Learning, job satisfaction and commitment: an empirical study of organizations in China

Purpose – This study seeks to fill the gap in the existing literature regarding relationships among organizational learning, culture, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment in the Chinese context, particularly, in native Chinese enterprise settings. Design/methodology/approach – Based on well‐defined western concepts and instruments, and statistical analysis of the data collected from 919 employees in nine companies located in Guangdong, China, this study adopted an empirical design. Findings – There are positive interrelations among the three variables and, specifically, organizational learning culture serves as a predictor and job satisfaction serves a mediator. Research limitations/implications – Owing to directly utilizing some commonly‐applied western theoretical frameworks and instruments, findings may not fully detect the cultural nuances in the Chinese employees; the narrowly geographically‐concentrated sampling may prevent generalization of findings to the broad Chinese context. Practical implications – Companies should understand that nurturing organizational learning culture could result in a healthier workforce and better organizational outcomes. Originality/value – Theoretically, this study serves as pioneer research for indigenizing the western constructs in the Chinese context, and it can fill a gap in the existing literature of the subjects being studied. Practically, this study has potential contributions to human resource management practice.