Most glad to be able to say that the paper we wrote with my South Korean colleagues on organizational learning culture and innovation seems to be of relevance to the research community. The paper Škerlavaj, Song, & Lee (2010): Organizational Learning Culture, Innovative Culture and Innovations in South Korean Firms, Expert Systems with Applications made it to the SSRN Top 10 all times within the category Innovation and Organizational behavior.
Top Ten @ SSRN again
Our paper Transactional and Transformational Leadership Impacts on Organizational Learning, JEEMS (2009), was recently listed on Social Science Research Network’s (SSRN) Top Ten download list for ORG: Organizational Learning. It is available here.
Patterns and structures of intra-organizational learning networks within a knowledge-intensive organization
Another publication of ours available on-line in a top-notch academic journal:
Škerlavaj, M., Dimovski, V., Desouza, K.C. (In press): Patterns and structures of intra-organizational learning networks within a knowledge-intensive organization. Journal of Information Technology, doi: 10.1057/jit.2010.3
Abstract
This paper employs the network perspective to study patterns and structures of intra-organizational learning networks. The theoretical background draws from cognitive theories, theories of homophily and proximity, theories of social exchange, the theory of generalized exchange, small-worlds theory, and social process theory. The levels of analysis applied are actor, dyadic, triadic, and global. Confirmatory social network analysis (exponential random graph modeling) was employed for data analysis. Findings suggest: (1) central actors in the learning network are experienced and hold senior positions in the organizational hierarchy; (2) evidence of homophily (in terms of gender, tenure, and hierarchical level relations) and proximity (in terms of geographical and departmental distances) in learning relationships; (3) learning relationships are non-reciprocal; and (4) transitivity and high local clustering with sparse inter-cluster ties are significant for intra-organizational learning networks.
Keywords:
organizational learning; social network analysis; centrality; homophily and proximity; reciprocity; transitivity
Journal Citation Reports®, 2008 Impact Factor: 1.966*, Rank: 24/99 – Computer Science, Information Systems, 10/61 – Information Science & Library Science, 27/89 – Management
Management International Conference 2009
I’m off to Tunisia, where I’ll be presenting a paper at the Management International Conference 2009 (Sousse). The paper is result of a collaboration with a colleague Jesús David Sánchez de Pablo González del Campo, University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). It is titled The Organizational Learning Process as Facilitator of Innovativeness. Below is the abstract:
Due to the relevance of innovativeness in the competitiveness and survival of a company in a constantly changing environment, we have questioned about how to facilitate innovativeness in organizations. Some recent literature presents organizational learning process as the key factor in order for innovation to occur. For this reason, we have tried to analyze the influence of organizational learning process on innovativeness using the partial least square (PLS) approach to structural equation modeling on data from 107 Spanish companies. We understand innovativeness as a combination of innovative culture and product/service and process innovation. Moreover, we have defined organizational learning as a continuous process with four phases. All of them must get to a high importance if firm wants to reach their aims with regard to innovation because the results of our research confirm a positive and significant relation between organizational learning and innovativeness as well as previous researches.
Book chapter published with Springer
Fresh from the oven, a book chapter Škerlavaj, M., Dimovski, V. (2009): Organizational Learning and Performance in Two National Cultures: A Multi-group Structural Equation Modeling Approach was published in a book King, W. (2009): Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Annals of Information Systems Series, Springer.
This chapter examines the impact of organizational learning on organizational performance in two countries. Using a multi-group structural equation modeling approach on data from 203 Slovenian and 202 Croatian companies, it tests the impact of the organizational learning process on financial and non-financial performance (NFP). The results show consistent findings between both countries under investigation (which vary only in terms of effect strength). First, the organizational learning process connects information processing with behavioral and cognitive changes. Second, organizational learning has a very strong direct impact on NFP (reflecting performance from employee, supplier, and customer points of view). Third, the effect of organizational learning on financial performance (measured in terms of return on assets and value added per employee) is also positive and strong, but indirect and exhibited through NFP. Finally, no direct effect on financial performance has been observed in any of the two cases. This paper advances the theory and practice of organizational learning by uncovering one specific aspect of the context in which organizational learning processes occur. It is the first of its kind to control for the contextual variables of national culture and economic development regarding the organizational learning – performance link.
Transactional and transformational leadership impacts on organizational learning
We have just published a new SSCI ranked article – Zagoršek, H., Dimovski, V. Škerlavaj, M. (2009): Transactional and Transformational Leadership Impacts on Organizational Learning, Journal of East European Management Studies, 14(2): 144-165. Here is the abstract:
This study empirically relates two important areas of management research: the full-range theory of leadership and the organizational learning process. Specifically, this contribution addresses three issues: (1) the impact of transformational leadership and (2) transactional leadership on the organizational learning process, and (3) whether the influence of transformational leadership is stronger than the influence of a transactional type of leadership. For measurement purposes, the article combines the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) with the Organizational Learning and Information Management Processes (OLIMP) measurement instrument. Building upon data from 753 employees in Slovenia at the organizational-unit level and applying a structural equation modelling methodological framework, the results indicate that transformational leadership has a strong impact on all four constructs of organizational learning: information acquisition; information distribution; information interpretation; and behavioural and cognitive changes. A direct impact is evident only regarding information acquisition and behavioural and cognitive changes, while leadership styles have an indirect effect on information distribution and information interpretation. The magnitude of the total effect ranges from .61 to .79. Interestingly, contingent reward leadership has an equally strong and positive impact on organizational learning, with effect magnitudes similar to those for transformational leadership. This finding provides empirical confirmation of the contingent perspective on leadership and learning (Vera/Crossan 2006) which claims that the most effective strategic leaders will be those best able to function in both transformational and transactional modes, depending upon the situation.
In memoriam: We would like to dedicate this article to Hugo Zagoršek (1977-2008), who tragically passed away shortly after the completion of this work.
Research seminar in Cardiff & Bath
For those of you who will be around Cardiff Business School (18.5.2008) or University of Bath (20.5.2008), here is a research seminar that I’ll give: “Organizational learning: Why and how?“.
Article published in TIBE
The SSCI publications just keep on comming! This time it is Hernaus, T., Škerlavaj, M., Dimovski, V. (2008): Relationship between Organisational Learning and Performance: The Case of Croatia, Transformations in Business and Economics, 7(22).
The focus of the paper is on the examination of organisational learning (OL) process and its link with organisational performance (OP) which was determined through operationalised OL and OP constructs. The research involved 202 Croatian companies employing more than 50 people. Besides determining the linkage between organisational learning and organisational performance, the research task was to determine which organisational performance measurement variables are the most and the least important, and even further, to identify the best and the worst predictable OP measurement items for each organisational learning variable. The most important finding of the study is the empirical evidence about exsistence of strong, statistically significant, positive relationship between organisational learning and organisational performance. In another words, organisations with development of their learning processes congruently increase their performance. The research also showed that employees’ measures are the most strongly related with organizational learning process.
Trimo Research Award
Yesterday, there was a splendid event called 7th Trimo Research Awards, which took place in a magnificent surrounding of Božidar Jakac gallery at Kostanjevica na Krki. And I was part of it, as one of the awardees for The Best PhD dissertation. This is a honour and recognition for me to be able to blend modern scientific findings with practical, down-to-earth situations that companies such are facing. Trimo is in many cases an example of good practices and is rigthly considered to be a learning organization. Desire to grow and develop constantly is deep-rooted in their ‘DNA’ – organizational culture. And they know what it means to set bridges among R&D institutions world-wide and their business. Together we are better, stronger, and faster.
Review chapter on organizational learning and performance
Hot from the oven! A new book Koohang, A., Harman, K, & Britz, J. (2008). Knowledge Management: Research and Applications, Informing Science Press was just published. As a part of it, Dimovski, V., and Škerlavaj, M. (myself :-)) published a review chapter Organizational Learning as the Key Towards Improved Organizational Performance.
It provides a systematic overview of empirical literature on the impact of organizational learning on performance for the period 1990-2006. It also identify methods used and schools of thought (and measurement). The chapter also provides directions for future research that should take into consideration context, multi-levelness, and network perspective to organizational learning.
The hard copy version of the book can be obtained from Informing Science Press, while e-book will be soon available from Google Books (free of charge).
prof. dr. Miha Škerlavaj 
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