Organizational Learning and Organizational Climate in Educational Settings

Abstract

The paper reports a study that was aimed at assessment of the extent to which the public sector organizations are responding to the challenges to stiff competition resulting due to globalization. The assessment of their learning potential and mechanisms adopted by them for the target of continuous improvement in all spheres of activity would indicate whether they are responding to the need of the present times and making the necessary changes in their structure and organizational culture for gearing the system towards optimum productivity. Literature reveals fewer such studies in educational sector. Therefore a comparative study of Organizational Learning and Organizational Climate in Public and Private Educational organizations was undertaken. Both public and private National Technological Institutes of repute were covered in the study. The organizational variables such as year of establishment, accreditation and affiliation, status (Deemed University), infrastructure and facilities, faculty and student strength, Industry Interface, Placement and so on were matched while selecting the Institutes for the study. Both groups ‐ teaching and non‐teaching employees constituted the sample of the study. A total of 320 respondents constituted the sample with 40 members from each group. The Learning Organization Process Survey (Pareek, 2002) and Motivational Analysis of Organizations‐Climate (Pareek, 2002) were the tools used for data collection. Primary data analysis indicated that the extent of organizational learning is closely associated with the perception organizational climate. This was true for both public and private educational organizations. However, the extent of organizational learning was significantly different in public and private organizations. The study aims to suggest organizational change initiatives and interventions at individual and organizational level in the light of present findings.