Continuous Improvement Based on Learning Capacity of Petroleum Industry

Oil industry, as well as all organizations, is facing challenges of a new paradigm: the incessant endeavors of continuous improvement. It is calling attention of all organizations that seek business sustainability. Improvement programs proliferate and aim to qualify the organization to gain new victories. However, how to implement continuous improvement in oil industry? Where should it begin? How to proceed? How to guarantee that the accomplished efforts will lead to positive results for the organization? Knowledge Management has been one of the main issues in several publications, and many authors affirm that knowledge is the key for organizations’ success. According to Garvin, organizations see their improvement plans fail because most of them have not learnt the basic lesson: to improve continuously, organizations need first to know how to learn. There is no improvement without learning. And a company that learns is not quickly built. It is necessary planning, perseverance, commitment and processes which accumulate results. Occidental managers, according to Nonaka, have difficulty to understand the symbolism of Japanese slogans as tools to create a learning atmosphere. The authors of this paper have developed a visual methodology, based on symbolism and key words, which is intended to make easier the assimilation of the concepts of knowledge management, more specifically, the concepts of Garvin, Nonaka and Takeuchi, for use and improvement of the capacity of an organization “learn how to learn”, seeking the construction of the necessary learning atmosphere.