Mediation Effect of Organizational Learning on the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation and Organizational Performance in the Agriculture Jihad Organization of West Azerbaijan Province, Iran

Authors
Department of Agricultural Extension, Communication and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating effect of Organizational Learning (OL) on the relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and Organizational Performance (OP). The target population of the study comprised of all experts of Agriculture Jihad Organization (AJO) of West Azerbaijan Province in the northwest of Iran (N= 1004). Two hundred and forty subjects were selected using a stratified random sampling method based on Bartlett et al. (2001) Table. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) multivariate technique was used to analyze the data. The results showed that EO had a statistically significant positive effect on OP (P-value= 0.001, β= 0.660) and explained about 44% of its variances. Moreover, the variable OL mediated the relationship between EO and OP (P-value= 0.001, β= 0.423). After inclusion of OL as mediating variable in the model, the predictive power of the model increased by 17%. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that it is necessary for AJO to strengthen OL and its components in order to maximize the effect of EO on OP.

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