ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AS A SOURCE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE – BUILDING A CONTEXT TO SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

The paper deals with the historical development of organizational learning, as well as with its role in the contemporary conditions of competing among business organizations. First, an analysis of the contextual design that supports and promotes learning as organizational value and as a part of the organizational vision is given, with special emphasis on the study of the main activities that contribute to learning, generating knowledge and converting knowledge to useful organizational outcomes. Secondly, in order to investigate the state and perspectives of such organizational design in Croatian companies with special emphasis on differences between small, medium and large enterprises, an empirical research was undertaken. The results of the research indicated poorly developed infrastructure for supporting organizational learning, which was especially pronounced in small and medium enterprises. Large enterprises were found to be highly aware of the effects that organizational learning could have in conducting business, although the majority of other indicators of generating, storing, transferring or applying knowledge were not as developed as one might had expected. Finally, the role of organizational learning in achieving competitive advantage was analyzed. The empirical research revealed that organizational learning could potentially explain differences in competitive positions of enterprises.