EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING ON PROJECT PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTION FIRMS IN RWANDA, A CASE OF HYGEBAT LTD

Organizational learning is an important function for enhancing project performance because it enables firm’s personnel to acquire and utilize skills and competences through knowledge acquisition, knowledge transformation and knowledge exploitation. This study sought to examine the effects of organizational learning on the project performance in construction firms in Rwanda using the case of Hygebat Ltd. The objectives of the study were to identify the effects of knowledge acquisition analysis, knowledge transformation and knowledge exploitation on the performance of Hygebat Ltd’s construction projects. The researcher used a correlation research design to measure the significance of the relationship between organizational learning and project performance. Data was collected from 54 respondents (5project managers and 49 project staffs) using the close-ended questionnaire and personal interview guide. Respondents were selected by use of stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The validity of research instruments was determined using the content validity index while reliability was verified through the pilot-testing method. Data was analyzed through descriptive (frequency and percentage distribution tables) and inferential statistics (multiple linear regression analysis) and qualitative (use of content analysis). Findings show that all the predictor variables under organizational learning have positive but not statically significant effect on the performance of construction projects in Hygebat Ltd. This is confirmed by the regression coefficients which show that β1=.130(13%), β2=.072(7.2%) and β3=.042 (4.2%) of the positive performance outcomes of Hygebat Ltd’s construction projects are explained by KA, KT and KE respectively. However, the probability values (sig.) of p=.244>0.05 for KA, p=.401>0.05 for KT and p=.682>0.05 for KE show that the effect that organizational learning has on project performance is not statistically significant. Therefore, the research accepts all the null hypotheses (H01, H02 and H03) in explaining the relationship between organizational learning and performance of construction projects in Hygebat Ltd. It is hoped that the study will enable engineers to improve learning and capacity development so that they improve their skills competences and project performance. Other academicians will find the study valuable in benchmarking their studies on the same subject.

Social Entrepreneurship Education: A Combination of Knowledge Exploitation and Exploration Processes

It is widely accepted that entrepreneurship education has become a key development priority for coping with uncertainty and for addressing various social, economic, and technological concerns related to health, living conditions, education systems, employment, and economic growth. In recent times we have witnessed a proliferation of Entrepreneurship Education (EE) programs and initiatives with the aim to promote the creation of new skills, competencies, and capabilities to deal with a wide range of social issues and for creating new societal. The COVID-19 pandemic situation has introduced radical challenges to the society and has impacted significantly, especially the process of entrepreneurial competencies, skills and attitudes development. This paper aims to provide insights into knowledge mechanisms and learning strategies that have been activated for the effective creation of entrepreneurship competencies. We have based our evaluation on an exploratory analysis of 10 program studies that deliver social entrepreneurship education. The paper presents elements of originality under two perspectives: it proposes a framework with the main patterns characterizing social entrepreneurship education (SEE), and it argues that the creation of an entrepreneurship mindset and competencies is an evolutionary process that combines dynamic knowledge exploitation and exploration mechanisms.

Factors determining company performance in the IT industry

The dynamics of the business environment indicate that companies should become more flexible and value oriented. The competition within the IT sector leads to increased uncertainty for the players and a higher focus on the strategic direction of the company. Hence, many studies point out the significance of strategic agility as a tool of increasing company performance and achieving improved results. The paper highlights how the performance of IT companies is impacted by various factors. The main driver for company performance is strategic agility mixed with absorptive capacity. For a better understanding, the paper will analyze knowledge acquisition, knowledge assimilation, transformation and knowledge exploitation. These four dimensions represent the layers of absorptive capacity. Using as framework a survey developed based on the literature, there will be performed an analysis of the input received. The responses have been captured from stakeholders of the IT industry, who are employees of IT organizations with operations in Romania. For an enhanced output, there will be applied a regression analysis. This will contribute to the identification of factors determining company performance in the IT industry. The results of the regression analysis will demonstrate that strategic agility, knowledge acquisition and transformation have the highest impact on company performance. As only three out of the five tested dimensions are validated, further research can be grounded on understanding why knowledge assimilation and knowledge exploitation have not been confirmed as factors impacting company performance.

Exploitation of shared knowledge and creative behavior: the role of social context

Purpose This study aims to examine how exploitation of shared knowledge is related to creative behavior by focusing on the roles of social contextual factors – perceived co-worker support and perceived relationship conflict. Design/methodology/approach The proposed research model in this study posits the following: exploitation mediates the relationship between shared knowledge and creative behavior and perceived co-worker support and perceived relationship conflict moderate the relationship between shared knowledge and creative behavior. For an empirical examination, the model was tested by PLS-SEM using 457 responses gathered from workers of different companies in Korea. Findings It turned out that knowledge exploitation fully mediates the relationship between shared knowledge and creative behavior. Also, the findings revealed that the stronger the perceived co-workers support is the stronger the relationship between shared knowledge and knowledge exploitation becomes. In contrast, perceived relationship conflict has a negative moderating effect on the relationship. Originality/value This study helps to deepen the understanding of how knowledge sharing impacts creative behavior in light of social context and the active utilization of shared knowledge. In addition, this study attempts to provide new perspectives by suggesting double aspects of perceived relationship conflict, which eventually extending the previous research on conflict in the field of knowledge management and creative behavior.

The mediating role of knowledge exploration and exploitation for the development of an entrepreneurial university

Purpose The modern knowledge-based economy acknowledges the role of the third mission of universities related to the process of knowledge transfer as a driving force to face sustainability issues, in addition to the two traditional missions focusing on research and teaching. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between internal environment, external environment, knowledge exploitation, knowledge exploration and university performance. Design/methodology/approach This study applies confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling to test the conceptual model in the Chinese education system. Findings The findings confirm the higher impact of internal environment on both knowledge exploitation and knowledge exploration as compared to external environment. Knowledge exploitation is more strongly related to university performance than knowledge exploration. These results highlight the imperative role of internal university stakeholders in fostering knowledge management strategies. In addition, they encourage academicians, practitioners and policy makers to focus their attention on the impact of knowledge management models, tools and practices in universities to achieve the entrepreneurial development which, in turn, has a positive impact on individual graduates and innovation ecosystems. Originality/value The necessity to develop a more entrepreneurial university, as well as the lack of evidence of their development in emerging countries, highlights the need to investigate how specific factors and knowledge management processes are impacting the universities’ performance. In fact, although previous studies provide an explanation of the impact of internal and external factors on a university’s performance, contributions integrating these concepts with strategic knowledge management processes are still lacking.