Relational governance, organizational unlearning and learning: implications for performance
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
ISSN: 0885-8624
Article publication date: 13 October 2020
Issue publication date: 11 March 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the literature on dynamic skills, this study builds upon and empirically tests a conceptual model that connects business and political ties, organizational unlearning, organizational learning and firm performance. Specifically, this study suggests that business ties enable and political ties inhibit organizational unlearning (i.e. regenerative dynamic capability), which may, in turn, affect exploratory (i.e. renewing dynamic capability) and exploitative (i.e. incremental dynamic capability) innovation behaviors of the firm. Thus, the purpose of this study is to offer a theoretical framework in which organizational unlearning and learning act as mediating mechanisms between business and political ties and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling and mediation analyzes were used on a sample of 302 small and medium-size enterprises in Turkey.
Findings
This study found that business ties enable organizational unlearning while political ties impede it. This study further demonstrates that business ties positively and political ties negatively relate to organizational learning through organizational unlearning. In addition, this study shows that political ties are mostly negatively and indirectly related to firm performance through organizational learning while business ties positively and indirectly relate to firm performance.
Practical implications
The findings demonstrate the critical role that personal networks play in organizational learning and firm performance. This study provides evidence to the need to recognize and evaluate the potential and undesirable impacts of political ties on cultivating innovation skills and firm performance. In addition, this study recommends managers to embrace the significance of organizational unlearning in strategic renewal, particularly as it applies to building renewing and incremental dynamic skills for enhanced firm performance.
Originality/value
This study offers a deeper perspective of the dissected relations of social ties in emerging economies to firm performance by considering organizational unlearning and learning behaviors as mediating mechanisms.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This work was supported by the American University of Sharjah [grant number EFRG18-AAB-SBA-80)].
Citation
Yeniaras, V., Di Benedetto, A., Kaya, I. and Dayan, M. (2021), "Relational governance, organizational unlearning and learning: implications for performance", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 469-492. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-01-2020-0002
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited