An organization's ability to grow and respond to its environment is termed organizational learning. One of the long-term goals of the CDC/ASPH Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership is to facilitate action steps that increase an organization's learning capability. This Institute offers a year long training program designed to increase capacity in strategic management and HIV prevention science for HIV prevention program managers in primarily minority community based organizations (CBOs). Assessing that sufficient levels of organizational learning are occurring is a key component of the evaluation of the Institute. Specifically, the evaluation will examine whether new knowledge acquired by the trainee is transferred to their host CBO.
To assess the occurrence of key elements in the organizational learning cycle (as identified in the literature) among the Institute's 42 participating CBOs, a baseline evaluation was administered. The assessment included 3 subscales measuring acquisition, dissemination and utilization of new knowledge. A descriptive analysis was conducted to examine these data. The results, reported by each subscale, indicate what elements need to be addressed in order to improve the organizational learning of CBOs. The implications of this assessment on organizational longevity and building an effective response to the HIV epidemic are discussed.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be able to: 1. identify key components of organizational learning 2. discuss the level of organizational learning that exists in CBOs which provide HIV prevention
Keywords: Organizational Change, Community-Based Health Promotion
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.