본 연구는 충청지역의 중소기업을 대상으로 조직학습 수준과 조직몰입 및 지각된 조직성과의 관계를 분석하였다. 구체적으로 개인, 집단 및 조직수준 학습과 조직몰입 및 지각된 조직성과 사이의 직접적 관계와 조직학습의 각 수준과 지각된 조직성과 사이에서 조직몰입의 매개효과를 분석하였다. 이를 위해 충청지역의 산업분포를 반영한 150여개 기업의 800명의 응답자로부터 얻은 설문자료에 대해 실증분석을 하였다. 실증분석 결과, 개인 수준학습과 집단 수준학습 및 조직수준 학습 모두 조직몰입 및 지각된 조직성과에 정(+)의 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 조직몰입에 대해서는 개인수준, 집단 수준 및 조직수준 학습의 순서로, 영향을 미치며, 지각된 조직성과에 대해서는 개인수준, 조직수준 및 집단 수준학습의 순서로 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 조직학습은 지각된 조직성과에 대해 직접적인 효과를 갖지만, 조직몰입을 통한 간접적인 효과가 보다 큰 것으로 나타나 조직몰입은 조직학습과 지각된 조직성과를 부분적으로 매개하는 역할을 하는 것으로 나타났다. 마지막으로 실증분석 결과를 요약하고, 연구결과가 중소기업의 조직학습에 미치는 이론적, 실무적 영향과 시사점을 제시하고, 향후 연구방향과 논문의 한계에 대해 논의하였다.Increasing competition, speedy environmental changes, scarce resources and globalization have made organizational learning a critical component for organizational success and a competitive advantage in the long term. As concerns for organizational learning and organizational success increase, researches which examine the relationship between organizational learning and various important organizational variables such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, short term or long term performance variables (e.g. financial achievement, quality improvement, product service innovation, etc.) attract a lot of attention. The main purpose of this paper is twofold : First, it examines the relationship between the three levels of learning in an organization-individual level learning (ILL), group level learning (GLL), organizational level learning (OLL)-and organizational commitment (OC) and perceived organizational performance (POP) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) settings. Second, it examines whether there are direct effects of the three levels of learning (ILL, GLL, and OLL) on POP, or mediate effects of OC between the three levels of learning (ILL, GLL, and OLL) and POP. This study refers to the stocks of learning as learning that resides within a level : individual, group, and organization. These stocks can be distinguished from the flow of learning across levels to provide feed-forward and feed-back.
The three levels of learning can be defined as follows(Bontis, Crossan, and Hulland, 2002) : Individual learning captures the processes of intuiting and interpreting. It focuses on the generation of innovative insight, taking actions that are experimental in nature, breaking out of traditional mind-sets to see things in new and different ways, scanning the external environment, developing the competency to complete one's job, having a sense of pride and ownership in one's work, and being aware of the critical issues that affect one's work, all at the level of the individual. Group learning captures the process of integrating. It includes elements such as effectively working in groups, having productive meetings, having the right people to address the issues, and communicating key elements of dialogue including being prepared to share both successes and failures, encouraging diversity, and effective conflict resolution. Organizational level learning involves embedding individual and group learning into the non-human aspects of an organization's systems, structures, procedures and strategy. In this case the stock of learning is referred to as organizational memory.
Furthermore, this embedded learning needs to be aligned so that systems, structures, and procedures support a strategic orientation that position an organizational well within its competitive environment.
I developed three sets of hypotheses through literature review : The first set of three hypotheses (H1-1, 1-2, 1-3) are related with the direct relationship between learning at each of the three levels and organizational commitment. The second set of three hypotheses (H2-1, 2-2, 2-3) are related with the direct relationship between learning at each of the three levels and perceived organizational performance. The third hypothesis (H3) is related with the mediating effect of organizational commitment between learning at each of the three levels and perceived organizational performance.
In order to test the hypotheses, I used measurement instruments of which their reliability and validity were verified through a series of preceding research. The strategic learning assessment map developed by Bontis et al.(2002) and Crossan, Lane, and White(1999) is used for analyzing the relationship between the three levels of learning and perceived organizational performance. The Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) developed by Mowday, Steers, and Porter(1979) is used to measure organizational commitment. About 150 SMES in the ChungCheong region voluntarily agreed to take part in this research. Finally data was gathered from a total of 800 respondents and used in statistical analysis to test the hypotheses. I tested for the reliability and validity of all measurements relating to the five constructs in two stages. In the first stage, exploratory factor analysis of all items using the principal component analysis (PCA) was examined. All the items were loaded into the five constructs with relatively high values as expected. In the second stage, results of confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling yielded an adequate model fit for the proposed factor structure (χº = 926.591, df = 259, p = .000, RMR = .060, RMSEA = .057, NFI = .937, CFI = .954). All items were loaded on their respective constructs and were statistically significant. Furthermore, I computed the composite reliability of each construct. The composite reliability for each construct is above the .70 suggested by Nunnally(1978) which indicates adequate reliability. I checked the convergent and discriminant validity of each construct. The standardized CFA loadings present evidence of convergent validity. The square root of the average variance extracted was greater than all corresponding correlations indicating adequate discriminant validity.
The results of this study suggest valuable meaning and various implications at the academic and practical level for SMEs. First, all three levels of learning are positively associated with organizational commitment and perceived organizational performance. This result suggests that as verified in Western studies, organizational learning in SMEs can be the most critical element to transforming an existing traditional organization to a performance oriented organization (Gilley and Maycunich, 2000). To intensify individual, group and organizational level learning would make important contributions to the organization in achieving sustainable competitive advantages as well as demonstrating strong financial performance. Therefore, it is the duty of the CEO and senior management in SMEs to devote effort to continually strengthen the three levels of learning and enhance the level of organizational commitment and effectiveness in the long term. Contrary to expectation, the results of regression analysis suggest that individual level learning has a greater effect than group level learning or organizational level learning. I had expected organizational level learning to make organizational members share the mental model of the organization and align with the organizational strategy, system and operating procedures to enhance the level of organizational commitment and performance. I believe that this discrepancy in expectation is caused by the perception of respondents of the organizational learning level in their own organizations. Respondents can be biased that the individual level learning is more important than the other levels of learning. If so, organizations have to focus on the individual level learning to get the desired results such as organizational effectiveness. On the other hand, it can be caused by the perception of respondents in overestimating the value of individual level learning more than reality assuming the condition that group and organizational level learning is relatively less activated than individual level learning. Organizational commitment has a partial mediating role between the level of organizational learning and perceived organizational performance. This result suggests the importance of the role of organizational commitment to enhance organizational performance. In conclusion, I recommended future research to examine more mediating variables such as the effect of human resource management systems and organizational trust on organizational commitment and performance, and the effects of inter-organizational learning level between SMES or SMEs and large scale organizations. Other further research directions are suggested. Finally several limitations to be aware of in this study are presented. Especially the possibility of measurement errors incurred when measuring invisible phenomena such as organizational learning, limitations in employing only survey questionnaires and self reporting errors are pointed out.