ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IN CIVIL ENGINEERING DESIGN FIRMS

Learning rapidly and competently has become a pre-eminent strategy for improving organizational performance in the new knowledge era. Improving dynamic learning capability is an exclusive strategy for corporate success in construction industry. Thus engineering design firms should implement OL to accomplish a state of readiness for change and develop a competence to respond and identify future business potentials. This study aims to analyze the relationship between organizational learning (OL) and performance improvement (PI) in civil engineering design firms of Turkish construction industry. The empirical data was collected through a questionnaire survey conducted to engineering design firms registered to the Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers. The hypothesized model relationships were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). This study provides empirical evidence for the importance of the relationship between OL constructs and the learning outcome, PI. The results show that each of the variables has a different role and significant positive impact on the OL process and organizational PI. Knowledge and lessons learned from the past that belong to individuals are converted into organisational property, made accessible to the other members of the organisation. Thus an appropriate organisational design will enable an organisation to execute better, learn faster, and change more easily.This study is the first attempt made to develop and apply a measurement tool to assess OL in the civil engineering design sector of Turkish Construction Industry.