HQ

• Knowledge Management Strategy emphasises “know-do” gap

•Differentiated approach towards the HIV/AIDS effort enable

• Different regions able to address local cultural differences in HIV/AIDS incidence

• Differentiated approach towards the HIV/AIDS effort enable regional accountability

• Management competency requirement to ensure effective use

Global Competency Model for

employment evaluations

Widespread Generation of Information

Application & Debate

Form in groups of three Review WHO’s five strategic

direction printouts Prioritize in order of significance to

WHO’s learning capacity Be prepared to justify ranking

Dixon, N. (1999) Dixon, N. (1999) The Organization Learning Cycle: How We Can Learn Collectively.The Organization Learning Cycle: How We Can Learn Collectively.

Hampshire, England: Gower Publishing Limited. Hampshire, England: Gower Publishing Limited.

World Health Organization. (n.d.) WHO Competency Model. Retrieved from World Health Organization. (n.d.) WHO Competency Model. Retrieved from

http://www.who.int/employment/competencies/WHO_competencies_EN.pdfhttp://www.who.int/employment/competencies/WHO_competencies_EN.pdf

World Health Organization. (2003) World Health Organization. (2003) Health Action in Crises. Health Action in Crises. Retrieved from Retrieved from

http://www.who.int/hac/about/en/11990.pdf

World Health Organization. (2005) World Health Organization. (2005) Knowledge Management Strategy, 1Knowledge Management Strategy, 1. Retrieved . Retrieved

from from http://www.who.int/kms/about/strategy/kms_strategy.pdf

World Health Organization. (2007) World Health Organization. (2007) Working for health: an introduction to the World Working for health: an introduction to the World

Health Organization. Health Organization. Retrieved from Retrieved from http://www.who.int/about/brochure_en.pdf.http://www.who.int/about/brochure_en.pdf.

ReferencesReferences