Learning Organizations

In today s business world the need to gain a competitive advantage has become increasingly important. For a number of years there has been a common belief that maintaining a learning environment is key to having that edge on the market. However, there has been little research to illustrate the link between learning organizations and net profit. This work explores the potential relationship by anonymously surveying professionals regarding the presence of a learning organization and profit. When the data was analyzed it was found that small private organization s net profit increased as the presence of a learning organization increased. Large private organizations, contrary to assumptions made about learning, displayed a drop in net profitability when the characteristics of a learning organization were present. This suggests that not all organizations benefit from being a learning organization. If the findings are representative of all organizations, large companies should not seek to create a learning organization.