Profiling Organizational Learning: An Empirical Study of IT and Banking Sectors in India

Abstract

“Without learning, the wise become foolish; by learning, the foolish become wise. Learn as if you could never have enough of learning, as if you might miss something.” Confucius (551–479 BC) Changing business landscape and environmental pressures are constantly threatening the survival of business organizations. Even perennially successful companies are finding it difficult to deliver consistent results. Organizations that were till now basking in the glory of a near invincible status, need to understand that learning is indispensable for survival and success. Keeping in mind the vital role that learning plays in any organization, the objective of the present study was to compare the organizations in the banking and IT sectors in India vis-à-vis their learning orientation. Based on data collected from top-ranking organizations in the two sectors, the study reveals that statistically significant differences were found between the two sectors on most of the learning dimensions; significant differences were also found to exist when pair-wise comparison was made between organizations from the two sectors. Intra-sectoral comparisons revealed that although within the IT sector there were differences; no statistically significant difference was observed within the banking sector.