组织学习及其作用机制的实证研究

The organizational learning construct and its effective mechanism are two research issues. This study is based on a survey of 908 managers and employees from 43 companies in different regions of China. The results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) show that organizational learning in Chinese enterprises is a multi-dimensional construct comprising of inter-organizational learning, organization-level learning, collective learning, individual learning, exploitation learning and exploration learning. The results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) reveal that the unit-level dimensions of organizational learning affect employee’s satisfaction and emotional commitment through the mediation of individual learning. In organizations characterized by high level of organization-level learning and low level of exploitation learning, there is a strong correlation between employees’ satisfaction/emotional commitment and their turnover intention. Hierarchical regression analysis (HRA) also indicates that organizational learning affects perceived organizational financial performance through the full mediation of organizational innovation. Some implications are discussed for organizational learning research and practice. Translated and revised from Guanli Kexue Xuebao 管理科学学报 (Journal of Management Sciences in China), 2007, 10(5): 48–61     

Internationalization performance of Chinese multinational companies in the developed markets

This study investigates the relationship between prior cooperation experience with partners from the developed markets and internationalization performance of emerging multinational companies. Based on the knowledge-based view, this study sheds light on the crucial role of knowledge base, organizational learning in the home country, and acquisition possibility of knowledge in the host country. Employing a sample of Chinese international firms, this study demonstrates that international experience accumulated by learning through linkage with partners from the developed markets improves the performance of companies from the emerging market. Organizational learning in the home country and acquisition possibility of knowledge in the host country moderate the effect of international experience. The implications of these findings for theoretical development and future research are discussed.     

中国企业的学习型组织文化:基于人口统计变量、企业属性、工作满意度和组织绩效的实证分析

By using a Western concept—the instrument called dimensions of learning organization questionnaire (DLOQ), and the data collected from 919 employees in nine companies located in Guangdong Province, China, the present empirical study explores the culture of learning organizations in Chinese business settings. Findings suggest that the DLOQ is applicable to the context of China as well, and those demographic variables, such as age and educational level, together with the types of ownership of Chinese companies, such as state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privately-owned enterprises (POEs), suggest differences in the culture of learning organizations. Results also indicate that the learning organization culture of a firm has strongly positive impact on employees’ job satisfaction and perceived organizational performance. Two implications should be noted. First, as employees in middle age and with college education show the strongest sense of improving the learning culture, it can be inferred that demographic characters and groups may influence the organization’s learning culture differently. Second, as POEs have a better learning atmosphere than SOEs, it can be inferred that POEs have a stronger competitiveness than SOEs in terms of learning ability and organizational performance. To indigenize the Western construct and instrument of learning organizations, the present study, as an exploratory research, gives substantial knowledge on the subject and seeks to fill the gap in the literature, despite the limitations of cultural nuances and a narrowly-concentrated sample.     

组织学习量表的开发

组织学习的定义与量表呈现多元化,基于国内外主要组织学习定义与量表的系统研究,整合界定了一个组织学习定义,并适用该定义,参照Churchill的量表开发程序,开发了一个组织学习量表,新开发量表包括发现、获取、比较、反思、纠错、记忆六个测量维度和18个测量项目,以两组中国企业样本数据进行了实证检验,结果表明具有较好的信度与效度。     

Congenital learning in the Spanish telecommunication industry

Knowledge provided by a firm's founder(s) is one of the most important success factors for SMEs. This paper aims to identify the impact of the founder's knowledge on business performance in today's organization. It is with this in mind that we propose a specialized organizational learning process, which we refer to as the congenital learning process, by which the firm transforms the tacit and explicit knowledge of the founder into knowledge which is available to the firm and its members. The research model and hypothesized relationships are empirically tested using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, validated by factor analysis of 130 SMEs in the Spanish telecommunications sector. Two structural equation models, derived from the literature, have been used, resulting in the conclusion that organizational performance is positively affected by the transfer and transformation of knowledge as long as the organization has implemented processes that lead to the creation of what we refer to as an open organizational context.     

Will enterprise social networking systems promote knowledge management and organizational learning? An empirical study

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, enterprise social media practitioners and researchers are keen to know how the enterprise usage of social media can be converted into the improved organizational performance. Meanwhile, organizational learning has long been considered as one of the measures of organizational performance. This article investigated the impact of enterprise social networking systems (ESNS) usage on knowledge management processes and organizational learning; in particular, we examined the mediating role of knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. Four theories from sociology and strategic management were used to build the hypotheses in the research model. An online survey was conducted to empirically test the model. Our study results showed that ESNS usage directly and indirectly influences organizational learning; and that knowledge management processes (knowledge creation and sharing) mediate the path between the two. This study contributes to the existing literature on enterprise social media for three reasons. First, it is among the first to connect the three independent concepts (social media, knowledge management, and organizational learning) and explore their relationships in one theoretical framework. Second, this work also specifically examines the influence of ESNS (Yammer in this case) on organizational processes and outcomes. Third, this is a pioneering study that employs multiple theories to address the research questions under the organizational social media context. Therefore, the research gives implications for both practitioners and scholars who are interested in understanding the effectiveness of ESNS usage in the modern organizations today.     

中小企业学习代理模式与组织学习绩效关系实证研究

中小企业通过学习代理人从组织外部获取知识是促进组织学习的重要途径.因此,如何通过有效学习代理模式获取组织所需要知识,如何处理企业发展过程的学习策略以提高学习绩效,成为目前研究中小企业战略的重要课题.文章从学习代理基本理论出发,分析了学习代理的内涵与构成,提出了中小企业三种学习代理模式,提出了学习代理模式与组织学习绩效的概念模型与假设,通过实证研究对假设进行了统计验证,得出了基本结论与进一步研究展望,最后建议中小企业通过学习代理有效获取知识从而提升学习绩效.     

基于组织学习的动态能力研究

作为能更新自身能力的能力,企业的动态能力具有知识性和学习性的特征,它的形成和组织学习密切相关。本文从组织知识学习的过程性着手,构建一个基于组织学习的动态能力的理论模型,分析组织学习对动态能力的作用机理,在此基础上提出如何开展组织学习提升动态能力的建议。     

市场导向、组织学习创新及组织绩效:基于珠江三角洲企业的实证研究

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among market orientation, learning orientation, organizational innovation and organizational performance through a structural equation modeling approach. This study uses a sample of 143 companies in the Pearl River Delta region of China. Results show that (1) market orientation has no positive direct impact on organizational performance; (2) market orientation has a direct impact on learning orientation; (3) learning orientation has a direct impact on administrative and technical innovation; (4) market orientation has a direct impact on organizational innovation by learning orientation; (5) administrative innovation has a positive direct impact on organizational performance while technical innovation does not impact on organizational performance directly; (6) technical innovation has a positive impact on administrative innovation; (7) learning orientation has an indirect impact on organizational performance through influencing organizational innovation; (8) market orientation has impact on learning orientation, which has an impact on organizational innovation, which in turn has an impact on organizational performance. Managerial implications are discussed, along with suggestions for further research. Translated from Guanli Shijie 管理世界 (Management World), 2006, (2): 80–94, 143     

Developing learning capabilities through a quality management program

This study examines the development of learning capabilities through the implementation of a quality management program in services, based on a case study of transplantation management. The findings show how the introduction of an online system, based on a quality management program, underpinned the knowledge-building capacity of the organization. The results contribute to service literature by addressing how a quality management program links to organizational learning process directly and through building-up organizational knowledge. The implementation of a quality management program allows knowledge building through identification and socialization of tacit knowledge and combination of explicit knowledge. The development of learning capabilities fostered by the introduction of this program occurs under conditions that contribute to the building-up of organizational knowledge. Organizational learning is enhanced during this implementation through an incremental process that detects errors and corrects behavior and/or alters organizations premises, standards and values. This organizational learning helps to upgrade the overall process.     

Asia Pacific as a research context for organizational learning: background and future directions

The dominant research agenda in the field of organizational learning continues to be driven by Western universalist assumptions. However, Asia provides a fertile setting for challenging such narrow orthodoxy in the field through studies that investigate the influence of local contexts. In this collection, four studies by Asia-based scholars address various facets of organizational learning among indigenous Asian firms. Drawing on diverse theoretical lenses and research methodologies to examine various organizational forms, their insights about the unique patterns and processes of learning among both small and emerging multinational companies from the Asia Pacific serve to rekindle debates about universalism/convergence versus contingency/divergence, and about emic (context-rich, inside-out) versus etic (context-free, outside-in) perspectives.     

知识惯性一定会阻碍服务企业绩效的提升吗？——基于KIBS企业的实证

文章基于知识管理和组织学习理论,针对知识惯性悖论,以组织学习为中介变量,构建知识惯性影响服务企业绩效的概念模型,并对长三角和珠三角地区211家KIBS企业进行实证研究。研究结果显示：（1）程序惯性和资讯惯性均会直接阻碍服务企业绩效的提升,程序惯性还会通过利用式学习和探索式学习这两种组织学习活动间接阻碍服务企业绩效的提升,资讯惯性则仅通过利用式学习间接阻碍服务企业绩效的提升;（2）经验惯性不仅不会阻碍服务企业绩效的提升,反而会通过利用式学习和探索式学习间接促进服务企业绩效的提升;（3）利用式学习和探索式学习均会对服务企业绩效产生显著的直接促进作用。     

Organizational Learning in China: The Role of Returners

ABSTRACT

The Chinese authorities have launched a range of policies and incentives at the national and regional level to attract citizens who have studied and worked abroad to return in order to contribute to upgrading the competitiveness of the Chinese economy, particularly in light of China's entrance to the World Trade Organization. In other words, the returners are expected to stimulate organizational learning in existing organizations and in new companies. This article provides an overview of what has been done to date and points out that simply increasing the number of returners is not enough to achieve organizational learning. Drawing on research findings about the barriers to organizational learning from returned expatriate managers in international companies, the article develops recommendations for government policies, corporate strategies, and Chinese returners.     

I Love That Company: Look How Ethical,Prominent, and Efficacious It Is—A Triadic Organizational Reputation (TOR) Scale

Within the corporate social responsibility (CSR) research field, the construct of organizational reputation has been extensively scrutinized as a crucial mediator between the firm CSR engagement and valuable organizational outcomes. Yet, the existing literature on organizational reputation suffers from substantive divergence between the studies in terms of defining the construct’s domain, dimensional structure, and the methodological operationalization. The current study aims to refine the organizational reputation construct by reconciling varying theoretical perspectives within the construct’s definitional landscape, suggesting a holistic but parsimonious triadic view on the organizational reputation construct for customer stakeholders. Based on commonly used extant organizational reputation measures, we theoretically and empirically develop the customer-based triadic organizational reputation (TOR) scale and position it as a superordinate multidimensional construct (generalized favorability) influencing three distinct first-order dimensions: product and service efficacy, societal ethicality, and market prominence. Results show that the proposed triadic conceptualization of organizational reputation is theoretically defensible, and the resulting scale is cross-culturally generalizable and performs well compared with existing, longer measures of organizational reputation. Together, the organizational reputation model developed here suggests that, for cognitive economy and functional efficiency, customers will access a second-order reflective model of organizational reputation as the default implicit attitude (reputation as assessment), which in turn will activate reflections of the implicit attitude in the form of first-order dimensions (reputation as asset).     

Transforming learning into export performance by Chinese firms

Organisational learning plays a vital role in enhancing firm performance, particularly for companies operating in foreign markets. Knowledge gained from various markets needs to be integrated for it to have a significant impact on performance. This study seeks to demonstrate how organisational learning can transform knowledge into performance through an organization-wide commitment to learning, a knowledge integration system and an organisational capability to learn. A survey undertaken in South China would show that there is a sequential chain of effects among these constructs.     

High performance work systems and corporate performance: the influence of entrepreneurial orientation and organizational learning

This study investigates the functioning mechanisms of how high performance work systems (HPWS) affect organizational performance. We propose that (HPWS) can positively affect organizational performance through the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation. An organization with high performance work systems can perform better if it enjoys high level of organizational learning. We design and administer a survey questionnaire to high-level executives or founders of companies from manufacturing and service industries and receive 176 valid responses. The results of the empirical data indicate that the relationship between high performance work systems and corporate performance is more positive when organizational learning is stronger. Entrepreneurial orientation partially mediates the relationship between high performance work systems and organizational performance. This study opens new research avenues by extending and incorporating explanations and predictions of HPWS and entrepreneurial orientation, two areas that largely have been considered independently of each other. Implications for practice and directions for future research are provided.     

中国企业的组织学习与创新能力——基于问卷调查的实证研究

在目前竞争日益激烈,变化日新月异的外部环境下,一个企业的组织学习能力已成为其能否生存的必备条件之一。但关于组织学习的文献大多都局限在发达国家中的一些大型企业。而即便在西方与日本,对于组织学习的定义还存在着明显的分歧。中国作为世界上最大的制造业和服务提供国,受到了越来越多的关注,理解中国企业中组织学习活动已经成为研究组织学习和创新能力之间关系的一个新起点。本研究通过问卷对不同行业典型企业的中层和普通管理人员及大量员工进行调查,得出一系列中国企业有关组织学习和创新能力的特征。研究发现中国企业组织学习与创新能力同企业所在行业特征和企业的所有权结构、业务特征等因素相关,但很难显示出文化特异性的迹象。这一研究对于今后在研究中通过控制以上变量,以问卷以外的访谈方式,更好地进行研究设计,挖掘跨国家、跨地域和跨文化特征具有重要的意义。     

Understanding the antecedents of collateral learning in new product alliances

Recognizing that strategic alliances represent an important means for developing knowledge in critical arenas such as new product development, the authors advance the notion of collateral learning that assesses knowledge acquisition internal to a firm in the alliance. To examine its antecedents, the authors build on the behavioral theory of the firm and propose strategic importance and performance vulnerability as the motivational components and organizational similarity and alliance experience as the awareness components advocated in the theory. Results from 133 alliance firms suggest that both the motivational and awareness components are important in influencing collateral learning in new product alliances. Specifically, to develop collateral learning, firms should have extensive alliance experience and an acknowledged stake in their alliance partners. The results also support the theorized U-shaped relationship between organizational similarity of the alliance partners and collateral learning. Thus, collateral learning is facilitated when organizations are either similar or dissimilar, while medium levels of organizational similarity facilitate collateral learning to a relatively lower extent. Although performance vulnerability is found to be associated negatively with collateral learning, extensive alliance experience can attenuate this negative effect.     

EXPLORING PROCESSES FOR CUSTOMER VALUE INSIGHTS,SUPPLY CHAIN LEARNING AND INNOVATION: AN INTERNATIONAL STUDY

This paper reports results from a study designed to assess the extent to which firms across industries and several countries lay the groundwork for and use customer value insight, supply chain learning, and innovation processes. The cross‐sectional study serves as an exploration of the theoretical relationships among these activities and their impact on perceptions of organizational performance. Through an international survey study drawing on samples from the U.S., Sweden and Denmark, the authors find support for the notions that supply chain learning and innovation processes are driven by processes aimed at studying changes in customer value and contribute to perceptions of superior organizational performance. These findings have significant implications for logistics and supply chain management.     

Understanding the drivers of organizational innovations

Organizational innovations involve the implementation of significant changes in business practices, the workplace organization, and external relations. The article reports an analysis of organizational innovations' objectives and adoption in 240 Spanish healthcare businesses. Statistical tests find a dynamic behavior in healthcare organizations with 40.8% having developed an organizational innovation in the period from 2007 to 2009. The main objectives pursued are related to improved knowledge sharing and innovation skills. Results also reveal a close relationship between organizational and product/process innovations. Specifically, healthcare companies developing new organizational methods to improve innovation skills and knowledge sharing are more successful in adopting product and process innovations.