Investigating organizational learning in the Turkish construction companies

Abstract

In a rapidly changing and complex environment, construction industry companies are looking for many different ways to gain competitive advantage and to show a sustainable presence in the future. Organizational learning is a process which ables companies to adapt to changing conditions, gain an advantage over their competitors, and increase their productivity. Organizational learning is defined as the process by which organizations alter or adjust their mental models, rules, procedures, or knowledge in order to maintain or enhance performance. In this thesis study, organizational learning in construction companies in Turkey has been examined by considering the deficiencies of the studies in the literature. The main approach taken in this study is to develop a framework based on a comprehensive literature review covering the concept of organizational learning in the construction sector from a holistic perspective, and then to use empirical research to investigate this framework. The proposed framework consists of 6 main factors and 53 sub-factors obtained based on in-depth literature review and expert opinions. These items were evaluated by the employees of construction companies through a questionnaire survey where 136 participants responded and the collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). As a result, it has been revealed that companies see client requirements as a significant driver for learning, and companies learn most from the experiences of other companies and by acquiring new employees. It has been concluded that while individual and organizational training is seen as the distinct enabler factor for learning, the ambiguous goals is perceived as the most obvious barrier. It has been determined that the most significant effect of organizational learning is the increase in productivity, both as an impact on corporate level and as a benefit on a project level.