Firm performance: is organizational learning capability the magic wand?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on human resource practices contribution to retail SMEs performance through its role in developing organizational learning capability (OLC). Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional design was adopted, where data were collected from a sample of 214 managers of retail SMEs, utilizing a survey questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings The results indicate that incentive reward has the strongest significance on firm performance with a stronger influence on economic performance. Performance appraisal has the greatest effect on system perspective, followed by the impact of employee selection on managerial commitment (MC). MC strongly affects firm performance while openness and experimentation influences satisfaction performance. Additionally, OLC fully mediates the relationship between high-performance human resource management (HRM) practices and firm performance. Research limitations/implications It did not include large organizations nor consider other SME contextual variables which may otherwise exert significant impact on OLC. Practical implications A profound understanding of distinctive high-performance HRM practices effect on firm performance and the needed employee capabilities that would assist organizations to implement strategies to attain sustainable competitive advantage. Originality/value The study advances knowledge on HRM practices among SMEs by proposing that distinctive high-performance HRM practices can leverage OLC to enhance firm performance.

Linkage between business sustainability and tacit knowledge management in MSMEs

“…Published literature (Al-Ali et al, 2017;Corbett-Etchevers and Mounoud, 2011;Peltokorpi and Vaara, 2014) have reported the recurrent adjustments and alterations in the regular practice and their practical use to enrich the understanding of organizational results (Jarzabkowski et al, 2012;Rouhollah and Mohhamed Reza, 2015;Claudio et al, 2015) to cope up with the changes happening in the dynamic business environment. Interchanges made for effective execution of KM have been reported to be reflexive as they tend to be influenced by several factors, some of which may be specific while others can be construed as imposing, societal and psychological elements, which can affect individuals to realize their formal practices (Crane, 2012;Jarzabkowski et al, 2012;Bolisani and Scarso, 2015;Lai Wan, 2019). In the subsequent subsections, we discuss the types of knowledge and their impact on business processes.…”

Can adaptive–academic leadership duo make universities ready for change? Evidence from higher education institutions in Pakistan in the light of COVID-19

“…Leadership and organizational culture can have a positive and significant impact in enhancing the learning capability of an organization (Dajani and Mohamad, 2017;Xie, 2020). Hooi (2019) describes that OLC completely mediates the relationship between highperformance human resource management (HRM) practices and overall firm performance. Lloréns-Montes et al ( 2004) revealed that personal mastery, organizational learning and capacity to innovate are highly inter-linked in adaptive organizations.…”

Strengthening work engagement through high-performance human resource practices

“…The HPHRPs can be described as a set of HR practices that are aligned in a manner that delivers desirable organizational outcomes (Kataria et al , 2019) and fulfilling organization's purpose of enhancing employee's motivation, capabilities and opportunities (Chan and Mak, 2012). Employee's ability to perform mainly cognates with job security, career opportunities, incentives, training and knowledge sharing (Hooi, 2019).…”