Development of a Measure for the Organizational Learning Construct

Abstract

by Irwin McGraw-Hill. His research interests include knowledge management, information resource management, expert systems, computer-integrated manufacturing, systems analysis and design, and telecommunications management.ABSTRACT: The concept of organizational learning (OL) is receiving an increasing amount of attention in the research and practice of management information systems (MIS) due to its potential for affecting organizational outcomes, including control and intelligence, competitive advantage, and the exploitation of knowledge and technology. As such, further development of the salient issues related to OL is warranted, especially measurement of the construct. Based on a domain definition grounded in the literature, this research represents the initial work in developing an empirically reliable and valid measure of organizational learning. The rigorous method utilized in the derivation of this measure, which integrates two methodological frameworks for Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 23:40 05 July 2015 176 TEMPLETON, LEWIS, AND SNYDER instrument development, is the main strength of this work. The result is an eightfactor, 28-item instrument for assessing OL, derived from a sample of 119 knowledge-based firms. The empirically derived factors are awareness, communication, performance assessment, intellectual cultivation, environmental adaptability, social learning, intellectual capital management, and organizational grafting. MIS function managers can use these factors to gauge organizational or subunit success in the creation and diffusion of new applications of information technology.PROMINENT ORGANIZATIONAL THEORISTS have predicted that the amount of information and knowledge that organizations must process will continue to increase [46,70]. Several authors have responded to this new era by prescribing learning models for the design of organizations that are more responsive to turbulent environments [8,39, 91,99,112,128,134]. In such conceptualizations, organizational learning (OL) is depicted as having a great potential for affecting organizational outcomes, such as organizational control and intelligence, competitive advantage, and the exploitation of knowledge and technology. Since interest in applying OL designs has increased over the past several years [134], further development of the salient issues related to OL is warranted, especially measurement of the construct.OL theory has profound relevance to the science and practice of management information systems (MIS). Past research indicates MIS is useful in the facilitation and exploitation of the three modes of OL espoused by Argyris and Schön [5], who drew upon the work of Gregory Bateson [12] in the behavioral sciences. First, MIS can translate to superior single-loop learning (SLL), the mode corresponding with incremental organizational change initiatives. Stein and Zwass [128] proposed that successful SLL is better facilitated by the existence of organizational memory performance standards, which often accompany the adoption of organ...

Does incremental and radical innovation performance depend on different types of knowledge accumulation capabilities and organizational size?

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The learning ability of Portuguese small family businesses

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A Survey of the Relationship between Organizational Memory and Organizational Learning in Public Organizations of Kerman

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