Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

The Influence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Organizational Learning Phases in <strong>the</strong>
Total Process: A Special Analysis <strong>of</strong> Organizational
Structure
Inocencia Mª Martínez-León and Isabel Olmedo-Cifuentes
Technical University <strong>of</strong> Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain
ino.martinez@upct.es
isabel.olmedo@upct.es
Abstract: Organizational learning (OL) is a process that transforms information into knowledge within an
organization, by a set <strong>of</strong> sequential phases (information acquisition, information distribution, shared interpretation,
and organizational memory). The previous OL phases are considered as precursors <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> next OL activity. The
organizational structure also plays a crucial role in determining learning processes. This study aims to analyze
<strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> prior OL phases on OL, and examine empirically whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> organizational structure (job
specialization –vertical and horizontal-, formalization, centralization and indoctrination) affects directly to <strong>the</strong> OL
process. Carrying out regression analysis, this study has two different implications. First, all OL phases have a
positive and significant effect on OL activity. And second, organizational structure directly affects <strong>the</strong> OL, where
high vertical job specialization and low centralization are significantly associated with greater capacity for
information distribution, low horizontal job specialization and formalization with shared interpretation, and low
formalization with organizational memory.
Keywords: Organizational learning, organizational learning phases, organizational structure, organizational
design parameters
1. Introduction
The past forty years have seen increasingly rapid advances in <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> organizational learning
(OL). Information and knowledge are <strong>the</strong> key elements for firms’ pr<strong>of</strong>itability and survival (Grant,
1996). Knowledge is also considered as one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> main sources <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> competitive advantage
(Nonaka, 1991; Zollo and Winter, 2002). OL has been recognized as <strong>the</strong> process that transforms
information to knowledge.
Organizational learning process (OLP) is an increasingly important area in OL research. Different OL
perspectives have studied <strong>the</strong> OLP and its organizational learning phases (OLPh). Consequently, this
paper tries to explain <strong>the</strong> OL concept, its process and <strong>the</strong> transforming process from prior OLPh to <strong>the</strong>
next organizational learning activity (OLA). Most studies in OLP have only been carried out in OLA,
but <strong>the</strong>y have not considered <strong>the</strong> influence <strong>of</strong> organizational structure on OLP.
Therefore, <strong>the</strong> objectives <strong>of</strong> this research are to determine whe<strong>the</strong>r previous OLPh influence on OLA
and organizational structure impact on <strong>the</strong> transforming process. Hence, this paper tries to improve
our understanding about <strong>the</strong> OLPh and factors (organizational structure) affect to OLP, enabling <strong>the</strong>
organization to learn.
This paper is organised in <strong>the</strong> following way. First, we present an analysis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> OLP and
its different phases (OLPh). Next, <strong>the</strong> relationships between OLPh are considered. The fourth section
examines <strong>the</strong> influence <strong>of</strong> organizational structure to <strong>the</strong> OLP, and <strong>the</strong> research model to be tested is
presented. After that, we present <strong>the</strong> empirical results <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> influence <strong>of</strong> previous OLPh on OLA, and
(<strong>the</strong> influence) <strong>of</strong> organizational structure on <strong>the</strong> transforming process. Finally, a discussion and
conclusion section about <strong>the</strong> main results and implications derived from this research is included.
2. Organizational learning process
There is a large volume <strong>of</strong> published studies describing <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> OL. An overview <strong>of</strong> previous
research allows us to identify some varying perspectives on OL as: business, an outcome, and a
process. From a business perspective, Senge (1990) defined OL as “a continuous testing <strong>of</strong>
experience and its transformation into knowledge available to whole organization and relevant to <strong>the</strong>ir
mission” (Senge, 1990). On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, researchers <strong>of</strong>ten agree that people act and learn within
<strong>the</strong> organizational framework, being <strong>the</strong> primary learning entity in firms, since OL is a result <strong>of</strong>
individual learning (Hedberg, 1981; Dogson, 1993; Nicolini and Meznar, 1995).
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