The notion of learning is said to be critical to organizational effectiveness. Discuss the factors that can help or hinder the learning process in organizations.

Executive summary

This study was designed to assess the factors that influence (promote or inhibit) the organizational learning process. It was found that while there are numerous factors, they all revolve around the company’s structure, culture, and knowledge sharing. The structure determines whether or not organizational learning is permissible in the company; the culture determines the nature of organizational learning; and knowledge sharing determines the extent of organizational learning. Therefore, these factors exert a significant influence on organizational learning.

Introduction

The importance of organizational learning is pronounced in the literature, and the main element is that it aids in creating a competitive edge. This is because the more a company knows, the better they can service their customers and create higher value for all stakeholders. However, the learning process is influenced by a number of factors. It is important to understand these factors in order to be able to deliver a sound learning outcome. In view of this, this study is designed to assess the factors that influence (promote or inhibit) the learning process in an organization. While there are numerous factors, it is vital to state that they all revolve around organizational structure, culture, and knowledge sharing. Therefore, discussions will centre on these three variables as it relates to their influence on organizational learning. Discussions on corproate culture will consider the different kinds of corproate culture, how they are developed in the corporate system and how they influence learning process in an organization. Discussion on culture will look at the cultural aspects of organization and it's overall essence on the learning process. Finally, discussion on knowledge sharing will look at how knowledge is developed in the workplace and it's influence on the learning process. In relation to influence of these variables on the learning process, the researcher will be considering both the promoting and inhibiting influence.

Factors that influence (promote or inhibit) the learning process in an organization

Based on extant literature, there are numerous factors that influence organizational learning, but covering all would be beyond the scope of this paper. However, discussions are held on the most prevalent ones, as:

organizational structure

The structure of an organization represents the set of ways in which work is divided in the company, emphasizing the different tasks and attaining coordination across all spheres of the company (Mintzberg, 1983; Odumeru, 2018). What organizational structure does is that it indicates the extent to which the company approves decision-making power, integrates members and the workforce into creating their formal interactions and associations, and standardizes the rules and regulations guiding the organizational process (Chen, Huang, & Hsiao, 2010; Odor, 2018).

An organization’s design and structure regulate the interactions and relations between its employees. Therefore, when the structure is appropriate, it is capable of facilitating the cycle of information processing, which is a process that requires significant interactions between humans. The design of an organization is considered to be the sub-component of the process of implementing the company’s strategy within the dominant paradigm of strategic management applicable to the said company (Hong, 1999; Emerald et al., 2018). For the proponents of the design school of thought, the argument is that it is a pre-requisite condition for all companies to maintain flexibility in the way their organizational processes are structured, which is related to how duties and responsibilities are assigned within their workforce (Ansoff, 1991; Mbiriri, 2018). The essence of ensuring that organizational structures are modifiable is to make sure that they will be able to accommodate changes in organizational strategy (Hong, 1999).

On its own, organizational structure normally determines organizational learning (Fiol & Lyles, 1985), but the view held by some scholars is that organizational structure is the outcome of organizational learning (Hong, 1999). Therefore, it is pronounced that organizational structure plays a pivotal role in determining the process of learning within an organization (Fiol & Lyles, 1985). This can be reflected in the contingency theory, where it is argued that the most appropriate structure for any organization to adopt is the one that is best suited for its operating contingency, like the scale of its operations (Blau, 1970). Going further with the contingency theory, it was stated by Mintzberg (1979) that the structures of successful organizations are designed to match their situation (reality). Therefore, when the plan is to enhance its learning process, the structure will be designed (redesigned) to match such an outcome. On the same note, the reality of a company allows for the development of the logical configuration of the company’s design parameters. That is to say, consistency in the contingency factors and design parameters is required for an effective structure (Lam, 2011; Chen, 2016).

Going further, it was pointed out by Chen et al. (2010) that a company’s structure determines the path of relationship between the employees and organizational embers, the nature of tasks, and overall work practice. What this implies is that in cases where the organization is structured to promote relations between employees, the learning process will be more effective because positive relations would aid the transfer of knowledge, sharing of ideas, and assistance between the employees. The structure of an organization can be categorized into: complexity, formalization, centralization, and other structures like adhocracy, hierarchical, and departmentalization (Chen et al., 2010).

Culture

Typically, culture is an elusive concept because, notwithstanding that it is ubiquitous in the language of social sciences, it is still virtually part of the daily lives of people. The social anthropologists of the early 20^th century were the ones that popularized culture. Since its popularization, it has become part of different disciplines, including social psychology, sociology, management studies, and organizational behavior (Bishop et al., 2006).

Organizational culture represents a system of shared values, assumptions, and beliefs that shapes and governs the behavior of people in the company. These share values are known to have a strong influence on the people in the organization as they dictate how they act, dress, and undertake designated tasks. Every company creates and maintains a culture unique to its objectives, which provides the boundaries and guidelines for the behavior of people in the company (McLaughlin, 2016). Therefore, the learning process is significantly influenced by organizational culture because the extent to which employees are willing and dedicated to the learning process is a product of the culture. Where the culture supports and promotes learning, the outcome will be a welcoming environment where employees can learn at ease and implement their newly found knowledge.

Culture determines and shapes the different ways people interact and communicate with each other in the company; how they lead and follow each other; how their performance is evaluated by the company; how knowledge is managed in the company; and the nature of the physical environment where these employees work (Association of Talent Development, 2016). On the same note, there are cases where companies have a sub-culture, which is a product of the different groups of people that work for the company, and this can influence the nature of relationships and communication between the members of the company. However, a culture that encourages learning will produce a workforce that is eager to learn, and as such, organizational culture has a significant influence on the learning process.

In order to advance the learning process through an effective culture, it is imperative that leaders integrate organizational learning, dialogue, and culture into the context of changes that occur in the corporate world (Schein, 1993). Where learning is pivotal, especially in cases where the company desires to dispel the idea that management speaks the same language, culture should shape the overall outcome of the learning process and its influence on corporate performance. As pointed out by Schein (1993), the notion of management being considered to speak in the same language as employees hinders integration, coordination, and learning in the company. Therefore, it is imperative to integrate a culture that is capable of promoting a learning process. The importance of organizational culture is founded on the understanding that the culture of a workplace designs what the company is all about because it sums up the customs, attitudes, and beliefs that make one group of people distinct from the others. Culture is known to create a unique brand for a company, and this aids them in differentiating themselves from competitors. It is also known to define corporate standards and set the procedures that give the company and its employees the directions to follow in their daily activities in order to attain set corporate goals. Culture has also been viewed as a people unifier because it allows people to learn from one another and strive to be the best version of themselves possible (Sponaugle, 2016).

A learning culture features a community of workers that are continuously and collectively looking for ways to improve their performance through new skills, new knowledge, and the application of these skills and knowledge towards the attainment of set corporate goals. Such a culture is defined as a culture of inquiry, promoting an environment where the employees feel safe in seeking answers to questions about issues that affect their performance, purpose, and quality of what they are doing for the customers, themselves, and other stakeholders in the company (Sponaugle, 2016). It is also established that the pursuit of learning is rooted in organizational life (Association of Talent Development, 2016).

The influence of organizational culture on the corporate learning process is evidenced in the fact that where a company’s culture contains potentially numerous subcultures, it adds to the complexity of initiating learning in the organization (Tharpe, 2009). The impact of dialogue and cultural dynamics on organizational learning is that organizational learning would not be possible except if certain aspects of the learning took place in the executive subculture (Schein, 1993). Therefore, in cases where the culture or subcultures are not compatible with the structure or strategies of the company, it can pose a significant issue for the managers (Brown, 1998).

It was demonstrated in the study by Kristal et al. (2010) that conflicts can arise between the implementation of strategies (cultures) designed to enhance profitability and the need for the company to invest in organizational learning because the dominant competitive strategy that the company is currently employing and, in most cases, found to be profitable by the company (especially those domiciled in the UK), tends to add little in promoting the requirement for organizational learning, mainly because they normally involve relatively low-skill paradigms of work organization. Based on this understanding, it was asserted by Kristal et al. (2010) that this is why there are limited genuine learning organizations in the UK, notwithstanding the relatively significant number of empirical studies that suggest that learning can have a positive impact on the performance of a company. Therefore, it further demonstrates the essence of culture in either promoting or inhibiting the organizational learning process.

The main factor that can aid in using organizational culture to enhance the learning process and improve overall performance is the ability of the company to match its attributes or culture to defined goals. Thus, managers need to understand that certain cultures might be more appropriate in certain situations than others (Tharpe, 2009), and the different types of cultures are collaborative, competitive, controlling, and adhocracy (Tharpe, 2009).

Knowledge sharing

Another factor that has a significant influence on the learning process is knowledge sharing. By definition, knowledge is a justified belief that one holds as being true. Different taxonomies have been used to specify different kinds of knowledge. However, the most fundamental distinction is between explicit and tacit forms of knowledge (King, 2009). Tacit knowledge is that which exists in an individual's mind but is difficult or impossible to articulate.Many of the pieces of knowledge are usually stocked in tacit form in their initial formation, and through trial and error, such knowledge is laboriously developed over a long period of time. The main reason why such knowledge is underutilized is mainly because it is extremely challenging for companies to tap into its source (O'dell & Grayson, 1998). On the other hand, explicit knowledge is that which occurs in the form of sentences, words, documents, computer programs, original data, and other explicit forms that can easily be used or transformed as desired (King, 2009).

Knowledge is increasingly being viewed as a pivotal contributor to competitive edge in many organizations, and it has influenced the selection of human resources and recruitment practices across the globe (Suveatwatanakul, 2016). As emphasized by Suveatwatanakul (2016), the learning organization has the capability of using learning to create a sustainable competitive edge. The learning capability is developed through the three stages: knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, and knowledge utilization. The operational core of any knowledge management is learning through sharing, and as organizations progress to manifest vital features of a learning system, great emphasis is placed on learning through sharing (Hong & Kuo, 1999). The connection that knowledge sharing shares with organizational learning and competitive advantage is a fundamental one, and it plays a significant role in the organization’s success. It is established that in cases where companies share their knowledge and enhance learning within their systems, they are able to create more effective operations and competitive advantages (Skinnarland et al., 2016).

Simply put, knowledge sharing is the act of making knowledge available to other people within a company (Ipe, 2003; Suhag et al., 2017). What knowledge sharing does is that it makes it possible for managers to keep individual learning continuous throughout the company and integrate the learning outcomes for practical applications (Ngah & Ibrahim, 2016; Waruiru et al., 2018). In the view of Bok and Kim (2002), knowledge sharing is the most vital means of administering information. It is the proportional way of learning trades and analyzing the different variables that defines why people engage in a given procedure (Ngah & Ibrahim, 2016). It is all about distributing knowledge or what has been learned across the organization (Suveatwatanakul, 2016; Zhang et al., 2019). Therefore, knowledge sharing is imperative for organizational learning because it is the main medium through which the representatives of a company can be able to add to learning applications, develop new skills and ideas, and improve overall performance within the company (Jackson et al., 2006; Steven et al., 2017). In a company where knowledge sharing is encouraged, the learning process becomes easier, more effective and efficient.

Conclusion

Organizational learning is critical for overall success of any company. This is because the business environment is dynamic, and overtime the taste of the consumers change, making it necessary for companies to adjust to changes in their business environment. Ability to effect such adjustments depends on the company’s ability to acquire and implement new knowledge and skills in its operations. Thus, this study sought to understand and assess the factors that influence (either promote or inhibit) organizational learning process. Discussions revealed that the organizational structure, culture, and knowledge sharing influences whether or not organizational learning process are promoted in the company. This is because the structure of the company determine what is permissible, the culture determine how operations are undertake, while knowledge sharing determine the extent to which employees can acquire and utilize new skills. The main highlight in these relationships is the need for companiee to be flexible in nature. This is because changes are bound to occur in the business world and ability of the company to address such changes will depend on their flezibility. Tye structure, culture wnd knowledge sharing philosophy should be based on set corproate goals in relation to organizational learning process. It should  accommodate the idea of continuous improvement, giving the employees reasons to take the learning process serious. It should also reflect the idea of sharing and supporting each other, as the learning process will not be effective if the employees cannot share knowledge or prvise support for one another when the need arises. Thus, it is concluded that companies seeking to promote organizational learning process will need to adjust its structure, culture, and knowledge sharing systems to align with that objectives. 

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