Effects of Organizational Learning Mechanisms on Organizational Performance and Shared Mental Models during Planned Change

The study investigated the interrelations among use of organizational learning mechanisms, organizational mental models, and organizational outcomes. It was conducted in a bank, 10 of whose branches were soon to undergo organizational change designed to improve customer service and another 10 were to undergo the same organizational change a few months later. The results demonstrated that customer satisfaction was greater for branches that used organizational learning mechanisms intensively than for branches that used these mechanisms less intensively. The learning branches also showed richer shared knowledge (more constructs and causal links within their cognitive cause maps) and more congruent mental models (cause maps). Furthermore, the content of the learning branches' shared knowledge reflected more closely the messages delivered by organizational management in favor of the structural change. The hypothesis that the use of organizational learning mechanisms moderates the success of an organizational change program was supported by the cause maps data but only partially supported by the customer satisfaction data.