Empirical Study On The Relationship Between The Organizational Learning Capability And The Performance In Smes

SMEs is a kind of vigorous unit in the world economy. Nowadays the organizational learning capability is of great importance to the development and existence of the SMEs in the existing running environment of "learning or die". So how to explore the inherent mechanism of the relationship between the organizational learning capability and performances in SMEs, how to grasp the influencing elements of the organizational learning capability and how to seek effective ways to improve their organizational learning capability are becoming one of the hot spots and difficult points concerned over by the business circle nowadays.Guided by the enterprise evolution theory and the enterprise capability theory, etc., the dissertation firstly reviews and re-organizes the relative existing achievements, researches and theories. Then, taking the relationship between the organizational learning capability and performance in SMEs as its study object, with the support of the investigation data in JiangXi province, and based on the analysis of the relationship between the status quo of the organizational learning capability and the affecting factors, quantitative analyses of the relationship among the constitutional elements of the organizational learning capability are done. Next, empirical studies on the relationship between the organizational learning capability and performance in SMEs are conducted. Finally, suggestions and Countermeasures to improve the organizational learning capability are put forward.The following are the main contents and conclusions of the study.(1) Constitutional elements of the organizational learning capability in SMEs. The organizational learning capability in SMEs is the core content in this study. Based on the reference review and theory deduction, the hierarchy of the organizational learning capability in SMEs is systematically discussed in Chapter Three. Analytical results show six basic elements existing in the organizational learning capability in SMEs as follows: Experimentation Learning, Competence Acquisition, Boundary Spanning, Continuous Improvement, Coding Sharing and Personalization Sharing. And it is the different combination of these six elements that form and produce the organizational learning capability developed in different direction (exploration learning capability and exploitation learning capability) and the organizational learning capability developed from different origins (internal learning capability and external learning capability). As for this structural feature of the learning capability, special empirical checkout by means of Multiple Regression and Structure Equation Model was undertaken here. (2) The relationship of organizational learning capability elements in SMEs restrained by the resources. Resources defined in this dissertation includes the physical as well as the non-physical ones, which constitute jointly the environment for the organizational learning. With the application of qualitative analyses (System Dynamics and Principle-agent, etc.) and quantitative analyses (Multiple Regression and Structure Equation Model, etc.), and from the angle of environmental agent, the resources restraint in the organizational learning capability in SMEs was conducted in the study. And results show as follows:①There is notable collision between different origins learning capability. Therefore, SMEs should take even substitutional tactics to cope with the restraint by resources. When threatened by the changing outside environment, SMEs incline to reinforce their external learning; otherwise, they would promote their internal learning capability.②The changing and complicated outside environment usually forces the SMEs to reinforce their exploration learning of the outside knowledge, and to restrain moderately their exploitation learning, but their inside management demands them to tend to reinforce their internal learning.(3) The reciprocity relationship between the organizational learning capability in SMEs and their performances. By using the data gained from the investigation samples, empirical studies on the relationship between the organizational learning capability and the performance in SMEs are mainly conducted from Chapter Six and Chapter Seven. Thus, answers to the questions about how the organizational learning capability affects the enterprise performances and how the enterprises performances affect the organizational learning capability are made here. Also the effect trajectory of the organizational learning capability in the course of the learning evolution is predicted in the following:①Exploration learning capability is beneficial to the improvement of the long-term performances in SMEs, while exploitation learning capability is to that of the their short-term performances. Research also shows, being restrained by resources, exploration learning capability is a hindrance to the improvement of their short-term performances, but no sufficient evidence indicates that exploitation learning capability has negative influences on their long-term performances.②Short-term performances can stimulate the SMEs to persistently exploit their existing fields, and to a certain extent, hold out their exploration of unknown fields. Therefore, the majority of the SMEs concentrating on the knowledge exploitation can develop stably, though slowly. Similarly, the long-term performances can also stimulate the SMEs to intensify the exploration of unknown fields, and to induce them to reduce the passion for continuous exploitation. Because of these, those concentrating on the long-term competitive advantages can more easily get chances to grow up, though their performances fluctuate rapidly and they risk more greatly in their growing up.③SMEs have various demands for both the internal knowledge and the external knowledge, and the knowledge from various origins has notably positive effects on the improvement of their performances.(4) Comparative assessment on the relationship between various organizational learning capability in SMEs and their performances.In Chapter Seven, a comparative study is carried out to find the internal laws of the relationship between the organizational learning capability and their performance in SMEs. The study is done between Medium-sized and Small-sized, and between Hi-tech type and Traditional type. Research indicates differences between the organizational learning capability in SMEs and that between their performances exist correlative relation, which are concretely stated as follows:①Medium-sized enterprises concentrating on the knowledge exploitation often keep some their exploration learning capability. While those concentrating on the exploration learning often prefer risk conducts but ignore their exploitation learning capability, which affects the improvement of their current performances. And correspondently, Small-sized enterprise concentrate only on the knowledge exploitation as a whole, but pay little attention to the relationship between exploration learning capability and their long-term development. And Medium-sized enterprises generally pay more attention to the internal knowledge learning, while Small-sized ones prefer the external learning.②Some of Hi-tech type of SMEs can pay balanced attention to both their current benefits and their long-term competitive advantages, and so they are easy to get rid of the tie of "core rigidities". While those concentrating on exploration learning pay inadequate attention to the knowledge exploitation and the use of knowledge. They favor the internal learning as a whole. By contrast, the relationship between the exploration learning and the long-term performances in Traditional type of SMEs is vague, for these enterprises favor external learning.(5) Countermeasures to promote the organizational learning capability in SMEs. From the aspect of improving the performances, and in view of the problems and obstacles existing in the organizational learning in SMEs, some suggestions and Countermeasures are put forward in Chapter Eight as follows:①Emphasizing the construction of studying platform of knowledge sharing in SMEs;②Constructing scientific management system of the organizational learning;③Molding an open learning culture;④Remolding the leader style so to upgrade the management level of the organizational learning;⑤Perfecting the social service system in SMEs.The main original views of the dissertation are as follows: (1) The originality in research train of thought and research angle of view. The dissertation holds that the organizational learning is not only a kind of organizational behaviors, but represents more as one kind of enterprise competence. The organizational learning capability in SMEs is growing and evolutive. From the angle of enterprise capability theory and enterprise evolution theory, following the research way of the bidirectional and mutual relationship between Organizational learning capability and the enterprise performances. and using the analytical tools of modern econometrics, the dissertation studies the problem of the organizational learning capability in SMEs and their performances in China. This kind of study is rarely reported domestically. Besides, the dissertation widens the research angle of the organizational learning capability in SMEs under resources restraining, which helps to absorb the latest research results in sociology.(2) Introducing new research means. The dissertation considers the relationship comprehensively by combining the organizational learning capability in SMEs with their performances, and so puts forward the process model of the organizational learning in SMEs, and constructs the direct assessment measuring table of the organizational learning capability in SMEs and their performances as well, which could help carry out empirical analysis by means of the quantization index. This increases the objectivity the assessment of the organizational learning capability in SMEs and their performances, and then strengthens the credibility of the research conclusions.(3) The originality in research conclusions. The research shows that the development course of SMEs is filled with various organizational learning activities and the relationship between the activity and the enterprise performances is bidirectional and mutual. The dissertation not only checks out how the organizational learning capability affects the enterprise performances, but also how the enterprise performances affect the organizational learning capability. The study on their mutual relations helps understand deeply the course of development and the evolution route of the SMEs, and thus helps expand the space of improvement of the organizational learning capability in SMEs. Therefore, the research conclusions here are complement and amendment to the existing research results reported before because they were mostly on the mono-directional relations.