Organizational Learning Capacity Research Articles

Improving water supply and sanitation programme effectiveness: lessons from WaterAid's outcome evaluation studies

AbstractMany low income countries are off‐track to reach the Millennium Development Goals for water supply and sanitation. This paper develops a theoretical framework and methodology to improve the evaluation of water and sanitation programme outcomes, focusing on relevance, effectiveness and sustainability. The resulting set of evaluation questions are applied to seven independent evaluations of WaterAid's country programmes. Results are synthesised by assigning an ordinal ranking to the findings which are aggregated to assess overall outcome status that has validity at an organisational level, rather than just at country programme level. Strong areas of performance are partnership development, policy advocacy, equity and inclusion. Areas requiring attention are organisational learning, programme structure and government partner capacity for sustainability. The findings will be used to prioritise future programme management and are clustered into seven outcome areas that are of generic interest and significance to other organisations managing water supply and sanitation programmes.

The effects of organizational learning capacity and innovativeness on financial performance: An empirical study

Organizational learning capacity and innovativeness concepts are accepted as the factors that provide competitive advantages in metalworking industry. In this study, a model has been constructed which shows that organizational learning capacity has an effect on innovativeness and financial performance; and in accordance, the innovativeness has an effect on the financial performance. In consequence, we have reached that organizational learning affects innovativeness and financial performance and hence innovativeness affects the financial performance. Key words: Organization learning capacity, exploratory and exploitative innovation.

The effects of organizational learning capacity on firm innovative performance

Researchers have begun to concentrate on the definition of organizational learning, the dimensions of organizational learning and how to develop the organizational learning capacity, because recent studies have found organizational learning to be a key factor in firm performance [2],[3],[6],[7]. Most of these researches have defined organizational learning as detecting error and fixing process. In addition, organizational learning capacity have been described as improvement of firm performance over time [10],[23]. Although the effects of organizational learning and organizational learning capacity have been examined by so many researches, there is no enough literature on the relationship between organizational learning capacity and innovation performance. This survey aims to fill that gap in literature by examining the effect of organizational learning capacity on firm innovative performance.The survey is conducted on 199 middle and senior managers of firms operating in metal industry in Marmara Region of Turkey. The obtained data from the questionnaires are analyzed through the SPSS statistical packaged software. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation and regression analyses are used to evaluate the data. Analyses results revealed that two dimensions of organizational learning capacity (system orientation and knowledge acquisition-utilization orientation) affects firm innovative performance positively.

Testing a Measure of Organizational Learning Capacity and Readiness for Transformational Change in Human Services

Transformative organizational change requires organizational learning capacity, which we define in terms of (1) internal and (2) external organizational systems alignment, and promoting a culture of learning, including (3) an emphasis on exploration and information, (4) open communication, (5) staff empowerment, and (6) support for professional development. We shortened and adapted Watkins and Marsick's Dimensions of Learning Organizations Questionnaire into a new 16-item Organizational Learning Capacity Scale (OLCS) geared more toward nonprofit organizations. The OLCS and its subscales measuring each of the above 6 dimensions are unusually reliable for their brevity. ANOVAs for the OLCS and subscales clearly and consistently confirmed extensive participant observations and other qualitative data from four nonprofit human service organizations and one local human service funding organization.

The issues of corporate governance in knowledge intensive entrepreneurial firms

This paper looks at the issues of corporate governance in knowledge-intensive firms. It provides a conceptual understanding of major challenges faced by governance bodies of such firms in early stages of their development. The major question it asks is about a sustainable model of governance in knowledge-intensive firms. Traditional governance mechanisms of corporate control are neither appropriate nor effective means of protecting the company's interest. They can hardly enable the transition of individuals' intellectual capacity into organisational learning capacity. In firms where human capital plays a major role in gaining the company's competitive advantage, the board of directors has a difficult task in finding sustainable ways of controlling and retaining the sources of knowledge generation.

The effect of spiritual leadership on organizational learning capacity

In this original paper, we aimed to find the impact of spiritual leadership (SL) on organizational learning capacity (OLC), which may then improve the organizational development. To perform the study, we conducted research with 578 employees in metalworking manufacturing. We measured SL in dimensions of vision, hope/faith, altruistic love, meaning/calling and membership. After the data analysis, we determined that OLC has positive significant correlation with each of SL dimensions (at 0.000 level), however, the total explained variance of OLC - depending on SL- has come out a very low value (0.09), which the businesses should consider while planning their development processes. Key words: Spiritual leadership, organizational learning capacity, metalworking industry.

Salesperson learning, organizational learning, and retail store performance

Salesperson learning has the potential to contribute to the competitive advantage of the firm by increasing its capacity for organizational learning. The relationship between employee and organizational learning is often taken-for-granted, yet the relationship between the two is complicated. The transfer of individual learning to the organizational level can not always be assumed. The authors examine this relationship, focusing on the facilitating role of organizational climate for learning and information dissemination efficiency in translating salesperson learning to organizational learning. The model, tested using a sample of 422 respondents from 113 retail stores in a national chain, is partly supported. Individual learning was found to be postitively associated with organizational learning and organizational climate for learning had a positive moderating effect on this relationship. The hypothesized moderating effect of information dissemination efficiency was insignificant. Implications for theory and management are discussed.

Does organizational learning capacity impact on organizational effectiveness? Research analysis of the metal industry

PurposeThe aim of the study is to emphasize the importance of organizational learning capacity (OLC) and to measure its influence on organizational effectiveness (OE) in metalworking manufacturing.Design/methodology/approachThe research plan has been stated as; looking for the survey questions in the literature, reaching the participants, informing them about the survey, gathering the data, and measuring and analyzing the data. The survey instrument has been applied on metal industry employees in Turkey. The valid responses have reached to 578. We analyzed the data by SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 11.5.FindingsThere are significant correlations (at the 0.000 level) between OE and all OLC dimensions (systems orientation, organizational climate for learning orientation, knowledge acquisition and utilization orientation, and information sharing and dissemination orientation). The total explained variance of OE (depending on OLC) has been calculated as 65 percent.Research limitations/implicationsWe have calculated the OE value in terms of employee satisfaction, customer orientation and financial and growth performance, whereas there may be other factors to be considered for the related value.Practical implicationsThe organizations should consider knowledge‐intensive activities more precisely when constructing their strategic maps.Originality/valueThis study helps to fulfill the gap between the OE and OLC from a managerial point of view in metalworking manufacturing. The main audiences are global businesses as well as academic researchers.

Organizational commitment, knowledge management interventions, and learning organization capacity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between organizational commitment and knowledge management initiatives in developing learning organization capacity (LOC).Design/methodology/approachThis is an empirical study based on a single case study, using partial least squares (PLS) analysis.FindingsThe strategic importance of LOC and the role of knowledge sharing in developing LOC have been well documented. The effect of social and conversational technologies on LOC has also undergone investigation. The effect of individual factors (e.g. attitudes) towards such technologies has not been adequately described empirically. This paper links organizational commitment, a broad attitude domain, and technology aptitude, a narrow attitudinal facet, to knowledge sharing via a social and conversational technology.Originality/valueThis research clarifies person‐related effects within these important workplace phenomena.

The employee satisfaction in metalworking manufacturing: How do organizational culture and organizational learning capacity jointly affect it?

It is a known fact that the organizations, which give more attention to the satisfaction of their employees, produce more successful outcomes than others do. In this sense, we have constructed an original model and carried out a research analysis in metalworking manufacturing, which the main subject is about to investigate the employee satisfaction depending on the factors of organizational culture and organizational learning capacity. The aim of the research is to contribute to academic researchers as well as managerial level and human resource department employees of metalworking organizations, in maximizing the employee satisfaction. The research was applied on 578 employees of the related industry. By the results, we have determined that the constructed model is significant and there is positive significant correlation both between - organizational culture and employee satisfaction- and -organizational learning capacity and employee satisfaction. Additionally, the total explained variance of employee satisfaction depending on these two variables has come out as the value of 0.56.

The employee satisfaction in metalworking manufacturing: How do organizational culture and organizational learning capacity jointly affect it?

It is a known fact that the organizations, which give more attention to the satisfaction of their employees, produce more successful outcomes than others do. In this sense, we have constructed an original model and carried out a research analysis in metalworking manufacturing, which the main subject is about to investigate the employee satisfaction depending on the factors of organizational culture and organizational learning capacity. The aim of the research is to contribute to academic researchers as well as managerial level and human resource department employees of metalworking organizations, in maximizing the employee satisfaction. The research was applied on 578 employees of the related industry. By the results, we have determined that the constructed model is significant and there is positive significant correlation both between -organizational culture and employee satisfaction- and -organizational learning capacity and employee satisfaction. Additionally, the total explained variance of employee satisfaction depending on these two variables has come out as the value of 0.56.

Learning Indicators and Collaborative Capacity: Applying Action Learning Principles to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Learning has been identified as important component of collaborative capacity (Bardach, 1998, 2001). Without the capacity to learn on the organizational, team, and individual levels, public organizations may also lag in their ability to collaborate successfully across organizational boundaries. Nowhere is the need to collaborate more apparent than in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which was created in part to foster collaboration among 22 distinctly different member organizations. This manuscript examines the connection between organizational learning and collaborative capacity, with special emphasis on DHS. By matching questions from the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) with questions from the 2004 Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS), this study assesses key learning indicators on the federal level. Findings suggest that DHS employees lag behind their counterparts on one key measure of organizational learning: the ability to assess performance gaps. This lag may affect the organization's ability to collaborate effectively, but progress may be made if potential organizational learning disorders (OLDs) are examined and addressed. Special attention is given to action learning as a tool for overcoming potential learning disorders and improving organizational performance.

Developing Organizational Learning Capacity in Crisis Management

The problem and the solution. The impact of crises on organizations and individuals has been stronger than ever. Despite increasing recognition of the effects of crisis events, most organizations are found not adequately prepared in managing crises. The increasingly frequent occurrence of organizational crises exemplifies the need for human resource development in preparing organizations and their members for crisis situations. However, very little effort has been made in this direction. Recognizing the dynamics and interconnectedness of crisis management, organizational learning, and organizational change, this article proposes an integrated model of organizational learning for crisis management that will likely strengthen organizational capacity and resilience in coping with crises and resultant changes.

Organizational Learning in the Evaluation Procedures: A Qualitative Study

The study investigated the nature of organizational learning within Taiwanese Institute of Technology academic libraries, and in particular the nature of the relationship between the Institutional Evaluation of those libraries by the Ministry of Education and the organizational response of the libraries. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 24 library personnel, including directors. These interviews resulted in the identification of three themes. The results of this study show that few libraries seem to be achieving what might be considered an adequate level of organizational learning, largely, it seems, because of internal barriers and structural problems with how the institutional evaluation is implemented. It seems difficult for some libraries to use evaluation as a tool to assist with organizational learning. Libraries must engage more in a learning dialogue with their environments and enhance their capacity for effective organizational learning.

Innovation focus and middle‐up‐down management model

Purpose – This research aims to measure the extent manufacturing companies from the Basque region (Spain), which place a greater emphasis on innovation, have adapted their management context in accordance with the middle‐up‐down management model put forward by Nonaka and Takeuchi and Nonaka et al. The study explores whether the degree of adoption of the aforementioned model is influenced by contingency factors such as company size or technological level.Design/methodology/approach – An ad hoc questionnaire was addressed to the chief executive officers of the companies. Structural equation modelling based on partial least squares was used to test the main hypotheses of the research.Findings – Firms which develop a higher organizational learning capacity put a greater emphasis on innovation. Additionally, the innovation focus of companies is positively related to the implementation of management systems which are more in accordance with the middle‐up‐down management model, and the degree of adoption of the ...

Institutional evaluation and its influence on organizational learning

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of organizational learning within Taiwanese Institute of Technology academic libraries, and in particular the nature of the relationship between the institutional evaluation of those libraries by the Ministry of Education and the responses of the libraries.Design/methodology/approachSemi‐structured interviews were conducted with 24 library personnel, including directors. These interviews explored issues arising from a survey of the related literature and resulted in the emergence of five important themes.FindingsThe results of this study show that few libraries seem to be achieving what might be considered an adequate level of organizational learning, largely it seems because of internal barriers and structural problems with how the evaluation is implemented.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this study apply only to the particular types of libraries studied and to the concept of evaluation and organizational learning as it applies to these types of libraries. The research implications are that library management needs to operate in a transformational manner; then continue with assistance and consistency to give support needed to all parts of the library organization so that comprehensive and meaningful choices can be made.Practical implicationsLibraries must engage more in a learning dialogue with their particular contexts, thus enhancing their capacity for true organizational learning. These implications concerning learning processes can also be applied widely to academic libraries outside Taiwan.Originality/valueThe contribution of the study lies in two directions: extension and development of existing conceptual frameworks in organizational learning; and examination of the use of evaluation procedures in an unusual setting.

The role of leadership in facilitating Organisational Learning and collective capacity building

The paper examines the role of leadership in facilitating collective learning and capacity building by utilising ideas from the fields of evolutionary learning, operations strategy, quality, project and risk management. Two contrasting cases are chosen to show how success and failure can depend upon collective capacity building through participative leadership and Organisational Learning (OL). The bulk of the literature surveyed concerns evolutionary OL in particular those that involve leadership which is rather a new development in this field. The paper welcomes the new trend but warns against the overenthusiastic views that ignore the reservations of the mainstream evolutionary/complexity perspective.

Analysing organisational learning capacity as a window on the national agricultural innovation system: a participatory approach in Nicaragua

The agricultural innovation system can be strengthened by increasing the learning capacity of research and field organisations. Participatory methods were developed to study three dimensions of the capacity of such organisations in Nicaragua to access and analyse information, highly correlated to learning capacity – the individual routines of their professionals, the formal procedures of the organisation and the organisation's use of collaborative projects to strengthen core operations. These and the results of a study of the origins of recent innovations in agro-industry and on farms, indicated the strength of linkages in the innovation system. The system is producing innovations at a slow rate and not necessarily with substantial gains in efficiency. Research and field organisations have some links with farmers, but not with farmer organisations and even fewer with the input supply sector, agro-industry and traders. Suggestions are made for improving individual information seeking routines, using collaborative projects for strengthening learning capacity and for building strategic alliances.

Teaching but not learning: how medical residency programs handle errors

AbstractThis study examines how easily organizations with pluralistic missions enact those missions on an everyday basis. A teaching‐focused organization located in the health care industry is explored for its ability to also pursue a learning‐focused mission with respect to medical errors and patient safety. Extended observations and interviews were conducted of attending and resident physicians working in surgical and medical intensive care unit settings. The results suggest that the everyday work and social organization associated with residency programs fulfilling their core mission of creating competent clinicians leave little room for new or alternative routines, exchanges, and beliefs that would enhance resident learning around safety and error. This supports the idea, in need of further investigation, that multiple missions within an organization may be pursued jointly at the workplace level through a process whereby existing work and social organization effectively meeting one type of mission is used to help meet the goals of additional imperatives. Specifically, the findings highlight the difficulty of establishing new routines, beliefs, and exchanges to heighten organization learning capacity that are not derived from existing forms of behavior within the work environment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The boundary spanner's role in organizational learning: unleashing untapped potential

PurposeThe organizational behavior and management literature has devoted a lot attention on processes and technology in organizational learning. There has been little work to examine the role of boundary spanners in organizational learning. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of boundary spanners in enhancing organizational learning.Design/methodology/approachThe existing boundary spanning literature was reviewed and the salient points on their role in organizational learning discussed.Practical implicationsThe paper offers a view on tapping the hidden potential of boundary spanners in organizations in order to enhance the organization's learning capacity form the external environment. Practicing manager would then be able to design knowledge processes to better support these boundary spanners that in turn promotes organizational learning.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the existing organizational learning literature by introducing the role of boundary spanners in organizational learning.