Training practices and organisational learning capability

Abstract

This paper provides an in‐depth study of the relationship between the company's training strategy and its learning capability. On a sample of 111 Spanish companies from the chemical industry, tests a set of hypotheses which link four different training strategies with the learning capability dimensions. The results obtained from the regression analyses clearly show that ongoing training, team‐based training and job rotation programmes have a positive influence on company learning capability. The present study presents evidence of how a specific human resources strategy (training strategy) influences the development of a strategic capability (organisational learning). Future studies should analyse the influence of training on performance, using organisational learning capability as a moderating variable. Additionally, the relationship between human resource management and learning should also be studied using a configurational approach. This would enable to take into account the synergic effect deriving from the joint use of complementary human resources strategies.