THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING CAPABILITY IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKET ORIANTATION, QUALITY ORIANTATION AND FIRM PERFORMANCE

Abstract

Due to the competitive environment caused by the recent dramatic increase of the private investment in health sector, private hospitals have focused on various strategic orientations that are parallel to shifting paradigms in order to increase their performance. In this context, it has been observed that hospitals, being institutions providing service, have dramatically increased their efforts in order to improve their business strategies in accordance with quality and market orientation. As a result of this, in improving market orientation, organizational learning capability have contributed organizations in envisaging environment and market orientations, thereby decreasing the risks regarding organizational processes and in developing the organization. Yam and others (2005) have suggested that operations of organizations be changed by reconsturcting existing processes to be more market and quality oriented and inventing more programmes. On the other hand, it has been ascertained by various research that organizations which have organizational learning capability proved to be in open interaction with their external environment, to put experiences in use, to achieve administrative commitment, to adopt a participatory policy, to have leaders who are committed to the organization and in an attitude to provide positive reinforcement for the employees, to have tangible visions and missions, and to be improving company performance by accomplishing knowledge transfer properly and on time. (örn. Chiva et al., 2007; Jerez-Gomez et al., 2005; Leonard-Barton, 1992). It can be inferred from such evidence that company performance will boost provided that market and business oriented company strategies are reconstructed in the context of organizational learning. In accordance with these presumptions, a database consisting of 148 surveys carried out at 95 out of 118 private hospitals with beds in Ýstanbul. Hypotheses put forward within the scope of theoretical framework have been tested by correlation and regression analyses using SPSS 19 program. Analysis results proved that market orientation dimensions such as Competitor Orientation and Interdepartmental Coordination have a positive impact on Company Performance while Customer Orientation dimension has no effect on Company Performance. It has been observed that learning capability has a positive impact on the subdimensions of Firm Performance. Organizational Learning capability has a full mediating variable impact on the correlation between Competitor Orientation - Qualitative Performance and Customer Orientation - Qualitative Performance; and Organizational learning skill has a full intervening (mediating) variable impact on the correlation of Quality Orientation – Quantitative Performance and Customer Orientation - Quantitative Performance. On the other hand, Organizational Learning Capability has a partial intervening (mediating) variable impact on the correlation between Quality Orientation – Qualitative Performance. While showing interrelations and linear relations among factors in the scope of theoretical framework, our research has put forward that organizational learning capability has a full and a partial intervening variable effect in the scope of these relations.