Why are some firms more innovative than others? Exploring the role of learning organization components

Abstract

Basing their study on the seven-component framework for a learning organization suggested by Marsick and Watkins in 2003, researchers investigated the combined as well as individual impact of these components on innovation in 139 South Asian companies. They also examined the effect that organizational size and type have on innovation. Their results revealed that the characteristics of learning organizations have a strong positive effect on the innovation performance of firms when they are combined, but that individually the components have no significant influence. In addition, they found that the effect differed depending on the size and type of organization. These findings have implications for organizational managers who wish to encourage innovation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.