Organisational learning and sustainability of service-based firms: a canonical correlation analysis

Abstract

Organizations commit to internal practices such as organizational learning (OL) to achieve competitive advantage. Due to the frail knowledge processes in service-based organizations and the dearth of empirical research specifying the role of OL in institutional sustainability (IS), this study examined OL and IS settings in quantity surveying consultancy (QSC) firms and investigated the latent association between OL and IS. Data from a questionnaire survey of 226 registered quantity surveyors in QSC firms in Nigeria were analyzed using multivariate approaches. The findings show that the effective models of OL in QSCs are information technology-enabled practice, literature guidance, mentoring and competitive benchmarking. Practice internalization, promoting career/welfare advancement, expanding services and having rational commissions are likewise, priority indicators of IS in QSC. A cluster of OL practices was strongly correlated positively with IS, IS performance also altered directly with OL, while variations in OL are projected to govern IS. Planned OL practices, therefore, fortify the firms’ capability to internationalized practice, expand services and secure a rational commission as the hallmarks of business continuity in the professional service-based sector. Sustainable QSCs must embed and maintain a structured learning framework for continuous improvement of human capital to be able to innovate towards IS.