Knowledge assimilation by employees in learning organizations : The case of safety training in a day camp

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the factors related to the employee as an individual, that affect the quality and level of the individual’s assimilation of knowledge (AOK) which is transmitted by way of organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach – All subjects (317) of this research were employed at different positions in day camps of a social organization. The study examined the subjects’ AOK relating to the organization’s security and safety procedures. The variables examined in this study include: the employee’s organizational commitment; the employee’s perception of the organization’s culture; the employee’s perception of the advantage inherent in the security and safety information; the employee’s self-efficacy; and the employee’s motivation to assimilate the new knowledge. Findings – The research variables explained a significant part (37 per cent) of the variance obtained with respect to assimilation and learning in the organization. The most powerful explanation for the variance in degree of implementation was the perception of the organization’s security and safety culture and the subject’s self-efficacy. Subjects’ perceived advantage from the knowledge did not make a significant contribution and motivation serves as a mediator but it does not mediate directly between the variables and AOK. Research limitations/implications – The research was conducted in a single organization. We recommend conducting similar studies in other organizations, including other types of organizations, to strengthen the conclusions which derive from our research. We also recommend that future research should use alternative methodologies (e.g. qualitative research and review of the results by experts) since other methodologies might reveal new facts that may have been uncovered in the use of the quantitative method applied in our research. Practical implications – We recommend that an organization which strives to be a learning organization, should pay attention, inter alia, to factors relating to the employees themselves, and in particular: increasing the employees’ self-efficacy, clarifying the benefits to the employee of the transmitted knowledge; and bringing the organization’s values and culture into clearer focus for the employees. Originality/value – The unique nature of our research model is twofold: first, the variables on which we have chosen to focus are different from other studies, and to our knowledge, the combination of these variables and the examination of these variables in relation to learning in the context of organizations have not been examined in other studies. Second, our model gauges the effects of an employee’s subjective perception with relation to his organization’s culture, his perceived advantage with regard to the subject-matter which he is learning and his self-assessed existing knowledge.