The development of a learning organisation in Hong Kong: from design to implementation - the case of McDonald's Restaurants (H.K. Limited).

This project aims to develop a learning organisation model for Hong Kong Chinese enterprises. It examines the case of the McDonald's Learning Programme, which shows how company-wide problems can be solved by the stakeholders in the company through a strategic learning initiative.
The McDonald's Learning Programme has provided a practical implementation framework and a localised model for companies aspiring to become a learning organisation. The success factors for becoming a learning organisation and for a system supporting a learning organisation are identified. In order to explore the learning organisation concept in greater depth and to triangulate these factors, selected Hong Kong Chinese enterprises have been studied through the following two surveys:
• The Executive Interview Survey
This survey analyses executives' views on business success and learning organisation.
Organisational learning is considered as one important factor in maintaining organisational competitiveness.
• The Staff Learning Climate Survey
This survey examines staff learning climate. It shows a crucial point that the development of a learning culture is greatly influenced by the management’s (directors') initiatives and involvement.
With the findings of the case study of McDonald's Learning Programme and the two surveys, a learning organisation model is built. This model provides a practical
implementation framework, which composes of three main parts: organisation and stakeholder initiatives, individual and team level learning and a framework supporting a
learning organisation. This study should provide useful and valuable reference material on learning organisation development for other Hong Kong Chinese enterprises.

A Project submitted to Middlesex University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Professional Studies.