Suggestions for Future Research

This study provides a good foundation for future research. As an exploratory study it opens the way for more specific research to take place. For example, instead of just listing the numbers of learning strategies used by Malaysian organisations, future research could use a quantitative approach to surveying the frequency of usage of the strategies and confirm the use of various methodologies. Employee satisfaction, productivity, commitment and innovation could also be studied to identify and capitalize on the patterns of organisational learning and Knowledge Management that are emerging or are most appropriate to Malaysia.

This study could also be expanded to increase the number of respondents and explore a wider range of industries. This research involved four (4) industries, however, Malaysia has a very diverse range of industries, from plantations to banking, construction and education, and given the importance of situational contingencies, research needs to extend to other industries to create better generalizations of how OL can be implemented in Malaysia. An extension of this study across a wider scope would allow a better understanding of the strategies, processes and the outcomes being achieved.

Future studies could also examine the influence of different roles on OL. For example, the CEO or top manager’s positions mean they not only influence the choices made by the organisation, they also need access to information to evaluate the organisations progress or to implement new strategies. This means their information and understanding of issues needs to be reliable. Further research is needed to uncover how best their needs could be met. It would also be useful to conduct further studies across cross sections of organisation, to identify how effectively OL has been implemented at the operational level and to understand any changes wrought. Knowing and understanding these would give some indication of how organisational learning contributes to performance, innovation and satisfaction within Malaysia.

Finally, research could also be extended to specifically explore KM issues. This study has identified there is a pressing need to explore this issue further. For KM to be effectively implemented to the advantage of organisations, it

goes without saying that it needs to be understood. The reality is that knowledge is subjective in nature and easily transformed over time and as situations change. Therefore, adoption of knowledge management best practice will allow organisations to utilize their knowledge more effectively, rather than risk knowledge being wasted or disorganised.

5.6 Conclusion

This thesis explored the understanding of Organisational Learning and the Learning strategies practiced by Malaysian organisations. The results suggest Malaysians are generally aware of the importance of Organisational Learning as a concept and value learning as they realize knowledge helps determine the future and direction of an organisation. While definitions of OL varied, it became clear that some Malaysian organisations are practicing a variety of OL strategies, even though they regarded these as normal T&D activities. It is clear that there is room for considerable improvement in the education and adoption of OL in all sectors. Being asked to distinguish between T&D and OL made respondents realise that these are not the same. Learning as a concept and Organisational Learning differ and this was acknowledged by the respondents in the study.

Questions on KM surprised many of the respondents and the reality is most were not aware of the term or what it means. Some respondents guessed at a meaning for KM when explaining their understanding. This indicates that KM, along with OL needs to be aggressively explained and promoted in Malaysia.

Considering the importance of KM to organisations in Malaysia’s emerging economy, the government, academic institutions and training centres all have to play their role to further educate industries before Malaysia can reap the benefit of OL and KM.

Organisational learning and KM are of growing importance in Malaysia, as organisations try to discover the secrets of learning, as well as how to learn and capture and use knowledge so they can stay ahead of their competitors. With mounting globalization pressures to open up the Malaysian market to the international community, Malaysian organisations; private and public must brace themselves to adapt to rapid changes and learn if they are to stay competitive. Recognizing that there can be a difference between what is proposed as a learning strategy and what is adopted, may give practitioners further insights into how they can operationalise organisational learning. The respondents have given some good ideas and guidance and ideas on how learning strategies can be implemented. These may provide insights for others about choosing the best strategy for their needs and the long list of learning strategy examples provides an array of options so organisations can adopt strategies suitable to them. The ability to operationalise ‘Organisational Learning’ in Malaysian organisations will serve as a vehicle to help Malaysia achieve its Vision 2020 of becoming an industrialized nation.