تسخیر دانش کیفی و یادگیری سازمانی: دو مطالعه موردی در هتل های تایوان

This paper aims to examine the extent to which two selected hotels implement the practice of knowledge capturing and organizational learning, in order to improve levels of customer satisfaction. Usually, the best practice of organizational learning is that individuals identify, collect, and apply appropriate and useful information (i.e. the process of knowledge capturing); and then their companies, through the process of collective learning, convert this information to valued organizational knowledge. This capturing and learning process is a continuous flow. Theoretically individuals and their companies might benefit from this process. Semi-structured interviews in two hotels in Taiwan provide detailed and verbatim data showing that individual learning and knowledge capturing need to be triggered to develop organizational learning.

Most hoteliers focus on the enhancement of customer services and the retention of customer loyalty. To achieve these goals, they attempt to continuously understand what customers need and want. However, sometimes these goals are difficult to achieve since consumer behavior changes all the time. Interestingly, as companies apply the concept of organizational learning to their operations, achievement of these goals might be enriched. Learning, including internal learning and external learning, is a vital prerequisite for the development of organizational learning. Learners may not benefit in the future from a certain learning process unless they capture appropriate skills and knowledge, and the collective learning process is taken on. In this paper, knowledge capturing is defined as the process of collecting and identifying useful information (i.e. knowledge acquisition), exploiting and usefully applying knowledge (i.e. knowledge leverage) and disseminating it through the whole organization (i.e. knowledge transfer) (cf. Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). Organizational learning, according to Garvin (1993), is defined as “the process of improving action through better knowledge and understanding” (p. 80). In other words, organizational learning is a process of enabling a company to transfer information to valued knowledge, which in turn, enriches organizational capability of adapting to environmental demands. It seems that this learning process is a vital part of generating and applying knowledge; and the concept of organizational learning and knowledge capturing are intertwined and interrelated. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the content of new skills and knowledge which employees learn and capture in two researched hotels and to explore some key approaches which are utilized for capturing knowledge. Semi-structured interviews were administered in this study. The findings clearly indicate that individual learning needs to be further triggered, in order to proceed to organizational learning. Results suggest that top management staff need to seriously take the effect of organizational learning into account and furthermore, to implement this concept in reality, in order to advance the greater level of customer service and overall organizational performance and effectiveness.

This study clearly shows that the practice of knowledge capturing and organizational learning exist to a certain extent in the two selected hotels, especially Company A. Many of the interviewees in Company A revealed that, after acquiring job-related information and knowledge, they would ‘think-and-rethink about,’ reflect on, and provide feedback on what they had learned; and then they would engage in some changes if it were applicable. Unlike Company A, the learning attitude of employees in Company B was passive; employees usually waited for instruction for actions including learning and capturing new things. The findings clearly indicate that individual learning needs to be further triggered, in order to foster organizational learning. Results suggest that top management staff need to seriously take the effect of organizational learning into account. This effect will definitely contribute to enhancing the level of customer satisfaction.