Organizational Learning and Performance of Architectural Design Firms in Turkey

AbstractBuilding up knowledge stocks in a firm is achieved through organizational learning, an important activity in a rapidly changing and competitive business environment. This paper investigates the impact of organizational learning on the performance of architectural design firms in Turkey. A questionnaire survey was administered to Turkish architectural design firms to collect information about the extent of learning at individual, project, and organizational levels and to measure the performance of the firm. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. Three hypotheses were tested to explore the interrelationships between learning at different levels and firm performance. The findings indicate that the extent of learning at the individual level positively affects the extent of learning at the project level, which in turn affects learning at the firm level. It is the extent of learning at the firm level that governs the firm’s performance, while learning at individual and project ...

[1]  F. Swierczek,et al.  Facilitators of Organizational Learning in Design. , 2006 .

[2]  Sai On Cheung,et al.  Examining the Relationship between Organizational Learning Styles and Project Performance , 2009 .

[3]  N. Bontis Managing organizational knowledge by diagnosing intellectual capital: framing and advancing the state of the field , 2001 .

[4]  J. B. Quinn,et al.  Managing professional intellect: making the most of the best. , 1996, Harvard business review.

[5]  E. Nevis,et al.  Understanding Organizations as Learning Systems , 1995 .

[6]  D. Teece,et al.  DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT , 1997 .

[7]  J. Liebeskind,et al.  Knowledge, Strategy, and the Theory of the Firm , 1996 .

[8]  Sai On Cheung,et al.  The unlearning dimension of organizational learning in construction projects , 2012 .

[9]  David G. Woodcock,et al.  Historic documentation : a model of project based learning for architectural education , 2005 .

[10]  Philip Crowther Assessing architectural design processes of diverse learners , 2010 .

[11]  S. C. Goh,et al.  LEARNING CAPABILITY, ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS AND FIRM PERFORMANCE , 2002 .

[12]  Anne S. Miner,et al.  Organizational Learning from Extreme Performance Experience: The Impact of Success and Recovery Experience , 2009, Organ. Sci..

[13]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  The myopia of learning , 1993 .

[14]  Ashok Jashapara Cognition, Culture and Competition: An Empirical Test of the Learning Organization. , 2003 .

[15]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Organization Theory and Design , 1983 .

[16]  Alexander E. Ellinger,et al.  The relationship between the learning organization concept and firms' financial performance: An empirical assessment , 2002 .

[17]  Javier Martínez Assessing Quality Outcome and Performance Management , 2003 .

[18]  Geoff Conroy,et al.  ConSERV, as a continual audit concept to provide traceability and accountability over the project life cycle , 1998 .

[19]  Pilar Jerez-Gómez,et al.  Organizational learning capability: a proposal of measurement , 2005 .

[20]  William D. Hitt,et al.  The learning organization: some reflections on organizational renewal , 1995 .

[21]  G. Hult,et al.  Innovation, Market Orientation, and Organizational Learning: An Integration and Empirical Examination , 1998 .

[22]  John C. Narver,et al.  Market Orientation and the Learning Organization , 1995 .

[23]  E. Brennan,et al.  Participation in the Paid Labor Force by Caregivers of Children With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders , 2005 .

[24]  Nick Bontis,et al.  Organisational learning via groupware: a path to discovery or disaster? , 2004, Int. J. Technol. Manag..

[25]  Jyotsna Bhatnagar,et al.  Measuring organizational learning capability in Indian managers and establishing firm performance linkage: An empirical analysis , 2006 .

[26]  J. Brown,et al.  Bridging epistemologies: The generative dance between organizational knowledge and organizational knowing , 1999 .

[27]  M. Eisemann,et al.  The development of a short form of the EMBU : Its appraisal with students in Greece, Guatemala, Hungary and Italy , 1999 .

[28]  S. Wilkinson,et al.  Strategies for Managing Project Generated Knowledge: A New Zealand Case Study , 2005 .

[29]  K. Weick,et al.  Collective mind in organizations: Heedful interrelating on flight decks. , 1993 .

[30]  B. Byrne A Primer of Lisrel: Basic Applications and Programming for Confirmatory Factor Analytic Models , 1989 .

[31]  Vana Prewitt,et al.  Leadership development for learning organizations , 2003 .

[32]  James C. Anderson,et al.  STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED TWO-STEP APPROACH , 1988 .

[33]  R. Teare,et al.  Developing a curriculum for organizational learning , 1998 .

[34]  R. Grant Toward a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm,” Strategic Management Journal (17), pp. , 1996 .

[35]  Edward G. Carmines,et al.  Reliability and Validity Assessment , 1979 .

[36]  S. López,et al.  Organizational learning as a determining factor in business performance , 2005 .

[37]  Relating strategy, structure and performance , 1998 .

[38]  Gilbert A. Churchill A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs , 1979 .

[39]  J. Brown,et al.  Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and Innovation , 1991 .

[40]  J. Hair Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .

[41]  J. March Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning , 1991, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[42]  Andrew D.F. Price,et al.  Empirical Investigation of Construction Contractors' Organizational Learning , 2002 .

[43]  Donald A. Schön Designing as reflective conversation with the materials of a design situation , 1992, Knowl. Based Syst..

[44]  R. Kaplan,et al.  The balanced scorecard--measures that drive performance. , 2015, Harvard business review.

[45]  D. Kolb Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development , 1983 .

[46]  Emily Boyle A critical appraisal of the performance of Royal Dutch Shell as a learning organisation in the 1990s , 2002 .

[47]  L. Cronbach Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests , 1951 .

[48]  G. Winch,et al.  MANAGING THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION: THE CASE OF ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE , 1993 .

[49]  Andrew Mayo,et al.  The power of learning : a guide to gaining competitive advantage , 1994 .

[50]  J. B. Quinn,et al.  Intelligent Enterprise: A Knowledge and Service Based Paradigm for Industry , 1992 .

[51]  L. Argote Organizational learning research: Past, present and future , 2011 .

[52]  T. A. Stewart Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations , 1997 .

[53]  R. Kaplan,et al.  Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic management system , 1996 .

[54]  P. Bierly,et al.  Generic knowledge strategies in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry , 1996 .

[55]  Ayesha Farooq,et al.  An integrated scale for measuring an organizational learning system , 2010 .

[56]  G. Huber Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures , 1991 .

[57]  Victoria J. Marsick,et al.  Organization Questionnaire Demonstrating the Value of an Organization's Learning Culture: The Dimensions of the Learning , 2010 .

[58]  Don A. Cozzetto Quantitative Research in Public Administration , 1994 .

[59]  Steve Pool,et al.  The learning organization: motivating employees by integrating TQM philosophy in a supportive organizational culture , 2000 .

[60]  Steven H. Appelbaum,et al.  How to measure an organization’s learning ability: the facilitating factors ‐ part II , 1998 .

[61]  M. Dodgson Organizational Learning: A Review of Some Literatures , 1993 .

[62]  Gregory Richards,et al.  Benchmarking the learning capability of organizations , 1997 .

[63]  Samir Baidoun,et al.  An empirical study of critical factors of TQM in Palestinian organizations , 2003 .

[64]  Halime Demirkan,et al.  Focus on architectural design process through learning styles , 2003 .

[65]  D. Ulrich Intellectual Capital = Competence x Commitment , 1998 .

[66]  P. Nystrom,et al.  To Avoid Organizational Crises, Unlearn , 1984 .

[67]  Rok Skrinjar,et al.  Organizational Learning Culture - The Missing Link between Business Process Change and Organizational Performance , 2007 .

[68]  J. S. Long,et al.  Testing Structural Equation Models , 1993 .

[69]  M. Polanyi Chapter 7 – The Tacit Dimension , 1997 .

[70]  Miltiadis D. Lytras,et al.  The semantic learning organization , 2005 .

[71]  Bryan Lawson,et al.  Intentions, practices and aspirations: Understanding learning in design , 2003 .

[72]  Mary Crossan,et al.  Organizational learning research profile , 1996 .

[73]  Paul Blessner,et al.  Self-Organization and Sense-Making in Architect–Engineer Design Teams: Leveraging Health Care’s Approach to Managing Complex Adaptive Systems , 2016 .

[74]  Hedley Smyth,et al.  Competencies for Improving Construction Performance: Theories and Practice for Developing Capacity , 2004 .

[75]  Nilüfer Akincitürk,et al.  Mimari Tasarım Stüdyosunda İşbirlikli Öğrenme Yaklaşımı , 2011 .

[76]  Assessment of Organizational Learning within Teams. , 2007 .

[77]  M. Crossan,et al.  Organizational learning and strategic renewal , 2003 .

[78]  Barbara M. Byrne,et al.  A Primer of LISREL , 1989 .

[79]  Ibrahim A. Rawabdeh,et al.  Assessment of development of the learning organization concept in Jordanian industrial companies , 2006 .

[80]  M. Easterby-Smith Disciplines of Organizational Learning: Contributions and Critiques , 1997 .

[81]  M. Browne,et al.  Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit , 1992 .

[82]  J. Hulland,et al.  Managing An Organizational Learning System By Aligning Stocks and Flows , 2002 .

[83]  Barbara B. Flynn,et al.  Empirical research methods in operations management , 1990 .

[84]  J. S. Long,et al.  Tests for Structural Equation Models , 1992 .

[85]  I. Nonaka,et al.  How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation , 1995 .

[86]  Gabriel Szulanski Exploring internal stickiness: Impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm , 1996 .

[87]  Judith A. Cumby,et al.  Non‐financial performance measures in the Canadian biotechnology industry , 2001 .

[88]  Daniel H. Kim The Link between individual and organizational learning , 1997 .

[89]  E. Lawler,et al.  Empowering Service Employees , 1995 .

[90]  William N. Isaacs Dialogue, Collective Thinking, and Organizational Learning , 2016 .

[91]  R. Sohi,et al.  IT competency and firm performance: is organizational learning a missing link? , 2003 .

[92]  S. Cheung,et al.  An analysis of the relationship between learning behaviour and performance improvement of contracting organizations , 2008 .

[93]  Ibrahim Yitmen,et al.  Organizational learning and performance improvement in civil engineering design firms , 2012 .

[94]  N. Bontis Intellectual capital: an exploratory study that develops measures and models , 1998 .

[95]  P. Senge The fifth discipline : the art and practice of the learning organization/ Peter M. Senge , 1991 .

[96]  N. Bontis,et al.  Intellectual capital ROI: a causal map of human capital antecedents and consequents , 2002 .

[97]  A. Panter,et al.  Writing about structural equation models. , 1995 .

[98]  C. Argyris On organizational learning , 1993 .

[99]  P. Bentler,et al.  Model Modification in Covariance Structure Modeling: A Comparison among Likelihood Ratio, Lagrange Multiplier, and Wald Tests. , 1990, Multivariate behavioral research.

[100]  Kar Yan Tam,et al.  Factors Affecting the Adoption of Open Systems: An Exploratory Study , 1997, MIS Q..

[101]  William N. Isaacs Taking flight: Dialogue, collective thinking, and organizational learning , 1993 .

[102]  Joseph Finkelstein,et al.  The Third industrial revolution: A special challenge to managers , 1984 .

[103]  Kaj U. Koskinen Problem absorption as an organizational learning mechanism in project-based companies: Process thinking perspective , 2012 .

[104]  Christoph Zott,et al.  DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES AND THE EMERGENCE OF INTRAINDUSTRY DIFFERENTIAL FIRM PERFORMANCE: INSIGHTS FROM A SIMULATION STUDY , 2003 .

[105]  G. W. Snedecor Statistical Methods , 1964 .

[106]  M. Gordon,et al.  PUBLICATION RECORDS AND TENURE DECISIONS IN THE FIELD OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT , 1996 .

[107]  Universities: Can They Be Considered as Learning Organizations?: A Preliminary Micro-Level Perspective. , 2012 .

[108]  D. Streiner Starting at the Beginning: An Introduction to Coefficient Alpha and Internal Consistency , 2003, Journal of personality assessment.

[109]  Jane M. Crudden Learning to collaborate : lessons from the design studio , 1997 .

[110]  Arthur Yeung,et al.  Organizational Learning Capability: Generating and Generalizing Ideas with Impact , 1999 .

[111]  Karl G. Jöreskog,et al.  Lisrel 8: Structural Equation Modeling With the Simplis Command Language , 1993 .

[112]  B. Muthén,et al.  Assessing Reliability and Stability in Panel Models , 1977 .

[113]  Scott I. Tannenbaum,et al.  Enhancing continuous learning: Diagnostic findings from multiple companies , 1997 .

[114]  W. Edwards Deming,et al.  Out of the Crisis , 1982 .

[115]  Joannette Jacqueline Bos,et al.  A design framework for creating social learning situations , 2013 .

[116]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[117]  Lloyd Baird,et al.  Feeding Organizational Memory: Improving on Knowledge Management's Promise to Business Performance , 2000 .

[118]  Mary Crossan,et al.  ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING: DIMENSIONS FOR A THEORY , 1995 .

[119]  Bill Buckler,et al.  A learning process model to achieve continuous improvement and innovation , 1996 .

[120]  Zahirul Hoque,et al.  Linking Balanced Scorecard Measures to Size and Market Factors: Impact on Organizational Performance , 2000 .

[121]  Han-Jen Niu,et al.  Does Industry Matter in Attributing Organizational Learning to its Performance?: Evidence from the Taiwanese Economy , 2007 .

[122]  J. Nunnally Psychometric Theory (2nd ed), New York: McGraw-Hill. , 1978 .

[123]  Donald A. Schön,et al.  Organizational Learning: A Theory Of Action Perspective , 1978 .

[124]  R. Calantone,et al.  Learning orientation, firm innovation capability, and firm performance , 2002 .

[125]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .

[126]  Roderick E. White,et al.  An Organizational Learning Framework : From Intuition to Institution Author ( s ) : , 2007 .