The relationship between learning transfer climates and innovation in public and private organizations in Korea

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the results of an empirical exploration of the relationship between learning transfer climates and organizational innovation. Additionally, factors associated with learning transfer climate that could account for innovation in Korean public and private organizations have been explored. Design/methodology/approach – This study relies on quantitative data obtained from two survey questionnaires. The sample consists of 390 employees working for seven private and five public organizations; further, each employee has completed at least one training program within a one-year period. Findings – Results of the study demonstrate that private, rather than public organizations, have significantly higher mean scores for all five learning transfer climate variables and for perceived organizational innovation. The results of multiple regression analyses reveal that openness to change and performance coaching have common and significant impacts on perceived innovation in both private and public organizations. However, the other three variables (i.e., transfer effort-performance expectations, performance-outcomes expectations, and performance self-efficacy) have varied effects on perceived innovation depending on organizational type. Specifically, transfer effort-performance expectations has a relatively meaningful impact on perceived innovation in public organizations. Performance-outcomes expectations and performance self-efficacy have relatively meaningful effects on perceived innovation in private organizations. Research limitations/implications – The sample for this study consists of employees solely from Korean organizations. Therefore, further studies encompassing a greater sampling variety are required to determine the generalizability of these results. In addition, this study is limited to an investigation of the possible differences between public and private organizations with respect to their learning transfer climates and innovation. In studies to follow, researchers can further investigate these relationships in segmented organizations. Originality/value – The results of this study will assist human resource practitioners to promote innovation effectively and efficiently based on organizational type.