The primary purpose of this research is to study the level of penetration of Learning Organization concept in Sugar Industry. The research is focused on identifying the factors that determine the existence of the Sugar factory as a learning organization.
International Journal of Management (IJM) Volume 7, Issue 7, November–December 2016, pp.134–143, Article ID: IJM_07_07_014 Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijm/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=7&IType=7 Journal Impact Factor (2016): 8.1920 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510 © IAEME Publication A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING ORGANIZATION Ms Reshma G Sable Assistant Professor, Research Scholar, I2IM, CHARUSAT, Changa, Gujarat, India Dr Govind B Dave Dean, Principal, FMS, I2IM, CHARUSAT, Changa, Gujarat, India ABSTRACT Purpose: The primary purpose of this research is to study the level of penetration of Learning Organization concept in Sugar Industry The research is focused on identifying the factors that determine the existence of the Sugar factory as a learning organization Design/methodology/approach: The research was carried out at Sangamner Sahakari Sugar Karkhana Ltd., Sangamner, Ahmed nagar district The strengths of variables were tested using factor analysis, while the literature review was conducted to explore the concept of learning organization Findings: The result shows that learning organization concept consists of six different aspects which are primarily related to the environment of the organization Research limitations/implications: The study is limited to the selected generalization of the findings for other sugar industry/firms factories operating in Ahmed nagar district Further research can be carried out with more sample size and extended to other firms for better generalization This can strengthen the validity of current measurement tool Originality/value: The research presents specific variables that affect learning organization in the sugar industry Key words: Learning organization, Organizational Learning, Organizational Leadership, Sugar Industry Cite this Article: Ms Reshma G Sable and Dr Govind B Dave, A Study on Factors Affecting Learning Organization International Journal of Management, 7(7), 2016, pp 134–143 http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=7&IType=7 http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 134 editor@iaeme.com A Study on Factors Affecting Learning Organization INTRODUCTION The concept of learning organization is more prominently reflected in the set up where there is a scope for continuous improvement in the organizational processes through the learning mechanism Even though learning is considered to be a process; related to living beings, the organization as a whole was viewed as living organization since 1990s, as the concept of learning organization (LO) was popularised (Senge 1990, Watkins and Marsick 1993,Garvin 1993) LO is more of an environmental concept, which occurs at all levels of the organization The research work carried out by Narver and Slater (1990) revealed that a company’s ability to learn and innovate has been demonstrated to be a key driver of the company’s capability to increase revenues, profits and economic value The concept of LO was more respected because Peter Senge (1990) placed importance on organizational leadership which creates an environment for flourishing, where people continually expand their capacity to generate desired results, where new and valuable patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, where people are continually learning how to learn together, and where people are bonded firmly in the same boat with clear future destiny In addition Garvin, Edmondson, and Gino (2008) have also identified that organizational learning is strongly influenced by the behavior of leaders When leaders actively question and listen to employees and thereby prompt dialogue and debate people in the institution feel encouraged to learn Organizational listening and learning plays an efficient role in the development of followers There has been an ample amount of research carried out in the area of learning organization in various industries But no attempt is made to test the level of penetration of LO concept in sugar industry In other words, there is no evidence of research being carried out to identify the various factors that affect the existence of learning organization in sugar industry Therefore, the present research aims to identify the factors that contribute in building the organization as a learning organization in sugar industry The present research will demonstrate theoretical as well as an empirical significance The concept of LO can be best understood with the help of the learning organization model given by Peter Senge (1990) Empirically the strength of variables contributing in building the learning organization can be tested Further the empirical findings can be made applicable to the organizations operating in sugar industry LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The Concept and Process of LO The first significant work on learning organization is always credited to Peter Senge (1990) While laying the foundation of learning organization model, Peter Senge (1992, 1993) has discussed about the three most important level of work, required for existence of learning organization The first level talks about development, production and marketing of products and services The second level focuses on the designing and development of the systems and processes for production The third level is concerned with the thinking and interactions among organizational employees In other words it tells us that the quality of organizational thinking and interactions directly affects the organizational systems and processes and production and delivery of products and services 2.2 Antecedent / Independent Variables of the Study Any organization can be referred as a learning organization only when it demonstrates sustainable improvement in three major areas Viz development in production process and marketing of the finished products, development of the organizational system as a whole and critical thinking and effective interactions among organizational employees This expected area of development is possible when the organization is aware and conscious about few important factors that affect the process of building the learning organization Literature review has resulted in few major factors that affect the learning organization in sugar industry These can be classified into five major categories: http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 135 editor@iaeme.com Ms Reshma G Sable and Dr Govind B Dave Organizational Environment is defined as the prime factor that determines the existence of learning organization This is facilitated by the defined organizational culture and continuous communication and daily dialog and inquiry • Organizational Leadership is defined as a variable that is demonstrated through the senior management commitment and support, their extent of empowering others, their ability to re-enforce learning, effectiveness with which the vision is communicated and imbibed among employees, and continuous focus on knowledge acquisition, development, utilization and sharing • Effectiveness of Organizational Processes and Practices is defined as a factor that demands the organization as a whole, to learn from the past mistakes and expects employees to introspect and identify the reason/s for the failures At the same time it focuses on innovations and research and for this it strives to adapt and up-grade to the most updated technology Learning organization demands all its employees to demonstrate and perform to maximum of their abilities • Organizational Commitment is defined as a factor which expects employees to be adaptable to any change It narrows down to the individual employee’s capacity to learn and explore new things • Organizational Citizenship Behaviour is defined as a factor that affects the sustainability of learning organization It focuses on continuous learning, training and development It demands employees to be self-disciplined, cooperate and collaborate, voluntarily help each other and demonstrate the ability to work as a team Depending on the classification of the factors affecting learning organization, a conceptual framework as mentioned in Figure-1, was developed and researched upon in sugar industry at Ahmedanagar district in Maharashtra The current research is aimed at identifying the various factors that are responsible for creating and sustaining a learning organization, especially in a sugar industry For this purpose exhaustive literature review was carried out, which resulted in identifying five different factors (viz Organizational environment, Organizational leadership, Organizational processes and practices, Organizational commitment, and Organizational citizenship behaviour), that can contribute in building and sustaining a learning organization Figure-1 shows the diagrammatic representation of the linkages that can exist between the factors identified to affect the learning organization It further demonstrates the process of formation and sustaining of learning organization with the prime focus on development, production and marketing, designing and developing the systems, processes for production and critical thinking and interactions among employees at all levels • http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 136 editor@iaeme.com A Study on Factors Affecting Learning Organization 2.3 Research Framework/Model • • Organizational Environment Organizational Culture Continuous Communication / Daily Dialog & Inquiry • • • • • Organizational Leadership Senior Management commitment & support Empowering others Re-enforcing learning Shared vision Knowledge acquisition, development, utilization and sharing • • Organizational Processes & Practices Learning from mistakes / Action on Reflection Focus on innovation and research Technological up gradation • • Organizational Commitment Openness to change Individual’s readiness & capacity to learn • • • • • • Organizational Citizenship Behaviour Continuous learning Training & development Self-discipline Team learning Co-operation & collaboration Voluntarily helping others • LEARNING ORGANIZATION Figure Research Framework & Expected Outcome OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The primary objective of the study is to identify the factors that affect the existence of learning organizations in sugar manufacturing industry RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The factors affecting learning organization and the strength of those factors were determined with the help of factor analysis 4.1 Sample and Data Collection The data was collected from 138 employees of Sangamner Sugar factory Convenience sampling method was adopted during data collection The data represented employees belonging to all departments of sugar factory 100% respondents were male, as sugar factory don’t employ female workers http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 137 editor@iaeme.com Ms Reshma G Sable and Dr Govind B Dave 4.2 Data Collection Instrument The instrument used in data collection was self-constructed based on literature review and included 30 variables to be rated over on five point rating scale (from 1- Strongly disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4Agree, 5- Strongly agree) The scale had five major dimensions which combined various factors affecting learning organization viz Organizational Environment, Organizational Leadership, Organizational Processes and Practices, Organizational Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION The collected data was first of all subjected to identification of correlation between the variables used in study It was observed that a multicolinearity was existing between the variables (as shown in Table-1), of the study hence the data was further subjected to the Factor Analysis The data was analysed, using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Factor analysis was used to identify the most prominent dimensions of learning organization that are more salient in manufacturing industry’s context All 30 items were factor analysed using principal component analysis followed by Varimax rotation Kaiser-MeyerOlkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy resulted in the value 0.864, which is sufficiently large indicating that the sample is adequate The Chi-Square value was also significant, i.e 3370.858 at 435 degrees of freedom under Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity, which is significant at 0.05 level The P-value is 0.000, for the test and therefore fails to provide sufficient premises to accept the null hypothesis On the other hand it suggests that the alternative hypothesis is acceptable, which indicates that all variables under study are correlated KMO and Bartlett's Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy Bartlett's Test of Sphericity 864 Approx Chi-Square 3370.858 df Sig 435 000 5.1 Table-2: KMO and Bartlett’s Test The initial factor solution resulted in six factors with eigen values greater than Same is reflected under the scree plot obtained in factor analysis Figure Scree Plot Correlation Matrix http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 138 editor@iaeme.com A Study on Factors Affecting Learning Organization Table Co-relation Matrix Q-1 Q-2 Q-3 Q-4 Q-5 Q-6 Q-7 Q-8 Q-9 Q-10 Q-11 Q-12 Q-13 Q-14 Q-15 Q-16 Q-17 Q-18 Q-19 Q-20 Q-21 Q-22 Q-23 Q-24 Q-25 Q-26 Q-27 Q-28 Q-29 Q-30 Q-1 1.00 613 717 599 225 483 499 470 398 430 384 311 274 109 243 483 482 497 429 495 419 307 464 514 438 566 354 344 243 483 Q-2 613 1.00 703 487 480 387 461 486 424 306 332 347 652 497 340 242 355 299 246 279 302 497 758 688 599 469 413 560 340 242 Q-3 717 703 1.00 583 368 521 550 459 552 383 484 539 475 340 427 422 511 449 456 462 457 460 559 561 499 476 421 473 427 422 Q-4 599 487 583 1.00 208 418 572 383 501 443 516 512 364 289 380 349 554 554 447 522 372 345 415 370 354 356 394 500 380 349 Q-5 225 480 368 208 1.00 090 246 331 240 192 092 227 472 441 233 135 150 141 192 178 304 450 579 381 380 427 377 447 233 135 Q-6 483 387 521 418 090 1.00 501 537 625 430 626 539 331 181 333 490 495 377 515 439 441 279 321 396 297 340 438 312 333 490 Q-7 499 461 550 572 246 501 1.00 477 661 466 659 576 426 317 246 404 564 528 520 567 500 328 406 428 492 380 503 532 246 404 Q-8 470 486 459 383 331 537 477 1.00 653 455 540 380 405 265 279 449 528 449 526 550 522 595 461 406 369 346 409 440 279 449 Q-9 398 424 552 501 240 625 661 653 1.00 480 706 611 415 345 271 427 477 446 613 478 614 486 348 390 339 343 371 366 271 427 Q-10 430 306 383 443 192 430 466 455 480 1.00 451 433 255 200 348 426 366 298 462 423 428 409 263 185 192 416 276 246 348 426 Q-11 384 332 484 516 092 626 659 540 706 451 1.00 641 354 248 290 382 511 386 608 569 602 311 282 369 266 230 507 364 290 382 Q-12 311 347 539 512 227 539 576 380 611 433 641 1.00 227 217 419 307 415 332 445 417 402 284 342 246 152 261 356 285 419 307 Q-13 274 652 475 364 472 331 426 405 415 255 354 227 1.00 710 422 087 316 221 231 171 303 466 664 667 626 296 436 547 422 087 Q-14 109 497 340 289 441 181 317 265 345 200 248 217 710 1.00 428 -.041 130 154 121 064 237 398 605 546 525 235 402 464 428 -.041 Q-15 243 340 427 380 233 333 246 279 271 348 290 419 422 428 1.00 097 235 251 179 278 247 228 400 289 223 261 375 293 1.00 097 Q-16 483 242 422 349 135 490 404 449 427 426 382 307 087 -.041.097 1.00 513 514 451 450 448 233 188 261 293 336 327 218 097 1.00 Q-17 482 355 511 554 150 495 564 528 477 366 511 415 316 130 235 513 1.00 768 615 724 573 294 413 429 418 172 531 505 235 513 Q-18 497 299 449 554 141 377 528 449 446 298 386 332 221 154 251 514 768 1.00 553 579 475 224 265 340 384 202 434 385 251 514 Q-19 429 246 456 447 192 515 520 526 613 462 608 445 231 121 179 451 615 553 1.00 740 674 396 268 298 280 297 405 343 179 451 Q-20 495 279 462 522 178 439 567 550 478 423 569 417 171 064 278 450 724 579 740 1.00 636 372 319 320 282 349 507 420 278 450 Q-21 419 302 457 372 304 441 500 522 614 428 602 402 303 237 247 448 573 475 674 636 1.00 453 389 365 331 429 558 322 247 448 Q-22 307 497 460 345 450 279 328 595 486 409 311 284 466 398 228 233 294 224 396 372 453 1.00 585 440 364 435 333 442 228 233 Q-23 464 758 559 415 579 321 406 461 348 263 282 342 664 605 400 188 413 265 268 319 389 585 1.00 685 633 440 527 604 400 188 Q-24 514 688 561 370 381 396 428 406 390 185 369 246 667 546 289 261 429 340 298 320 365 440 685 1.00 876 461 584 608 289 261 Q-25 438 599 499 354 380 297 492 369 339 192 266 152 626 525 223 293 418 384 280 282 331 364 633 876 1.00 416 542 615 223 293 Q-26 566 469 476 356 427 340 380 346 343 416 230 261 296 235 261 336 172 202 297 349 429 435 440 461 416 1.00 518 455 261 336 Q-27 354 413 421 394 377 438 503 409 371 276 507 356 436 402 375 327 531 434 405 507 558 333 527 584 542 518 1.00 649 375 327 Q-28 344 560 473 500 447 312 532 440 366 246 364 285 547 464 293 218 505 385 343 420 322 442 604 608 615 455 649 1.00 293 218 Q-29 374 541 464 365 375 232 470 374 270 315 335 210 480 374 277 286 445 402 222 381 352 363 542 619 644 378 685 706 277 286 Q-30 447 529 467 342 443 361 352 464 419 346 237 221 456 311 277 271 262 265 224 313 285 525 503 532 478 576 472 596 277 271 http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 139 editor@iaeme.com Ms Reshma G Sable and Dr Govind B Dave The six-factor solution accounted for 71.938% of variance Total Variance Explained Extraction Sums of Squared Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings Loadings % of Cumulative % of Cumulative % of Cumulative Component Total Variance Total Variance Total Variance % % % Initial Eigen values 13.047 43.489 43.489 13.047 43.489 43.489 6.333 21.108 21.108 3.327 11.091 54.580 3.327 11.091 54.580 5.174 17.247 38.355 1.587 5.291 59.871 1.587 5.291 59.871 2.716 9.054 47.409 1.384 4.612 64.483 1.384 4.612 64.483 2.691 8.971 56.379 1.226 4.088 68.571 1.226 4.088 68.571 2.583 8.609 64.989 1.010 3.367 71.938 1.010 3.367 71.938 2.085 6.949 71.938 930 3.100 75.037 773 2.576 77.614 752 2.508 80.122 10 655 2.182 82.304 11 633 2.112 84.415 12 502 1.672 86.087 13 438 1.461 87.549 14 416 1.387 88.936 15 396 1.322 90.257 16 365 1.216 91.473 17 327 1.090 92.563 18 298 993 93.556 19 269 896 94.452 20 248 828 95.281 21 236 787 96.067 22 212 705 96.772 23 196 655 97.427 24 170 566 97.993 25 148 494 98.487 26 139 462 98.949 27 108 361 99.310 28 092 307 99.617 29 067 224 99.841 30 048 159 100.000 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis Figure Total Variance Explained http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 140 editor@iaeme.com A Study on Factors Affecting Learning Organization In Rotated Component Matrix, items which had no strong loading (less than 0.5) on any of the factors were identified and consequently eliminated Rotated Component Matrixa Component Continuous questioning and feedback 302 166 137 803 246 098 Organizational support for shared learning 135 685 059 480 261 161 Contribution in organizational decision making 353 401 086 582 194 305 Focus on productive reasoning skills 382 200 248 453 028 437 Open systems of communication 070 470 127 -.061 559 056 Effective knowledge sharing 588 172 -.015 348 065 302 Promoting dialogue 576 285 273 259 024 294 Contribution towards organizational goals and targets 667 317 015 152 332 -.011 Challenge employees to better 761 308 -.106 134 153 238 Knowledge from internal and external environment 461 -.025 011 204 425 381 Transparency in sharing vital information 743 186 100 072 -.036 374 Knowledge creation and sharing 517 114 -.020 150 049 634 Zero or minimum mistakes 168 835 095 029 112 198 Proper analysis of mistakes 066 789 074 -.174 088 303 Reflection and introspection of mistakes 076 241 171 040 139 740 Continuous innovation 530 -.088 176 480 182 -.087 Technological updation 661 160 493 288 -.123 026 Continuous R & D 550 086 479 360 -.128 027 Welcome change 825 047 167 103 117 030 Acquiring new skills and knowledge 703 -.035 428 175 161 096 Easy adaptation to change 737 137 230 001 281 044 Taping people’s commitment & capacity to learn 416 451 -.071 001 576 -.030 Understand new changes 159 726 192 190 315 140 Recognition for contribution 174 744 325 327 124 -.023 Learning for education and growth 146 710 409 302 080 -.102 Learning to stand in market competition 123 142 215 350 710 160 Reinforcing level of knowledge and needs 329 313 675 000 259 223 Value and reward collaboration 200 506 581 097 260 140 Work and learn together 112 420 677 159 288 085 Collective work towards common goal 109 350 297 249 619 085 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization a Rotation converged in 17 iterations Figure Rotated Component Matrix http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 141 editor@iaeme.com Ms Reshma G Sable and Dr Govind B Dave The factors identified through Rotated Component Matrix, with strong loading (greater than 0.5) were placed together and labelled Thus the Factor Analysis has resulted in identification of six major factors that are found to affect the learning organization in sugar manufacturing industry The factors with loading with Eigen value greater than 0.5 are as follows: Factor Labeling Factor-1: Organizational Leadership, Commitment & Innovation Factor-2: Learning Organization Factor-3: Team Work Factor-4: Organizational Culture Factor-5: Organizational Learning Factor-6: Organizational Development Variable Details Loading Effective knowledge sharing 0.588 Promoting dialogue 0.576 Contribution towards organizational goals and targets 0.667 Challenge employees to better 0.761 Transparency in sharing vital information 0.743 Technological updation 0.661 Continuous R & D 0.550 Welcome change 0.825 Acquiring new skills and knowledge 0.703 Easy adaptation to change 0.737 Organizational support for shared learning 0.685 Zero or minimum mistakes 0.835 Proper analysis of mistakes 0.789 Understand new changes 0.726 Recognition for contribution 0.744 Learning for education and growth 0.710 Reinforcing level of knowledge and needs 0.675 Value and reward collaboration 0.581 Work and learn together 0.677 Continuous questioning and feedback 0.803 Contribution in organizational decision making 0.582 Open systems of communication 0.559 Taping people’s commitment & capacity to learn 0.576 Learning to stand in market competition 0.710 Collective work towards common goal 0.619 Knowledge creation and sharing 0.634 Reflection and introspection of mistakes 0.740 CONCLUSION Literature review resulted in identifying various viz Organizational environment, Organizational leadership, Organizational processes & practices, Organizational commitment, and Organizational citizenship behaviour Empirically it is proved that the variables that affect the existence of learning organization in sugar industry can be classified into six different variables, viz., Organizational Leadership, Commitment, Innovation and Training, Adaptation to change, Learning Organization, Team Work, Organizational http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 142 editor@iaeme.com A Study on Factors Affecting Learning Organization Culture, Organizational Learning, and Organizational Development All these factors collectively were found to affect the existence of learning organization in sugar industry All these factors are primarily contributing to the continuous process of building and sustaining learning organization This is feasible only when the organizational focus is on development production and marketing, design & development of systems & processes for production and critical thinking and interactions among employees at all levels MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS The prime purpose of research is to identify the extent to which the concept of learning organization is penetrated in a sugar manufacturing factory The various factors that affect the existence of learning organization is sugar manufacturing industry were empirically tested and identified The current research also provides basic guidelines for further researches in similar and diverse industries The research has demonstrated the validity of the claim that learning organizations also exist in sugar industry Further the existence of learning organization in sugar industry is backed by various variables If an organization focus more on nurturing the six significant factors identified through research, then it can certainly become a learning organization in future In essence, the firm/organization in general and sugar industry in particular can concentrate its efforts on the new named variables to achieve progress for being learning organization REFERENCE [1] Bechtold, B L (2000) Evolving to organizational learning Hospital Materiel Management Quarterly, 21(3), 11-26 [2] Daft, R L., & Huber, G P (1987) How organizations learn: A communication framework Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 5, 1-36 [3] Basim, H N., Sesen, H, Sozen, C., &Hazir, K (2009) The effect of employees' learning organization perceptions on organizational citizenship behaviors Selcuk University Social Sciences Institute Journal 22, 55-66 [4] Garvin, D.A., Edmondson, A.C & Gino, F (2008) Is yours a learning organization? 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Adaptation to change, Learning Organization, Team Work, Organizational http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 142 editor@iaeme.com A Study on Factors Affecting Learning Organization Culture, Organizational... The scale had five major dimensions which combined various factors affecting learning organization viz Organizational Environment, Organizational Leadership, Organizational Processes and Practices,