Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital

Relation Between Organizational Learning and
Organizational Commitment: Case Study <strong>of</strong> a Private Bank
in North Cyprus
Ayşen Berberoğlu and Emine Ünar
Cyprus International University, Cyprus
aysen_umut@hotmail.com
Abstract: The aim <strong>of</strong> this paper is to assess <strong>the</strong> level <strong>of</strong> perceived organizational learning (being a learning
organization) and organizational commitment and to state whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>re is a statistically meaningful relationship
between <strong>the</strong>se two concepts within <strong>the</strong> case. The research questions for this case study are as follows: Q1: What
is <strong>the</strong> level <strong>of</strong> perceived organizational learning and organizational commitment? Q2: Is <strong>the</strong>re a relationship
between organizational learning and organizational commitment? The population <strong>of</strong> this empirical study was
expected to be around 140 respondents who are workers <strong>of</strong> a medium-size private bank which is trying to be a
learning organization in practice and questionnaire method was used to carry out <strong>the</strong> research. However 140
questionnaires were distributed, only 80 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m had returned. The questionnaire was a composition <strong>of</strong>
“Dimensions <strong>of</strong> Learning Organization Questionnaire, (DLOQ)” which is developed by Watkins and Marsick
(1993) and “Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ)” developed by Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993).
Also includes questions regarding demographic information <strong>of</strong> respondents. The result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> study showed that
organizational commitment level in <strong>the</strong> organization is moderate and <strong>the</strong> employees can not be precisely grouped
according to <strong>the</strong> types <strong>of</strong> organizational commitment. The findings about organizational learning showed that
employees perceive <strong>the</strong>ir organization as a learning organization. Finally, <strong>the</strong> correlation analysis showed that
<strong>the</strong>re is a positive relationship between organizational commitment and organizational learning in this case.
Keywords: organizational learning, learning organizations, organizational commitment, affective commitment,
continuance commitment, normative commitment
1. Introduction
Knowledge management is an important and <strong>of</strong>ten discussed concept. In this manner, organizational
learning or learning organizations reserve a considerable place in <strong>the</strong> literature. Although <strong>the</strong>re is a
border between individual learning and organizational learning, organizational learning is clearly
mediated by <strong>the</strong> learning <strong>of</strong> individual organizational members (Popper and Lipchitz
2003).Continuously, <strong>the</strong> outcome <strong>of</strong> organizational learning is generally discussed as being positive
(Mullins 2005).
Organizational commitment, which is ano<strong>the</strong>r important concept in <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> organizational behavior,
is defined in terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strength <strong>of</strong> an individual’s identification with and involvement in a particular
organization. According to Allen and Meyer (1990), <strong>the</strong> three components <strong>of</strong> organizational
commitment are <strong>the</strong> “Affective” (AC), “Continuance” (CC) and “Normative” (NC) commitment where
employees with strong affective commitment remain because <strong>the</strong>y “want to”, those with strong
continuance commitment because <strong>the</strong>y “need to” and those with strong normative commitment
because <strong>the</strong>y feel <strong>the</strong>y “ought to” do so. Society tends to benefit from employees' organizational
commitment in terms <strong>of</strong> lower rates <strong>of</strong> job movement and, perhaps, higher national work productivity
and/or quality (Quirin, Donnelly and O’Bryan, 2001).
The purpose <strong>of</strong> this research is to study <strong>the</strong> level <strong>of</strong> perceived organizational learning and
organizational commitment within a private bank and to find out whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>re is a relationship
between <strong>the</strong>se two important concepts.
2. Literature review
2.1 Organizational learning
In today’s world <strong>of</strong> rapid change both individuals and organizations should be capable <strong>of</strong> learning in
order to adapt to <strong>the</strong>ir environment. Learning means change, but change <strong>of</strong> a relatively permanent
kind (Mullins 2005). According to Senge (1990), learning organizations are easy to implement
because, deep down, we are all learners. Change, learning, and adaptation have all been used to
refer to <strong>the</strong> process by which organizations adjust to <strong>the</strong>ir environment (Fiol and Lyles 1985).
Learning that relates to firms encompasses both processes and outcomes and can be described as
<strong>the</strong> way firms build, supplement and organize knowledge and routines around <strong>the</strong>ir activities
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