Development of a learning organisation is the most powerful approach for increasing organisational capability and further pursuing competitive advantage. Empirical researchers such as Ellinger et al. (2002) and Lien, Yang and Li (2002) showed a positive association between the presence of a learning organisation and a firm's financial performance. Another area of increasing focus is performance management. The profusion of literature on the balanced scorecard combining financial and non-financial measures demonstrates the interest in both professional and academic circles with improving effective feedback for performance in this area. In particular, the balanced scorecard is viewed as the performance measurement system most likely to encourage the development of a learning culture and managing organisational learning. Taking organisational learning and the balanced scorecard together, a primary research is to investigate whether a link exists between learning organisations and the use of the BSC measures. Survey research has been conducted in Australia and Taiwan. / A positive relationship between learning organisations and the BSC measures is significantly supported by the management practices of Australia and Taiwan. The financial and non-financial BSC measures are highly associated with the learning dimensions in the Taiwanese firms, whereas the Australian firms only use the non-financial BSC measures to assess and manage some learning dimensions. Although the balanced scorecard usually includes learning as part of the learning and growth perspective, it appears that organisations struggle with this dimension. The findings from this study imply that learning & growth perspective is the key driver for improvement of learning dimensions in the organisations. The findings imply that national cultures, like Western and Chinese, are as the main factors affecting the learning dimensions and they apply the BSC measures differently. A whole system considered which learning dimensions may increase the use of the BSC measures, continuous learning and system connection which are shown in the Australian firms, whereas team learning and embedded system are demonstrated in the Taiwanese firms. Considering learning at three levels of organisations, both countries have agreement that learning at individual and organisational levels are significantly associated with the BSC measures. In particular, team learning in the Australian firms disappears when associated with the BSC measures, but the Taiwanese firms show the link to a moderate degree. The findings imply that national culture is a crucial factor affecting the development of a learning organisation, and performance measurements differ from one country to another. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2006.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267343 |
| Creators | Chen, Tzu-Hui Debby. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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