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1 – 10 of 169The purpose of this research is to assess the validity and reliability of the measurement scores related to the learning organization culture, the Dimensions of Learning…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to assess the validity and reliability of the measurement scores related to the learning organization culture, the Dimensions of Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ), in an Iranian context. This research can contribute to the growing literature of learning in organizations.
Design/ methodology/approach
The data were collected through distributing questionnaires to 54 service firms and manufacturing companies in ten major cities of Iran during the third quarter of 2010. Rigorous translation procedures, including both forward and backward processes, have been used to guarantee the relevance of this instrumentation in different cultural contexts. Confirmatory factor analysis, simple item‐internal consistency estimates, and item inter‐correlation analysis were performed to test the validity of DLOQ.
Research limitations/implications
There are five positional limitations. First, this study relies on self‐report and different perceptions of questions can bring about percept‐percept bias. Second, the nature of this research is cross‐sectional which may cause causality among variables. Third, the various organizational levels in the questionnaire can render some misinterpretations while answering the questions. Furthermore, the length of the original questionnaire (43 questions) could cause lack of concentration and boredom, which in turn, can impact the results. Last, two constructs related to performance (knowledge and financial performance) in the questionnaire were omitted.
Originality/value
This study confirms, according to some statistical results, that the Iranian version of DLOQ has produced reliable measurement scores with the construct validity sufficient to measure the learning organization culture in the Iranian context.
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Bella Ya‐Hui Lien, Richard Yu‐Yuan Hung, Baiyin Yang and Mingfei Li
This study aims to investigate the psychometric characteristics of a Chinese version of the Dimensions of Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ©).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the psychometric characteristics of a Chinese version of the Dimensions of Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ©).
Design/methodology/approach
The DLOQ©, developed by Watkins and Marsick in 1997, assessed the characteristics of a learning organization. This study employed a survey validate utility of the DLOQ© for the Taiwanese context.
Findings
Psychometric analyses revealed that the Chinese DLOQ© has reasonable reliability, and that the seven‐dimensional factor structure was appropriate for the Taiwanese context. Study results also revealed that the seven dimensions of a learning organization can classify different organization types successfully and demonstrate a statistically significant correlation between organization type and perceptual measures of organizational performance.
Research limitations/ implications
This study has implications for both research and practice in HRD. It offers preliminary evidence of reliability and validity for the Chinese DLOQ©. The positive evidence supporting the psychometric properties of the Chinese DLOQ© indicates the potential for particular cross‐cultural applications. Experimental results also suggest that the Chinese DLOQ© can be utilized to determine cultural differences in building a learning organization. Further studies are required to investigate the relationships between the concept of a learning organization and its antecedent and outcomes variables, such as organizational structure, culture, and performance.
Originality/value
This study confirms that the validity of applying the seven dimensions as determinants of a learning organization in the Taiwanese context and, in particular, supports the cross‐validity of the DLOQ© in this context. This study also offers practical help to understand the concept of organizational learning and developing learning organizations.
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Thinh Nguyen-Duc, Tam T. Phuong, Thuy T.B. Le and Lam T.T. Nguyen
The main purpose of this study was to validate the Dimensions of Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) in a Vietnamese context. Using the DLOQ as a research tool, this study…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this study was to validate the Dimensions of Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) in a Vietnamese context. Using the DLOQ as a research tool, this study also investigated the impact of demographic features on participants’ perceptions of learning organizations (LOs).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 748 valid responses to a version of the DLOQ translated into Vietnamese. Cronbach’s alpha and confirmatory factor analysis were used to test the reliable internal consistency and validity of the DLOQ in a Vietnamese context. Then, one-way ANOVA analyses and independent sample t-tests were used to assess the differences produced by the characteristics of respondents and their enterprises.
Findings
The results of this study show that three versions of the DLOQ are applicable to a Vietnamese context. The findings of this study also suggest that several demographic features produced significant differences in respondents’ perceptions of organizational learning.
Research limitations/implications
There are several limitations of this study. First, this study used self-reporting, and individual perspectives of questions can bring about perception bias. Also, the length of the original version of the DLOQ (i.e. 43 questions) might impact the results, because of participants’ lack of patience and focus. In addition, various levels of organizational learning may cause some confusion, leading to misinterpretation. Finally, the overrepresentation of large state-owned enterprises in the service industry in the sample may have caused bias when interpreting the results. Future research should be conducted to further validate and extend the findings of this study for small- and medium-sized enterprises, which account for 98% of businesses in Vietnam. It is strongly suggested that scholars use the validated Vietnamese DLOQ to measure the impacts of learning culture on learning-related results in Vietnam, such as individual/team/organizational performance, staff satisfaction and so on. Finally, future research should consider making appropriate study designs to collect and analyze data from various resources and not be limited to self-reported questionnaires. This would minimize common method bias.
Practical implications
Application of the DLOQ provides valuable insights and understanding for use in designing and evaluating efforts to learn at all levels in Vietnamese enterprises.
Social implications
Regarding designing, adjusting and implementing strategies to boost the learning capacity of an organization, the findings of this study also imply that business leaders and practitioners in Vietnamese enterprises can build strategies for enhancing LO culture without biases stemming from gender or management level. However, education level and work experience should be considered critical features that could impact the effectiveness of such strategies. Also, understanding and applying the DLOQ when building LOs will promote Vietnamese businesses’ competitiveness and international integration.
Originality/value
Using statistical results, this study confirmed that a rigorously translated Vietnamese version of the DLOQ produced reliable measurement scores with a construct validity sufficient to measure LOs in a Vietnamese context.
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Richa Awasthy and Rajen K. Gupta
The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between people‐level learning dimensions, structural level‐learning dimensions and performance outcomes. The paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between people‐level learning dimensions, structural level‐learning dimensions and performance outcomes. The paper proposes and tests the original classification of dimensions of learning organization as given by Watkins and Marsick.
Design/methodology/approach
The Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) by Watkins and Marsick was adopted to gauge the relationship between people‐level learning dimensions, structural‐level learning dimensions and performance outcomes. In a modified model, empowerment was tested as a structural level dimension in the Indian context, while in previous studies carried out by Yang and Yang et al., it was treated as a people‐level dimension. This study adopted the smaller form of DLOQ and data were collected from 292 executives working in different types of organizations: manufacturing, consultancy, KPO, BPO, financial services and others, representing mostly domestic private, public sector organizations and multinational companies operating in the Indian National Capital Region.
Findings
The study results revealed that the relationship between people‐level learning dimensions and performance outcomes is mediated by structural‐level learning dimensions in the Indian cultural context. Statistical analyses revealed that the DLOQ has reasonable reliability in the Indian context. The findings are explained in relation to relevant context.
Originality/value
The value added is that the relationship between people‐level learning dimensions and performance outcomes is mediated by structural‐level learning dimensions in the Indian cultural context. This study confirms the validity of applying the DLOQ as determinants of a learning organization in the Indian context.
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Dae Seok Chai and Khalil Dirani
This study aims to address the reliability and validity of the shortened versions of the Arabic dimensions of the learning organization questionnaire (DLOQ) to provide evidence on…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to address the reliability and validity of the shortened versions of the Arabic dimensions of the learning organization questionnaire (DLOQ) to provide evidence on the learning organization (LO) concept in Lebanon and to draw attention to the applicability of the LO concept to facilitate the development and operationalization of the LO in the Lebanese context.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 298 cases from five Lebanese firms were analyzed. Rigorous translation procedures have been applied to ensure the relevance of this instrument in the Arabic context. Confirmatory factor analysis, item-internal consistency estimates and item intercorrelation analysis showed that the 21- and the seven-item versions of the Arabic DLOQ have produced reliable measurement scores with a construct validity adequate to measure the LO culture in the Lebanese context.
Findings
The results of the current study confirmed that the shortened 21- and seven-item versions of the Arabic DLOQ are reliable, validated and applicable in the Lebanese context. This study also added to the stability of this foundation and pointed out weak areas that can be addressed by refining and developing the research, theory and practice of the LO.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study based on the shortened versions contributed to operationalizing a conceptually developed LO theory, which is an appropriate example of theory building in an applied discipline. The results also suggest that the LO comprised interdependent building blocks that need to be integrated at the individual, team and organizational levels to promote change and development in a system.
Practical implications
This study provides managers and HR practitioners, especially in the Lebanese context, with a sound model of the LO theory to be applied in their organizations.
Originality/value
This study provides scholars with an understanding of the potential value of the LO in the Lebanese context. The results present evidence of the cultural impact on the perceptions of the LO in the Lebanese context, confirm the applicability of the shortened Arabic DLOQ and provide HR practitioners in Lebanon with a tool to diagnose LO characteristics accurately and consistently and to determine if there is a link between the LO and organizational performance.
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Kyoungshin Kim, Karen E. Watkins and Zhenqiu (Laura) Lu
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among a learning organization, knowledge and financial performance using the Dimensions of the Learning Organization…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among a learning organization, knowledge and financial performance using the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire and its abbreviated version.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a secondary data set and performed second-order factor analysis and structural equation modeling for testing the proposed relationships.
Findings
The study found that a learning organization has a positive effect on knowledge performance; knowledge performance has a positive effect on financial performance; and knowledge performance fully mediates the relationship between a learning organization and financial performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to validating the current dimensionality of the theoretical framework of a learning organization proposed by Watkins and Marsick (1993, 1996) and offers a valid conceptual framework of the relationship among the learning culture and organizational performance dimensions.
Practical implications
This study re-stresses the significance of the learning and knowledge generated by the human resources of an organization and developed by human resource development practitioners.
Originality/value
This study is valuable to human resource development scholars and practitioners interested in improving and measuring organizational performance.
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Jun Hee Kim and Jamie L. Callahan
– This article aims to develop a conceptual framework delineating the key dimension of the learning organization which significantly influences learning transfer.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to develop a conceptual framework delineating the key dimension of the learning organization which significantly influences learning transfer.
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual framework was developed by analyzing previous studies and synthesizing the results associated with the following four relationships: the learning organization and learning transfer; the learning organization and organizational performance; the Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI) and learning transfer; and the Dimensions of Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) and the LTSI.
Findings
This paper developed the learning transfer framework of the learning organization, which emphasizes the significance of leadership for learning on facilitating learning transfer in the learning organization.
Research limitations/implications
First, empirical-analytical research needs to be accumulated to verify the conceptual framework developed in the present paper. Second, instruments to measure the learning organization need to incorporate the learning transfer concept. Last, organizations need to focus on leadership for learning to increase learning transfer if the organization does not have enough resources to develop all dimensions of the learning organization.
Originality/value
This article contributes to the literature by producing a conceptual framework that isolates leadership for learning as a key dimension of the learning organization that specifically influences learning transfer. The pivotal dimension of leadership for learning was extracted through investigating the numerous empirical-analytical studies.
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Nishada Dhananjaya Dahanayake and Sharmila Gamlath
This study intends to investigate the extent to which the Sri Lanka Army can be described as a learning organization.
Abstract
Purpose
This study intends to investigate the extent to which the Sri Lanka Army can be described as a learning organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The main tool of analysis used was the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) developed by Marsick and Watkins, with the exclusion of the sections on financial and knowledge performance.
Findings
Using the DLOQ, the research found that the dimensions of a learning organization proposed by Marsick and Watkins are present in the Sri Lanka Army, although with some aberrations between different ranks.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted without a directly connected dependent variable.
Practical implications
This study shows how even a non‐profit‐oriented organization like the Sri Lanka Army can be informed from a concept like the learning organization, and indeed emphasizes the overarching need for a military organization to operate as a learning organization. Therefore, this research has reiterated the fact that the learning organization is a prescription that all organizations, even not‐for‐profit ones, should ardently pursue. The research also offers recommendations for improvements in the performance of the Sri Lanka Army by identifying certain weaknesses.
Originality/value
By initiating the use of the DLOQ in the Sri Lankan as well as a military context, the study has opened the doors for administering the DLOQ and similar tools for measuring the extent of organizational learning and the presence and strength of learning organizational characteristics in Sri Lanka.
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Karen Voolaid and Üllas Ehrlich
This paper aims to measure the organizational learning in two of Estonia’s Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and identify connections between the organizational learning and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to measure the organizational learning in two of Estonia’s Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and identify connections between the organizational learning and various characteristics of HEI, such as ownership form and market participation rate.
Design/methodology/approach
Watkins and Marsick’s learning organization questionnaire, the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ), as one of the most popular organizational learning measurement instruments, was taken to measure the organizational learning of HEIs. Employees from a total of two Estonian HEIs, which differ in several characteristics, completed the Watkins and Marsick’s questionnaire. To identify the dependence of organizational learning on two observed HEIs’ characteristics, the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis method was used. The analysis was performed at the DLOQ dimensions level.
Findings
The average organizational learning rate of the two universities under study was over average (3.72 on six-point Likert scale) which allows arguing that both observed institutions are learning organizations. The organizational learning rate based on samples of employees from two HEI-s depends on the institution`s market participation on the 90 per cent level in the first dimension, 95 per cent in the second dimension and 90 per cent in the sixth dimension. Correlation between the HEI ownership form and any of the DLOQ dimensions is weak.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on two universities. The sample size is insufficient; therefore, the results cannot be generalized to HEIs as a whole.
Originality/value
The relationship between higher education institutions’ organizational learning and higher education institutions’ characteristics has not been investigated before. The results of this paper allow a better focus on different aspects of organizational learning in HEIs’ development and relate to their specific development needs.
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Dima Jamali, Yusuf Sidani and Charbel Zouein
The purpose of this paper is to survey the various measurement instruments of the learning organization on offer, leading to the adoption of a tool that was considered most…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to survey the various measurement instruments of the learning organization on offer, leading to the adoption of a tool that was considered most suitable for gauging progress towards the learning organization in two sectors of the Lebanese economy, namely banking and information technology (IT).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper capitalized on a literature review to identify the various measurement instruments on offer in the context of learning organizations. The Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) by Watkins and Marsick was adopted in light of the review to gauge the progress towards learning organizations in two progressive sectors of the Lebanese economy, namely banking and IT. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of six organizations from each sector, respectively, drawing on responses from a total sample of 227 employees and managers to benchmark progress towards the learning organization in a developing country context.
Findings
The findings suggest the integration of learning organization best practices in both sectors with good progress and evolution towards learning organizations in the IT sector in particular. The strengths of both sectors seemed to lie in individual level and global level dimensions (particularly strategic leadership) while their weaknesses lay in people empowerment and the creation of systems to share learning at the organizational level. The findings are explained in turn in light of the peculiarities of those two sectors, qualified in relation to relevant contextual realities, and analyzed capitalizing on a systems theory approach or perspective.
Originality/value
The paper turns attention to the various measurement instruments of learning organizations on offer and their respective strengths and weaknesses and presents an empirically grounded investigation of learning organization practices in a developing country context using the DLOQ. The value added is in highlighting the usefulness of a systems theory perspective in research on learning organizations.
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