The impact of organisational culture and dynamic capabilities on learning evaluation: An interpretive analysis

Abstract

Organisations develop online learning to achieve operational objectives, with the ultimate goal of improving overall business performance. But shared beliefs and values about what learning is important and how this should be measured can be complicated by perceptions of how external changes will impact the efficacy of learning investments. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to empirically demonstrate the influence of an adaptive cultural context on organisations' learning activities. Taking a critical, interpretive approach and borrowing from the dynamic capabilities and competing values frameworks, we present the findings of an exploratory qualitative study of 12 New Zealand organisations. Our analysis shows that organisations that exhibit more adaptive learning contexts, such as experiencing high rates of internal change, are also likely to build more flexible online learning activities that require more unstructured, informal, and externally-focused effectiveness criteria. Future research opportunities to alleviate sampling and methodological limitations are also discussed.