Journal of

Background and Aim: Learning may be the only sustainable competitive advantage for all organizations. A learning organization is an organisation where people continually expand their capacity to create results they truly desire new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured collective aspirations are set free people are continually learning from what others have learned. The aim of this research is to study whether a learning organization and its subsystems are established in Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences (SKUMS).

Materials and Methods: This descriptive-survey study was conducted in 2012. Marquardt's standard questionnaire was used to measure learning organization based on Likert's scale with a Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of 0.946. The research sample consisted of 177 staff members (bachelor's degree holders and bove) in seven vice-chancellorships of SKUMS, selected through simple random sampling.

Results: The findings of the study are twofold. (1) According to the results of one-sample t-test with a 95% confidence interval, the mean scores in learning organization and sub-systems of learning dynamics, people empowerment, knowledge management and technology application subsysems were higher than the assumed mean of 3 however, the figure turned out to be equal to the assumed mean for the organization transformation subsystem, and (2) Based on Freidman Test, there was a significant difference between the means of at least 2 learning organization subsystems.

Conclusion: According to the research findings, more attention should be paid to the subsystems of learning organization establishment and balanced development of these subsystems.

Background and Aim: Learning is essential in healthcare environments, where knowledge and skills are quickly outdated due to continuous advances in medical science. Organizational learning is a dynamic process that enables learning organizations to be campatible with change in good time. The aim of this study was to determine the status of organizational learning in an Iranian healthcare organization in Tehran, and to assess the extent to which this organization could be considered as a learning organization.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional and descriptive study, 200 nurses were selected in an Iranian healthcare organization. Dimension Learning Organizational Questionnaire (DLOQ) was used to collect data to be analyzed using descriptive statistics methods by frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation.

Results: The mean overall score for organizational learning was 3.36±0.69. Among the various dimension of organizational learning, continuous learning had the highest average (3.44±0.39), and the empowerment had lowest amount (2.72±0.06).

Conclusion: The findings from this study provide useful information for these organization's managers regarding the areas where there is a need for improvement in OL and to make it a more LO.