Title: Causal relationships between organisational learning and performance in the Spanish hotel industry: the managers' perception in times of economic crisis

Authors: María Soledad Celemín-Pedroche; Luis Rubio-Andrada; José Miguel Rodríguez-Antón; María Del Mar Alonso-Almeida

Addresses: Department of Business Organization: Módulo E-VIII, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Carretera de Colmenar Viejo, km. 15, 28049 Madrid, Spain ' Department of Applied Economy: Módulo E-XII, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Carretera de Colmenar Viejo, km. 15, 28049 Madrid, Spain ' Department of Business Organization: Módulo E-VIII, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Carretera de Colmenar Viejo, km. 15, 28049 Madrid, Spain ' Department of Business Organization: Módulo E-VIII, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Carretera de Colmenar Viejo, km. 15, 28049 Madrid, Spain

Abstract: The present empirical study aimed to analyse the ways in which Spanish hotel establishments learn and whether their hotel managers could improve their organisational performance with the implementation of a suitable learning process in a situation of economic crisis. After reviewing the literature, a structural equation model was developed based on a survey of 147 hotel establishments in the region of Madrid in order to contrast the proposed hypothesis. The results revealed that hotel establishments' managers can improve their performance through organisational learning, drawing information from both external and internal drivers thanks to the existence of cultural and technological enablers. The conclusions of the study contribute to the scientific understanding of the subject researched and at the same time may encourage hotel managers to regard organisational learning processes as a key element for improving performance.

Keywords: hotels; hotel industry; organisational performance; organisational learning; hotel management; information technology; firm performance; hospitality industry; Spain; manager perceptions; financial crisis; economic crisis; structural equation modelling; SEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2017.083401

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2017 Vol.21 No.3, pp.274 - 298

Received: 01 Aug 2015
Accepted: 12 Nov 2015
Published online: 27 Mar 2017 *

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