How do organisational learning and knowledge application improve organisational performance in financial advisory services?

ABSTRACT This paper aims to determine, through a model that integrates the different study approaches observed in the literature, how organisational learning – via learning orientation (LO) and the organisational learning process (OLP) – and knowledge application (KA) improve organisational performance in financial advisory services. Previous research has already tested how each construct, considered individually, positively influences organisational performance. An integrated model that includes all the constructs would reveal whether they have a direct effect on organisational performance or not. Structural equation modelling is used to analyse how the constructs of the model interact among them and the testing of hypotheses, with a sample of 349 financial advisors. Results show KA as the construct directly connected to organisational performance, while LO and the OLP only affect performance indirectly through their interaction with KA. Furthermore, this study supports the bet made by those organisations truly involved in learning and KA, most significantly in the latter.