Learning Organization Practices and Performance of Safaricom Public Limited Company, Kenya
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Date
2020
Authors
Kāoruda, James Okelo
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Organizational learning is generally considered as a process which develops new insights
which have the potential to influence organizational. It is portrayed differently by different
scholars. It means new insights, new structures, new systems or a combination of the above.
It takes place through individuals in an organization. Organizational learning links cognition
to action. Through organizational learning, firms build an understanding and interpretation of
their environment. This enables them to effectively assess viable strategic options. In turn,
through learning capabilities, firms create alignment with the environment. This leads to
associations, cognitive actions and development of memories within the organization. The
study sought to establish the influence of learning organization practices on the
organizational performance of Safaricom Limited, Kenya. The specific objectives were to
determine the effect of information acquisition, information distribution, information
interpretation and organizational memory on performance of Safaricom Limited. The study
was anchored on the following two theories which include resource-based view theory and
organization learning theory. Empirical literature reviewed scholarly studies on the learning
organization practices which include information acquisition, distribution and interpretation
and organizational memory on the performance of a firm. The study used a descriptive
research design. The population of study was employees at various cadres at Safaricom
Limited Headquarters in Nairobi. This consisted of 1568 respondents who are the employees
of the company. A sample of 392 respondents was taken which formed25% of the target
population which was evenly spread across the three levels of management. The primary data
was collected by use of self-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was
done by use of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean scores and
standard deviation with the aid of SPSS and presented through tables, charts, graphs,
frequencies and percentages. It was concluded that organizational learning practices had a
positive relationship with performance of Safaricom Limited. The study concluded that
information acquisition, distribution, information interpretation and organizational memory
as OL practices were significantly embraced and positively influenced firm performance. The
study concluded that the firm collaborated with international organizations and local entities
in acquiring information, enhanced creating and innovation, invested in modern ICT
infrastructure and enhanced network capacity. The study concluded that the firm embraced
integration, collaboration, cooperation and information management to ensure the right
information is distributed and to the right recipients. It was concluded that the firm engaged
diverse methods in information interpretation ranging from use of media, modern equipment
and software, trained human resource, multi-language and coded language mechanisms. It
was concluded further that the firm uses both soft and hard organization memory storage,
modern storage and dissemination equipment and capacity, regulated access and retrieval,
regular information update and improvement, information protection and practicing among
organizational users. The firm should monitor and conduct due diligent before information
sharing and sourcing from rivals in the industry to tame information loss and distortion risk
The study recommended that the firm needs to monitor information distribution to control
hacking, loss of information or sending of information to unauthorized recipients. The firm
needs to enhance its capacity in handling, sharing, transferring, distributing, interpreting and
storing the massive data and information it handles. The company needs to manage
information handling risks, organization memory tampering, conflict of interest among staff.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to the School of Business in
Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Award of
Degree in Master of Business Administration (Strategic
Management) of Kenyatta University
Keywords
Safaricom, Kenya, Organizational learning, Information acquisition, Information distribution, Information interpretation, Organizational memory