Organisational learning and value creation in business markets

Purpose - This paper has three objectives: first, to analyse the effects of organisational learning on customer value creation capability; second, to develop a better understanding of how organisational learning influences business performance; and third, to examine the moderating role that market turbulence plays in the learning-value connection.Design methodology approach - According to the objectives of the research, and from an extensive review of the literature, the paper develops and tests a conceptual model on a sample of 181 Spanish manufacturing companies by means of a structural equation system.Findings - It is demonstrated that the manufacturer's organisational learning is a direct and positive antecedent of customer value creation capability, understood from a functionalist perspective. It is also confirmed that this organisational learning directly enhances the manufacturer's business performance. In contrast, the paper cannot confirm that the learning-value connection is stronger when there is high market turbulence.Originality value - The research is one of the first studies to examine and confirm the effect of the manufacturer's organisational learning on customer value creation capability, understood from a functionalist perspective. It is also pioneering in providing empirical evidence that market turbulence does not moderate the aforementioned causal connection.