11453

FACTA UNIVERSITATIS
Series: Economics and Organization Vol. 20, No 1, 2023, pp. 1 - 14

https://doi.org/10.22190/FUEO230108002M

Original Scientific Paper

IMPACT OF LEARNING ORIENTATION ON COMPANY

PERFORMANCE: MEDIATING ROLE OF INNOVATIVENESS1

UDC 005.336.5:65.015.25]:005.591.6

Marija Mirić, Jelena Nikolić, Dejana Zlatanović

University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Economics, Kragujevac, Republic of Serbia

ORCID iD: Marija Mirić https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4303-8546

Jelena Nikolić https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8429-0652

Dejana Zlatanović https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6071-955X

Abstract. Ensuring a workforce is up to date on the latest trends in a rapidly changing

business environment is one of the main challenges facing modern companies. To

achieve long-term profitability and encourage innovation, they tend to constantly

improve employees’ knowledge and skills. This paper aims to identify the impact of

learning orientation on company performance and to test the mediating role of

innovativeness in this relationship. The empirical research was conducted on a sample

of 79 companies in different industries in the Republic of Serbia. Descriptive statistical

analysis, correlation, and regression analysis were applied to the data collected. The

research results indicate that learning orientation significantly and positively affects

performance and innovativeness in Serbian companies. In addition, the findings show

that firm innovativeness partially mediates the relationship between learning orientation

and performance, i.e., learning orientation leads to better company performance through

increased innovation in all business aspects. The paper contributes to identifying

practical implications for managers, pointing out the importance of creating a learning

environment and employees´ innovative behaviour as a basis for achieving better business

outcomes. Therefore, managers should be responsive in terms of their human resources,

providing them with opportunities to acquire new knowledge and skills and develop

innovative ideas.

Key words: organizational learning, learning orientation, innovativeness, company

performance

JEL Classification: D83, L25, O31

Received January 08, 2023 / Revised March 02, 2023 / Accepted March 06, 2023

Corresponding author: Jelena Nikolić
University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Economics, Liceja Kneževine Srbije 3, 34000 Kragujevac, Republic of Serbia

| E-mail: jnikolic@kg.ac.rs

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4303-8546
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8429-0652
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6071-955X
mailto:jnikolic@kg.ac.rs

2 M. MIRIĆ, J. NIKOLIĆ, D. ZLATANOVIĆ

1. INTRODUCTION

Facing the challenges of growing competition, companies strive to implement activities

that will bring the required flexibility and improve performance in all business aspects. The

focus is on adapting and responding appropriately to the highly volatile corporate

environment. In order to overcome the risk that comes from the outside, employees at all

levels need to acquire new knowledge and develop specific skills and abilities. The expanded

knowledge base that the company has is expected to improve employee performance and

innovative actions in terms of product or service development and management processes. As

a result, the overall company performance grows and its competitive market position improves.

Learning orientation is the supporting pillar of the modern paradigm of human

resource management and the foundation of sustainable business success. It represents

the readiness of the organization to generate learning (Ratten, 2007) and reflects the

organization’s perspective on the value of learning (Suliyanto & Rahab, 2012). In order

to provide a quality workforce, capable of carrying out current and future jobs and

developing innovative ideas, employees are encouraged to continuously improve their

knowledge and skills. Learning provides a number of long-term benefits to businesses. In

addition to enabling greater adaptability to the market (Šlogar, 2022), learning orientation

also contributes to the development of innovation, which has a positive impact on company

performance (Keskin, 2006). Recent research conducted by Yang et al. (2022) has shown

that learning orientation positively affects new venture performance through innovation

capability. Therefore, this concept is the key to organizational success (Phorncharoen, 2020;

Zlatanović, 2020).

Companies dedicated to learning increase their ability to innovate (Garcia–Morales et al.,

2007), and the benefits offered by the development of innovativeness are multiple. While

innovation is the backbone of overall social and economic progress from the perspective of

the national economy and an effective strategic tool in overcoming the development

backwardness of transition economies, innovation's significance at the organizational level is

reflected in the long-term enhancement of company performance (Shapiro et al., 2015).

Research of learning orientation, innovativeness, and company performance is motivated

by the close interrelationships of these three concepts, established in the studies by

Calantone et al. (2002), Keskin (2006), Rahab (2012) and Zayed & Alawad (2017). The

research subject in this paper is learning orientation and its impact on company performance

in the Republic of Serbia. The paper also deals with innovativeness, i.e. its potential

mediating effects in a relationship between the previously mentioned variables. Accordingly,

the paper seeks to identify the impact of learning orientation on innovativeness and

performance, as well as to examine the mediating role of innovativeness in this

relationship. Although there are studies in the current literature that evaluate the link

between these three concepts, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous research

has addressed the mediating function of innovation in the observed relation. In this

respect, our study aims to close the indicated research gap. The paper structure includes 5

logically connected parts. The introduction is followed by the literature review and hypotheses

development highlighting the main theoretical features of the relationships between learning

orientation, innovativeness, and company performance. Then, the research model is developed

and the applied methodology is presented. The fourth unit represents the results of empirical

research and their discussion. Finally, the main conclusions, theoretical and practical

implications, as well as research limitations are identified.

Impact of Learning Orientation on Company Performance: Mediating Role of Innovativeness 3

2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT

Learning orientation is a critical aspect in organizational performance (Phorncharoen,

2020) and a source of competitive advantage (Farell, 2000), which is why it should

become a business priority (Suliyanto & Rahab, 2011). It represents a critical component

of organizational learning and is defined as “the organization’s attitude towards the

necessity of learning” (Ratten, 2007). Prediction of the environment and adaptation to

market changes are among the most important features of learning-oriented companies

(Calantone et al., 2002), which indicates the importance of this concept in achieving the

necessary business flexibility. Companies that are more learning–oriented are more likely

to interact with third–party knowledge providers (Kumar et al., 2020), making them more

prone to innovative activities.

Learning orientation is a construct that implies the managers’ “attitude to consider

learning as a key organizational resource”, understand the need to eliminate old thinking

patterns, as well as the need for new learning (Vega Martinez et al., 2020). It is a

complex, multidimensional notion that involves “a commitment to learning, shared

vision, open–mindedness, and intra–organizational knowledge sharing” (Phorncharoen,

2020). Commitment to learning is “the degree to which an organization values and

promotes learning”, while a shared vision implies a unique direction and organizational

focus on learning (Calantone et al., 2002). Open-mindedness presents a reflection of the

company’s willingness to abandon the current routine and adopt new knowledge (Li et

al., 2010), while intra-organizational knowledge sharing is defined as a synergistic

process of cooperation in which people share existing and interactively create new

knowledge (Boland & Tenkasi, 1995, as cited in Ro et al., 2021). Garcia–Morales et al.

(2007) point out that knowledge sharing and the resulting organizational learning can

improve company performance. In addition, knowledge is recognized as one of the key

internal factors in creating innovative companies, and innovation itself is the result of

knowledge sharing (Zlatanović, 2020).

Although these are related concepts, organizational learning is not synonymous with a

learning orientation. Specifically, organizational learning is a broader concept, and

learning orientation is one of its dimensions. In this sense, Frank et al. (2012) make a

distinction between these two concepts. In their opinion, organizational learning is a

complex process that can be split into two basic forms of learning: 1) adaptive, gradual

learning, where organizations respond to shifts in circumstances and make adjustments

through active learning, and 2) generative learning, as higher-order learning, which

changes the “worldview” through re-examination and change of organizational processes.

Adaptive and generative learning are two complementary processes (Salim & Sulaiman,

2011). Learning orientation is linked to the second dimension of organizational learning

and is considered to be its indirect assessment (Santos–Viande et al., 2005). Thus, in our

study, we regarded a learning orientation to be an essential component of organizational

learning. Organizational learning and learning orientation, as an integral part of it, are the

foundation of innovative activities (Garcia–Moralez et al., 2007), with the potential to

achieve superior company performance. Furthermore, in the study conducted by Al–

Shami et al. (2022), learning orientation positively correlates with innovation performance.

Learning orientation occupies an important place in contemporary management

literature, as it provides numerous positive outputs. Previous studies identify a strong

positive effect of learning orientation on business performance (Farrell, 2000). Aziz and

4 M. MIRIĆ, J. NIKOLIĆ, D. ZLATANOVIĆ

Omar (2013) stated that knowledge sharing and shared vision, as relevant dimensions of

learning orientation, are crucial determinants of improving business performance in SMEs.

Frank et al. (2012) also show that a significant degree of learning orientation leads to better

performance in small and medium enterprises. Besides, learning orientation is positively

correlated with business performance in companies that provide accounting services

(Martinette et al., 2014). In addition, Vij and Farooq (2014) show that a knowledge-sharing

orientation has a positive impact on a company’s business performance in the manufacturing

and service sectors. Based on the above, the first research hypothesis reads:

H1: Learning orientation has a statistically significant positive effect on company

performance.

One of the results of the learning process that creates new knowledge within the

organization is innovativeness (Frank et al., 2012). It is the subject of research in a number

of disciplines (Salim & Sulaiman, 2011) and represents the capacity of an organization to

develop and/or incorporate new products, procedures, and business models (Nybakk, 2012).

Porter (1990) explains innovation as a tool for achieving competitive advantage and points

to the need for a broader understanding of this concept, which includes new technologies

and new ways of carrying out activities (cited in Zlatanović, 2020). The results of previous

research show that new knowledge and skills, acquired through learning, contribute to the

ability to innovate, which in turn improves competitiveness and company performance

(Salim & Sulaiman, 2011). Chenuos & Maru (2015) recognize lifelong learning as one of

the values necessary to achieve organizational innovation.

Suliyanto and Rahab (2012) find that learning orientation has positive effects on

company innovativeness. Both learning orientation and innovation are influenced by a

variety of factors. Nikolić et al. (2022) have shown that foreign–owned businesses are more

innovative and learning–oriented. According to Hurley & Hult (1998), Calantone et al.,

(2002), and Nybakk (2012), learning orientation is considered a major predictor of

innovativeness, which in turn improves company performance. Organizational innovativeness

directly depends on the knowledge base that the company has, which is increased by

organizational learning (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990, as cited in Garcia–Morales et al., 2007).

A recent study of a sample of small and medium–sized enterprises has found a significant

positive effect of learning orientation on innovativeness (Phorncharoen, 2020). According

to Šlogar (2022), company innovativeness is significantly and positively influenced by

learning orientation. As previous research suggests, the higher the degree of learning

orientation, the greater the company’s innovativeness (Calantone et al., 2002). In a study

conducted by Aziz and Omar (2013), knowledge sharing and shared vision have positive

significant effects on the ability to innovate. Internally focused learning and market-

oriented learning, as dimensions of learning orientation, prove to be statistically significant

predictors of product innovation in a study by Dulger et al. (2014), with internally focused

learning significantly and positively explaining technological innovation. In addition,

Oktavio et al. (2019) find that learning orientation has positive effects on the innovativeness

of newly established hotel companies. In addition, the positive effects of learning

orientation on hotel innovativeness are proven in the Werlang & Rossetto (2019) study. The

above findings are the basis for the formulation of the second research hypothesis:

H2: Learning orientation has a statistically significant positive effect on company

innovativeness.

Differences in the level of organizational learning and innovativeness determine the

differences in company performance. Corporate performance is a multidimensional

Impact of Learning Orientation on Company Performance: Mediating Role of Innovativeness 5

concept that can relate to individual sectors – marketing, manufacturing, and finance

(Sohn et al., 2007) or to aggregate indicators such as growth and profit (Babić et al., 2020),

which can be measured by objective and subjective indicators (Atalay et al., 2013). They

reflect the ability of a business organization to realize its long-term goals (Zayed & Alawad,

2017). Previous research has established a link between learning orientation, innovativeness,

and company performance, analyzing both the direct and indirect effects of these variables.

Suliyanto and Rahab (2012) explain that learning orientation indirectly improves company

performance, through variables that mediate between these two variables. They show that

innovativeness has a positive impact on performance. Positive relations of learning

orientation, innovativeness, and performance have also been proven in the Malaysian IT

(Information, Communication, and Telecommunications) industry (Salim & Sulaiman,

2011). In a sample of Spanish firms, Garcia–Morales et al. (2007) show that organizational

learning directly affects performance, but also indirectly, through organizational innovation.

In a study conducted by Farell (2000), companies in Australia benefit from a learning

orientation in terms of their performance. A positive significant link between learning

orientation, innovativeness, and company performance is established in a study conducted

by Calantone et al. (2002). In a study conducted by Nybakk (2012), learning orientation

does not have a direct effect on the financial performance of companies, but it significantly

affects them through innovativeness; therefore, innovativeness has a full mediating effect in

a given relationship. According to Dulger et al. (2014), organizational innovativeness is a

partial mediator in the relationship between learning orientation and company performance.

The relations between learning orientation, innovativeness, and company performance are

also the subject of research conducted by Rhee et al. (2010). In a sample of 333 technology-

innovative small businesses, they show that learning orientation has a positive effect on

innovativeness, and that innovativeness consequently leads to better performance. Based

on the above, the third research hypothesis reads:

H3: Innovativeness has a mediating effect in the relationship between learning orientation

and company performance.

Figure 1 illustrates the research model.

Fig. 1 Research model
Source: Authors

3. METHODOLOGY

Empirical research uses quantitative methodology. Primary data is collected by the

survey method, and the questionnaire is designed in four segments. The first subscale

consists of 7 items that measure learning orientation (Li et al., 2010; Werlang & Rossetto,

H3
Innovativeness

Learning

orientation
Performance

6 M. MIRIĆ, J. NIKOLIĆ, D. ZLATANOVIĆ

2019; Nikolić et al., 2022), such as Employee learning is viewed as an investment rather

than an expense and Learning is seen as essential to a company's survival. The second

part of the questionnaire measures innovativeness through 7 items, formulated based on

research conducted by Gunday et al. (2011), Atalay et al. (2013), and Werlang & Rosseto

(2019). The examples of items are: The company supports proactiveness when it comes to

producing new goods and/or services or The company encourages new approaches to

problem-solving. The company performance is measured by the last 10 items, which are

adapted from the research by Vij & Bedi (2016), Psomas et al. (2017), and Payal et al. (2019),

for example, The company has higher profitability compared to the previous period and The

trend of sales growth in relation to the previous time period is noticeable. Items that measure

performance concern both financial and non-financial performance. The respondents express

their agreement with the stated items on a five-point Likert scale.

Data analysis is performed using the techniques of the Statistical package for social

sciences (SPSS) 26.0. After the sample structure is analyzed, the following analyses are

implemented to determine mediating effects: reliability analysis, descriptive statistics,

correlation analysis, and simple and multiple linear regression to determine mediating

effects. The questionnaire is distributed to companies in person and electronically. We

used the convenience sampling method and the research sample included 79 companies

operating on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. From each company, one manager

completed the questionnaire. The sample structure is shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Sample structure

Variables Frequency %

Activity
Production 39 49.4

Services 40 50.6

Majority ownership
Domestic 46 58.2

Foreign 33 41.8

Ownership type
State 5 6.3

Private 74 93.7

Gender
Men 34 43

Women 45 57

Age

Less than 25 2 2.5

26 – 35 27 34.2

36 – 45 33 41.8

46 – 55 14 17.7

Over 55 3 3.8

Position

Employee 2 2.5

Operations manager 16 20.3

Middle (tactical) manager 48 60.8

Top manager 13 16.5

Length of service

Less than 3 years 22 27.8

3 – 5 years 26 32.9

Over 5 years 31 39.2

Education

High school 8 10.1

College 7 8.9

Bachelor 39 49.4

Master 23 29.1

PhD 2 2.5

Source: Authors

Impact of Learning Orientation on Company Performance: Mediating Role of Innovativeness 7

The share of production and service companies in the sample is almost equal, with 33

companies being foreign-owned. The majority of businesses belong to the private sector.

According to the obtained results, the largest number of respondents work in the position

of middle manager (60.8%). The frequency analysis according to the length of service

with the current employer shows that the largest number of respondents work in the

company for more than 5 years (39.2%), followed by respondents with between 3 and 5

years of service (32.9%). Most of the given sample is university educated.

4. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The reliability analysis of the measurement scale is performed, the results of which

are shown in Table 2. Reliability analysis shows that Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for all

three subscales is higher than the minimum recommended value (0.7), and a conclusion

can be drawn about the high internal consistency of items and the reliability of the

analyzed variables.

Table 2 Results of reliability analysis

Variables Cronbach's alpha coefficient

Learning orientation 0.952

Innovativeness 0.955

Performance 0.960

Source: Authors

Descriptive statistics analyzes mean values and standard deviations for all individual

items. Respondents show the highest degree of agreement with items I have access to the

information I need to do my job effectively and efficiently (M=3.72), and The organization

launches new products and/or services (M=3.71). The largest standard deviation is with

items The company introduces innovations in Human Resource Management area

(SD=1.60) and The company encourages new approaches to problem–solving (SD=1.60).

The greatest homogeneity of responses is with items The quality of products/services is

better than in the previous period, which measures the performance of the company

(SD=1.27).

Table 3 Correlation matrix

Variables 1 2 3

Learning orientation 1 0.894** 0.796**

Innovativeness 0.894** 1 0.801**

Performance 0.796** 0.801** 1
** Correlation is significant at the level of 0.01.

Source: Authors

Table 3 presents the results of the correlation analysis. The strongest link is between

learning orientation and innovativeness (r = 0.894). According to the Pearson coefficient,

there is a very strong correlation between all variables. All values shown are significant

at 0.01.

8 M. MIRIĆ, J. NIKOLIĆ, D. ZLATANOVIĆ

For the purposes of hypothesis testing, the mediation regression procedure was

applied. To test the mediation effect, according to Baron & Kenny (1986), the following

prerequisites must be met: in the first step, it is necessary to confirm the significant direct

influence of the independent variable on the dependent one; another simple linear

regression examines whether independent, i.e. the predictor variable affects the potential

mediator, while in the next step, it is necessary to prove that mediator significantly

influences the dependent variable. By confirming these assumptions, the conditions for

the final testing of the mediator effect are obtained, and in the final step, the joint

influence of the independent variable and the potential mediator on the dependent

variable is tested using multiple linear regression. Finally, in order to establish a mediator

effect, the potential mediator must be a statistically significant predictor of the dependent

variable, while the influence of the independent variable decreases (partial mediator

effect) or ceases to be statistically significant (full mediator effect).

Table 4 Simple linear regression

Variables
Dependent variable: Performance Dependent variable: Innovativeness

β Sig. R2 β Sig. R2

Learning orientation 0.796 0.000** 0.629 0.894 0.000** 0.798

Innovativeness 0.801 0.000** 0.642
** p < 0.01

Source: Authors

Table 4 shows the results of a simple linear regression that tests the impact of learning

orientation on performance and company innovativeness. The results show that learning

orientation has a significant positive impact on company performance (p<0.01). The

coefficient of determination is 0.629, which means that 62.9% of the performance

variability is explained by the observed independent variable. Learning orientation also

has a significant positive effect on company innovativeness (p<0.01) with the coefficient

of the determination being 0.798 and showing that learning orientation determines

innovativeness in 79.8% of cases. In the third phase, it was found that innovativeness had

a positive significant influence on company performance (p<0.01), which met all the

requirements for evaluating the mediator effect.

Table 5 Multiple linear regression

Variable
Dependent variable: Performance

β Sig. R2 VIF

Learning orientation 0.397 0.008**
0.666 4.960

Innovativeness 0.447 0.003**
** p < 0.01

Source: Authors

Table 5 presents the results of multiple linear regression. In order to check the justification

of regression analysis, multicollinearity was checked. As the value of the variance inflation

factor (VIF) is less than 5, multicollinearity is not a problem in this regression model. The

joint impact of learning orientation and innovativeness on enterprise performance was tested.

The results showed that 66.6% of the performance variability is explained by the observed

Impact of Learning Orientation on Company Performance: Mediating Role of Innovativeness 9

independent variables. Learning orientation and innovativeness have a significant positive

impact on performance, but the inclusion of innovativeness in the regression model

significantly reduces the impact of learning orientation. Based on this, it is concluded that

there is a partial mediation effect of innovativeness in the relationship between learning

orientation and enterprise performance.

Thus, the conducted analysis shows a significant positive impact of learning orientation

on company performance, which confirms hypothesis H1. Such a result is consistent with

the results obtained by Farell (2000), Frank et al. (2012), and Vij & Farooq (2014). The

obtained result is partially compatible with the research of Aziz & Omar (2013), and

Marinette (2014) and testifies to the predictive power of learning orientation in predicting

company performance. At the same time, the generated result is in contrast with to the

research of Oktavio et al. (2019) and Werlang & Rossetto (2019). The research also

confirms the H2 hypothesis, according to which learning orientation has a significant

positive effect on company innovativeness. The same result is reached by Calantone et al.

(2002), Suliyanto & Rahab (2012), Oktavio et al. (2019), Phorncharoen (2020), and Šlogar

(2022).This finding implies that learning orientation leads to increased innovation activities

such as developing new products or services, management methods, marketing strategies,

or innovating human resource management and information systems. The obtained result

partially corresponds to the research conducted by Aziz and Omar (2013) and Dulger et

al. (2014).

The research also confirms the partial mediating influence of innovativeness on a

relationship between learning orientation and company performance, which is partly in

line with the findings of Garcia–Morales et al. (2007) and Nybakk (2012). This result

shows that innovation mediates the relationship between learning orientation and

company performance, i.e. learning orientation affects the performance of the company

through innovativeness. In other words, the causal relationship of the observed variables

depends on the degree of innovativeness.

5. CONCLUSIONS

This research has shown that learning orientation is a predictor of company performance
and innovativeness in the Republic of Serbia. In addition, the research confirms the mediating
effect of innovativeness in a relationship between learning orientation and company
performance. The paper provides a certain theoretical contribution to the existing literature.
First, it clarifies complex connections between learning orientation, innovativeness, and
company performance. Examining the mediating role of innovativeness, the paper explains
the mechanism by which learning orientation is transformed into performance improvement.
The conducted research determines the extent to which company innovativeness changes the
strength of the correlation between learning orientation and performance.

The paper also gives some practical implications to company managers. The
importance of creating an internal environment that encourages learning is emphasized,
as well as the importance of implementing innovative practices, in order to improve the
overall company performance. Managers need to take a proactive approach to human
resource management and provide opportunities for employees to acquire new knowledge
and create innovative ideas. This is particularly important due to the fact that the degree
of the company′s innovativeness can be increased through a focus on learning, which will
consequently improve company performance.

10 M. MIRIĆ, J. NIKOLIĆ, D. ZLATANOVIĆ

The conducted research has certain limitations, from which the directions of future
research arise. The first limitation refers to the small number of respondents, which is
why the analysis should be repeated on a larger sample. As the research is limited to
companies operating in the Republic of Serbia, the conclusions cannot be generalized for
those operating in a different social, cultural and legal context. Therefore, it would be
useful to apply the same research model to a sample of companies in other countries.
Future research may also examine the individual effects of the dimensions of learning
orientation on enterprise performance, as well as the individual mediating influences of
the types of innovativeness in a given relationship.

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12 M. MIRIĆ, J. NIKOLIĆ, D. ZLATANOVIĆ

UTICAJ ORIJENTACIJE NA UČENJE NA PERFORMANSE

KOMPANIJA: MEDIJATORSKA ULOGA INOVATIVNOSTI

Prilagođavanje zaposlenih najnovijim trendovima u dinamičnom poslovnom okruženju jedan je

od glavnih izazova sa kojima se susreću savremene kompanije. Da bi obezbedile dugoročnu

profitabilnost i podstakle inovacije, one nastoje da konstantno unapređuju znanja i veštine

zaposlenih. Cilj istraživanja u radu je identifikovati uticaj orijentacije na učenje na performanse

kompanija, kao i medijatorsku ulogu inovativnosti u navedenoj relaciji. Empirijsko istraživanje

sprovedeno je na uzorku od 79 kompanija iz različitih delatnosti u Republici Srbiji. Za potrebe

analize podataka primenjene su deskriptivna statistika, korelacija, kao i prosta i višestruka

regresija. Dobijeni rezultati su pokazali da orijentacija na učenje ima značajan pozitivan uticaj na

performanse i inovativnost kompanija u Republici Srbiji. Dodatno, inovativnost ostvaruje

parcijalni medijatorski efekat u odnosu orijentacije na učenje i performansi kompanija. Navedeno

pokazuje da orijentacija na učenje vodi ka boljim performansama kroz povećane inovacije u svim

aspektima poslovanja. Doprinos rada se ogleda u praktičnim implikacijama za menadžere,

naglašavajući važnost kreiranja okruženja koje podstiče inovacije i inovativno ponašanje

zaposlenih kao osnove za postizanje boljih poslovnih rezultata. Stoga, menadžeri treba proaktivno

da pristupe upravljanju ljudskim resursima, pružajući im mogućnosti da steknu nova znanja i

veštine i razviju inovativne ideje.

Ključne reči: organizaciono učenje, orijentacija na učenje, inovativnost, performanse kompanija

Impact of Learning Orientation on Company Performance: Mediating Role of Innovativeness 13

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Sir/Madam,

We welcome you to participate in a survey being performed for research interests. This

questionnaire is intended to evaluate the links between learning orientation, innovativeness, and

corporate performance levels. The information in this survey will be accessible only to the

researchers. We also guarantee that the information gathered through surveys will only be used for

scientific and research purposes. The respondent's personal name is not necessary because the

questionnaire is anonymous, and all information will be kept strictly confidential.

The questionnaire has two main sections: In the first one, you should rate the items linked to

learning orientation, innovativeness, and performance for the company you work for. Items

are required to be rated on a scale ranging from 1 to 5, respecting the following:

1 – I disagree completely;

2 – I disagree mostly;

3 – I slightly agree;

4 – I mostly agree;

5 – I agree completely.

Learning orientation

Employee learning is viewed as an investment rather than

an expense.
1 2 3 4 5

One of the company's main principles is employee learning. 1 2 3 4 5

Learning is seen as essential to a company's survival. 1 2 3 4 5

Management in the organization agrees with the idea that the

company's capacity for learning is essential to its

competitiveness.

1 2 3 4 5

Staff members agree that learning is an important aspect in

developing either products or services.
1 2 3 4 5

The organization has enough resources to undertake

learning initiatives.
1 2 3 4 5

I have access to the information I need to do my job

effectively and efficiently.
1 2 3 4 5

Innovativeness

The company supports proactiveness when it comes to

producing new goods and/or services
1 2 3 4 5

The organization launches new products and/or services. 1 2 3 4 5

The organization employs contemporary management

techniques.
1 2 3 4 5

The organization develops new strategies in the marketing

field.
1 2 3 4 5

The company introduces innovations in Human Resource

Management area.
1 2 3 4 5

The company introduces innovations in information systems. 1 2 3 4 5

The company encourages new approaches to

problem–solving.
1 2 3 4 5

14 M. MIRIĆ, J. NIKOLIĆ, D. ZLATANOVIĆ

Performance

The trend of sales growth in relation to the previous time

period is noticeable.
1 2 3 4 5

The company has higher profitability compared to the

previous period
1 2 3 4 5

In comparison to the prior time period, the company is

more innovative.
1 2 3 4 5

Product/service quality has improved during the prior

period.
1 2 3 4 5

The organization is capable of responding promptly and

efficiently to technological advances.
1 2 3 4 5

The company is able to adapt swiftly and effectively to

market dynamics.
1 2 3 4 5

Consumer satisfaction has increased from the prior period. 1 2 3 4 5

Employee satisfaction has increased from the prior period. 1 2 3 4 5

The organization is capable of retaining critical staff. 1 2 3 4 5

The company is highly reputable in the market. 1 2 3 4 5

Gender:

• Men

• Women

Age:

• Less than 25

• 26 – 35

• 36 – 45

• 46 – 55

• over 55

Education:

• High school

• College

• Bachelor

• Master

• PhD

Position:

• Employee

• Operations manager

• Middle (tactical) manager

• Top manager

Length of service:

• Less than 3 years

• 3 – 5 years

• Over 5 years

Activity:

• Production

• Services

Majority ownership:

• Domestic

• Foreign

Ownership type:

• State

• Private