Learning Organization Dimensions And Organizational Performance Of Commercial Banks In Kenya: Survey Of Commercial Banks In Ongata Rongai Township.

Learning organization concept is learning with a much broader purpose commonly hailed as panacea for organizational success in a dynamic global economy. This focus on learning gives rise to a cognitive approach in which undivided beliefs and insights are viewed as critical influences on organizational effectiveness. This study sought to determine the effects of learning organization dimensions on the organizational performance of commercial banks within Ongata Rongai Township. The study was guided by four specific objectives which were to determine the effect of continuous learning, inquiry and dialogue, team learning and employee empowerment on the organizational performance of the commercial banks in Ongata Rongai. The study was guided by the organization learning theory and the theory of constraints. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design targeting 13 commercial banks operating in the region. The target population was 194 bank personnel. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample studied. Two strata were identified; the management level staff stratum and the lower level stratum. From each stratum 30% of the respondents was taken as a sample hence a sample size of 58 personnel was used. Self-administered questionnaires were used as the main instrument for collecting of data. Validity of the instruments was achieved by pre testing the instruments while their reliability was achieved at coefficient value of 0.823 using Cronbach alpha test at cut off point of 0.8. Data was analyzed though descriptive statistics and the relationship between the variables was established using multiple regression analysis. The Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used to help the researcher describe the data and determine the extent of relationships between the learning organization dimension variables and the organizational performance of commercial banks. From the study, continuous learning, inquiry and dialogue and employee empowerment were found to be statistically significant in predicting the organizational performance of commercial banks. Continuous learning was significant at R value of 0.572 and P value of 0.032, inquiry and dialogue was significant at R value of 0.537and P value of 0.001 and employee empowerment was significant at R value of 0.576 and P value of 0.013. On the other hand, team learning was not statistically significant at R value of 0.373 and P value of 0.688 in predicting the organizational performance and it was concluded that there was no relationship between team learning and organizational performance hence team learning was removed from the regression model. The study concluded that dimensions of learning organizations had a significant effect on the organizational performance of commercial banks. The study recommended that commercial banks should invest in resources to facilitate continuous learning of its members so as to continuously improve on the general performance. Organizations should encourage people to treat each other with respect as well as listening to other people’s before speaking.  Further to that organizations should recognize people’s initiative geared towards improving its performance. Inviting staff to contribute to the organization’s mission, encouraging equal distribution of responsibilities and giving people choices in their work assignments play a key role hence need for strengthening.