Organizational Learning and Performance of Hospitality Industry in Kenya: A Case Study of Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa

Abstract

Organizational learning has been viewed by several researchers as a key concept essential for ensuring the survival and continuity of organizations in the ever-changing business environment. Research has revealed the various benefits towards enhanced performance that are accrued through the effective establishment of organizational learning. With this information as a basis, this study sought to determine the relationship between organizational learning and performance of Sarova Whitesands Resort. The general objective was to establish the organizational learning in Sarova Whitesands and its influence on performance. The specific objectives were to determine the influence of team learning, mental models, personal mastery and a shared vision on performance of Sarova Whitesands. The study was guided by organizational learning theory, human capital theory and resource based view theory. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population of the study was the staff of Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa. The study’s total number of respondents was 300 employees who were sampled using stratified proportionate sampling method to obtain a sample size of 171 respondents. Questionnaires were used as a data collection instrument and the data collected from the field was analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The study established that personal learning, mental models, shared vision and team learning had a positive and significant influence on organizational performance. The study concludes that personal mastery enables an employee to search for their life direction and purpose, identify their strengths and weaknesses and become responsible of their action. Mental models leads to advantages of scale in that which refers to an idea that as an organization performs more and more of the same type of work it will tend to acquire efficiencies over time and as an organization becomes more efficient at a task it often gains a competitive advantage as a result improved organizational performance. Shared vision acts as a unifying force, has a positive impact on organizational performance and provides the guidance employees need to make the right decisions and that team learning allows individual participants to work through the content at their own pace. The study recommends that the organization should help their employees to know how to deal with difficult and challenging situations, develop self-confidence and self-esteem, accept imperfection and build on one’s strength. The organization should offer different kinds of mental models to help their employees make sense of the real world and be able to understand and interpret the environment and themselves. The organization’s shared vision should offer a unified framework for the organization's success so as to encourage the top managers to collaborate and to resolve conflicts creatively arising from the organization and that the organization should establish a climate for learning in the team because taking time to establish the environment and the processes for learning is the prerequisite for rapid learning and effective team performance in the future.

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