Integrating a dynamic capabilities framework into workplace e‐learning process evaluations

Abstract

The goal of workplace e‐learning programmes is to improve employee capabilities in order to enhance organisations' performance. However, notions of sustained performance in strategic management have moved from measures of production and profit to innovation and adaptation. We therefore suggest that the design and evaluation of e‐learning should also be consistent with the dynamic capabilities framework, which suggests that sustained superior performance results from an organisation's ongoing ability to alter operational routines in line with environmental requirements. With the intent of showing how e‐learning can be configured and evaluated to support the development of dynamic capabilities, we present findings of an exploratory qualitative study that examines e‐learning processes and evaluations in 12 New Zealand organisations. Our analysis reveals that organisations operating in more dynamic environments are likely to use e‐learning to support innovative and adaptive processes, and evaluate their e‐learning accordingly. This study's findings expand our overall understanding of the dynamic capabilities concept, and shows how e‐learning can be aligned to the achievement of more fluid objectives.

Systematic Literature Review of E-Learning Capabilities to Enhance Organizational Learning

“…The first category focuses on the intention of the employees to use the technology (9); the second focuses on the performance of the employees (8); the third focuses on the value/outcome for the organization (4); the fourth focuses on the actual usage of the system (7); the fifth focuses on employees’ satisfaction (4); and the sixth focuses on the ability of the proposed system to foster learning (9). In addition to these six categories, we also identified studies that focused on potential barriers for eOL in organizations (Stoffregen et al 2016 ), the various benefits associated with the successful implementation of eOL (Liu et al 2012 ), the feasibility of eOL (Kim et al 2014 ; Mueller et al 2011 ), and the alignment of the proposed innovation with the other processes and systems in the organization (Costello and McNaughton 2018 ).…”

“…More recently, the TEL tools portfolio has rapidly expanded to make more efficient joint use of novel learning concepts, methodologies, and technological enablers to achieve more direct, effective, and lasting learning impacts. Virtual learning environments, mobile-learning solutions, and AR/VR technologies and head-mounted displays have been employed so that trainees are empowered to follow their own training pace, learning topics, and assessment tests that fit their needs (Costello and McNaughton 2018 ; Mueller et al 2011 ; Muller Queiroz et al 2018 ). The expanding use of social networking tools has also brought attention to the contribution of social and collaborative learning (Hester et al 2016 ; Wei and Ram 2016 ).…”

“…However, there is a lack of systematic work that summarizes and conceptualizes the results in order to support organizations that want to move from being information-based enterprises to being knowledge-based ones (El Kadiri et al 2016 ). In particular, recent technological advances have led to an increase in research that leverages e-learning capacities to support organizational learning, from virtual reality (VR) environments (Costello and McNaughton 2018 ; Muller Queiroz et al 2018 ) to mobile computing applications (Renner et al 2020 ) to adaptive learning and learning analytics (Zhang et al 2019 ). These studies support different skills, consider different industries and organizations, and utilize various capacities while focusing on various learning objectives (Garavan et al 2019 ).…”

Technology-Enhanced Organizational Learning: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The first category focuses intention of the employees to use the technology (9), the second focuses in the performance of the employees (8), the third focuses in the value/outcome of the organization (2), the fourth focuses in the actual usage of the system (6), the fifth in employees satisfaction (3) and the sixth in the ability of the proposed system to foster learning (7). In addition to the six aforementioned categories, we also saw studies focusing in potential barriers for TEOL in the organization [23], the various benefits associated with the successful implementation of TEOL [44], the feasibility [35,40] and the alignment of the proposed innovation with the other processes and systems in the organization [34].…”

“…More recently, the TEL tools portfolio is rapidly expanding to make more efficient joint use of novel learning concepts, methodologies and technological enablers to achieve more direct, effective and lasting learning impact. Employing virtual learning environments, mobile-learning solutions and AR/VR technologies and head-mounted displays so trainees are empowered to follow their own training pace, learning topics and assessment tests that fit their needs [6,34,35]. The spread of use of social networking tools has also brought attention to the contribution of social and collaborative learning [17,38].…”