Exploratory Research on the Organizational Learning in Small Enterprises and Implications for the Economic Higher Education

Learning is an issue of critical importance for small enterprises. The aim of this article is to explore the organizational learning processes of such enterprises, in order to identify the potential implications for the economic higher education. The topic is approached from a multi-fold perspective, at the interface among entrepreneurship, management and marketing. The article contributes to better understanding the processes, factors of influence and results of the organizational learning, by means of direct research based on the method of semi-structured interview. The research universe consisted in small enterprises within the services sector, from Bucharest. According to the research results, organizational learning is rudimentary, substantiated on the individual learning of the entrepreneur. Learning is experiential and the main outcomes are skills and concepts. Knowledge dissemination is deficient, the main flow being oriented only from entrepreneur to employees. The entrepreneur cannot control knowledge absorption but can evaluate and encourage it. The research revealed a relationship between learning and entrepreneurial orientation, according to which learning enhancement leads to innovation and opportunity identification. Following the research results, suggestions for future research and conclusions relative to the implications on economic higher education were formulated.