The empirical relationship among Organisational Learning, Continuous Improvement and Performance Improvement
by Hongyi Sun, Kario Ho, Wenbin Ni
International Journal of Learning and Change (IJLC), Vol. 3, No. 1, 2008

Abstract: There are still many questions remain unanswered about the relationship between Organisational Learning (OL) and Continuous Improvement (CI). For example, how do OL and CI contribute to business performance? Are OL and CI equal? Do OL and CI support each other? Should OL and CI be implemented separately or together? If together, how to integrate OL and CI? This paper records the research on the empirical relationship among CI, OL and Performance Improvement (PI). The research is based on the survey data from about 500 manufacturing companies from seven European countries and Australia. Data analysis is based on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). It is found out that OL and CI do support or enhance each other. However, only CI directly contributes to PI. The research does not find direct relationship between OL and PI. The results suggest that OL should not be treated as the end, but a means to enhance CI. The research triggers the discussions on what are the real differences and commonalities between OL and CI and how to integrate OL and CI in order to achieve benefits from both. The discussions proposed the concept and Learning for Organisation. The main managerial and research implication is: OL should not be implemented alone! OL should be implemented or studied in a functional context such as CI, Six Sigma, new product develop, innovation and market orientation.

Online publication date: Fri, 20-Jun-2008

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