Management & Marketing no. 3/2014

Measuring organizational learning. Model testing in two Romanian universities

Alexandra Luciana Guţă,
„Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi, Romania

Abstract. The scientific literature associates organizational learning with superior organization performance. If we refer to the academic environment, we appreciate that it can develop and reach better levels of performance through changes driven from the inside. Thus, through this paper we elaborate on a conceptual model of organizational learning and we test the model on a sample of employees (university teachers and researchers) from two Romanian universities. The model comprises the process of organizational learning and organizational performance and some concepts that are connected to organizational learning and/or performance: practices/tools for facilitating organizational learning, the value of human capital. The paper is useful both for those who are interested in organizational learning, organizational performance and the relationships between these two notions and for those who hold management positions in universities. The purpose of the paper is to test the model, based on empirical data. We used factor analysis to determine the variables that form our constructs and we conducted correlation analysis to highlight the relationships between the variables in the study, based on the research hypotheses. There are positive relationships between the components of the organizational learning process and organizational performance. The practices/tools that we have considered are relevant for facilitating the organizational learning process. The value of human capital is correlated both with the components of the organizational learning process and with the organizational performance. The model adapted from the literature and the instrument developed based on the literature are useful for undertaking a diagnosis at the organizational level.

Keyword: organizational learning, organizational performance, practices and tools, human capital value, higher education institutions.

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