E-Learning and Its Impact On Organization Performance

HRM 730: Human Resource Management
E-Learning and its Impact on Organization Performance

Muhammad Fakhri bin Abdul Aziz
Arshad Ayub Graduated Business School, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM)
Abstract
The paper deals with e-learning and its impact on organization performance. This
paper is based on the reviews of the previous paper. The paper is based on the
secondary data. The source of the information has been taken from the previous
articles and journals on the e-learning. The paper focuses only the factors like elearning in industry, factors influencing e-learning, individual perceptions, time and
online e-learning and its contributions.
Keywords: e-leaning, technology, learners.
Introduction
To survive in a competitive economy, todays organizations must develop the
capacity to learn, adapt and change (Patnaik et al., 2013). Holding on to the
traditional ways of operations and strategies can not only render an organization
stagnant, but also make it difficult for its employees to grow and develop. Just as an
individual becomes out of sync and incompetent when he/she stops learning, an

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organization becomes dysfunctional when it stops adapting to changes in the

environment.
Nowadays, e-learning represents an alternative way of teaching and learning in
todays knowledge-economy environment, and the number of organizations using
these learning strategies for employee development has progressively increased
(Hill and Wouters, 2010). While definitions of e-learning broadly encompass
computer technology, there exist a number of approaches. For instance, Fry (2001,
p. 234) described e-learning as the delivery of training and education via networked
interactivity and a range of other knowledge collection and distribution technologies.
Other researchers have defined e-learning as distance education that uses
computer-based technologies, information communication technologies (ICTs), and
learning management systems (Derouin et al., 2005; Govindasamy, 2001; Lowe and
Holton, 2005). Although there is a range of e-learning definitions, the common
elements are instructional content or learning experiences delivered or enabled by
electronic technology (Servage, 2005, p. 306).
According to Pokharel and Choi (2015) Most approaches to learning organizations
assume that organizations are organic entities and have the capacity to learn, and
continuous learning and adaptive characteristics at the levels of individual, group or
organization. He also stated that the concept of a learning organization has received
considerable attention in the fields of organizational change, organizational
development, human resource development and strategic management as the
inducer of better organizational performance while organizational learning is the
process of acquiring, interpreting, distributing and making meaning of information,
while learning organization is the state in which organizations manifest the advanced
stage of organizational development.
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Given the increasing reliance and availability of technology in the modern world, and
the potential economies available to organizations, it is vital to understand the factors
that might lead to an increased adoption of e-learning in an organizational context
(Sawang, Newton and Jamieson, 2013). This study aims to e-learning and its impact
on organization performance.
The beginning of the twenty-first century has been accompanied by a number of a
broad revisiting of what our societies could consider as bases for sustained and
more equitable growth (Singh, 2012). Worldwide, this has led to placing knowledge
and information and communication technology (ICT) at the center of national and
regional ambitions (INSEAD, 2009; Liebenau, 2007; Stigliz, 1998). A wide range of
evidence demonstrates beyond doubts that the ICTs have already become the
primary up-stream transformational power driving productivity growth (Corrado et
al., 2005; Inklaar et al., 2005; Triplett and Bosworth, 2008), innovation and job
creation in every market (Hollenstein, 2002; Jorgenson, 2001; McGuckin and Van
Ark, 2001; Greenan et al., 2001; Hempell, 2002). Productivity growth and innovation
shepherd competitiveness in the market which is an essential condition for economic
growth and job creation in the twenty-first century. As a result, an increasing number
of nations are competing to establish themselves as worlds leading information
societies (Nelson and Winter, 1982; Neuman, 1991; Mody and Dahlman, 1992;
Negroponte, 1995). In Europe, both Lisbon Strategy 2000[1] and its follow-up
agenda Europe 2020[2], highlights ICTs as a crucial factor of socio-economic growth
and job creation. The Digital Agenda of Europe 2020 focuses on ICTs capability to
reduce energy consumption, reduce carbon emissions, support ageing citizens lives,
revolutionizes health services and deliver better public services. Further, it is

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expected that ICTs will increasingly drive productivity, sustainable growth, innovation
and employment throughout the European economy in a myriad of ways.
E-learning in rail industry context

E-learning system specifically designed to focus on company-specific initiatives
(Sawang et al., 2013). The e-learning system is used for voluntary training for
various job roles; as such, individuals are free to choose if they participate. The
development and implementation of e-learning across the organization has
necessitated a high expenditure including cost, time, and training. Based on
Sawang, (2013) he stated that from an ecological perspective, this expenditure must
be balanced with satisfaction obtained. Besides, individuals experience satisfaction
(or dissatisfaction) when they engage with the e-learning program. However, in a
corporate e-learning environment, other components besides users satisfaction
influence the use of e-learning. Others than that, these components include the
characteristics of the learners, the teachers, content design, and environmental
dimensions. So, the intention to use e-learning is a motivational factor that captures
individuals willingness trying to perform a behavior
Factors influencing successful e-learning implementation

A successful implementation of e-learning implementation relates to the individual
characteristic of the learner. It should be noted, however, that theoretically and
practically, an important measure of success of e-learning implementation is the
adoption of e-learning. There are several factors influencing successful e-learning

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implementation which is learner characteristic, e-learning characteristic and

organizational support toward e-learning. A key area of research regarding
successful e-learning implementation relates to the individual characteristics of the
learner. A common learner characteristic found across studies relates to learners
self-efficacy. Based on Newton, Sawang and Jamieson (2013) article, they has cite
from Banduras (1982) which is the concept of self-efficacy is derived social learning
theory which explains that efficacy expectations can affect intrinsic motivation for
performing a task. Besides, in an e-learning context, confidence in ones ability to
complete a task using technology is defined as technological efficacy. According to
self-efficacy theory, individuals evaluate their ability to cope with a new challenge
(i.e. e-learning) and, based on this judgment, individuals initiate and continue with
behavioral strategies to manage the challenge (i.e. e-learning adoption). A second
major factor that can be linked to successful e-learning implementation relates to the
characteristics of e-learning itself. Furthermore, there are two key aspects of elearning characteristics involve the authenticity and the complexity of the e-learning.
First, authentic activities are defined as tasks that are relevant and useful to the real
world, and provide learners with a scenario to identify the questions and activities
that are logically related to the scenario. A second e-learning characteristic that is
important to implementation success is complexity. For instance, e-learning that is
perceived as relatively difficult to understand and use can lead to learners
disengagement and dissatisfaction. Lastly is e-learning has become a high priority
for many public and private sectors.

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Individual temporal perceptions

According to Leeds (2014) many studies of time and e-learners, such as those
examined by Barbera and Clara (2012) focus on what individual learners do with
their time resources; however, these studies examine the use of time under the
dominant time perspective in western culture. Thus, each individual learner
distinguishes his or her perception of time as exact or true, whereas time is in fact
variable and, even though time may be perceived as constant, it is actually socially
constructed. Individual learners may be undertaking the same e-learning activities
but as a consequence their perceptions of e-learning will be effected by their
individual perception of time.
Time and online learning

Online learning removes individuals and processes from traditional spaces and
times, so that space and time become distant from each other. In its use of
technology, e-learning disrupts the temporal order by altering the ways in which
individuals structure their study patterns. Besides, it highlights a move towards more
task-oriented learning where work is focused on the learning task, not the time
taken to carry it out. An e-learning situation where learners were always required to
be punctual, where time was seen as a resource, routine was the norm and learning
tasks were restricted to one or two at a time may be difficult for a polychron.
However, an e-learning situation where an individual has the freedom to set their
own learning schedule, even at the same time as other tasks such as work,
household tasks or eating, would be more conducive to that learners concept of time
(Leeds, 2014).
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Contributions of e-learning
The ability of an organization to adapt to its changing environment can be enhanced
by more capable employees (Fleming et al., 2014). Besides, organizational culture is
a key foundation for the high-performance work practices, and can be a source of
competitive advantage if appropriately nurtured, learnt and shared. Organizational
culture may influence individual commitment and performance by setting the
practices and values for a positive, meaningful work climate. For instance, study of
high performance organizations report a clear, compelling direction (mission, vision,
and strategy) embraced by employees at all levels, and employee involvement
(teamwork, capability development, and empowerment), positively influence
outcomes measures. This is so because if a society provides a supportive culture for
using some of the techniques, then the creation of high performance organization
may require less managerial effort, than otherwise (Gupta, 2011). Furthermore, the
employees are more likely to engage in the technology-based forms of professional
development when their organization demonstrates its commitment to embracing
and supporting the use of technology. In addition, organizations can facilitate this
tendency toward a self-developed workforce when hiring new employees by
encouraging the selection of prospective employees who demonstrate more potential
for involvement in various forms of technology (Artis et al., 2014).

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Organization performance
In a high performance work organization, the basic premise is to create an internal
environment that supports customer needs and expectations. According to Choi,
Moon and Ko (2013) although organizations have codes of ethics or business ethics
committees, these formal rules or systems cannot encourage employees to behave
ethically if the employees do not have a shared perception that their organization is
ethical. Therefore, organizations should pay much attention to fostering the
employees perceptions of the organizations ethical climate, concurrently with
establishing a set of formal ethical systems (Schminke et al., 2007; Weeks et al.,
2004). As the importance of ethical climate as a source of competitive advantage has
increased, many previous studies have assumed that an organizations ethical
climate would lead to higher organizational performance.
Many learning styles have been developed to allow for learners to be categorised
into a specific learner type. This learner type can then be used to provide the learner
with suitable learning material thus possibly enhancing their overall potential for
learning (Peter and Mohammad Dastbaz, 2010). The only way for organizations to
remain competitive is to convert them to a permanent learning system for constant
renewal. A learning organization is the term given to a company that facilitates the
learning of its members and continuously transforms itself. Learning organizations
develop as a result of the pressures facing modern organizations and enables them
to remain competitive in the business environment (Patnaik et al., 2013).
E-learning is not very easy to define either. Most often the concept of e-learning
covers both technical and digital means, but covers also e-learning as learning, and
learning through e-learning (Ossiannilsson, 2010b). The concept is used to cover a

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wide set of applications and pedagogical processes and learning supported by

information and communication technology, such as web-based learning, computerbased learning, virtual classrooms and digital collaboration, with an added value of
increased accessibility, flexibility and interactivity.
Professional recognition is defined as the formal acknowledgement of an individuals
professional status and right to practice in accordance with standards and subject to
regulatory controls (Harvey, 2009). According to Tariq Mahmood Khalid Hafeez
(2013) people recognised that quality issues need to be addressed at a wider scale,
i.e. by directing organisational efforts towards preventing problems happening at the
first place. Changing from detection to prevention required not only the use of a set
of quality management tools and techniques, but also the development of a new
operating philosophy that required a change the way companies were managed. The
development of an e-Learning software system is usually a time and cost intensive
project involving human, material and other institutional resources.
Sustainable development has become popular for potentially integrating economic,
environmental sustainability and social dimensions, which are known as the triple
bottom line, in the performance evaluation of businesses (Jamali, 2006).
Theoretically, a sustainable learning organization would be an organization with
enough sustainability knowledge, would act according to, and would be considered
as a role model to prevent, eliminate and/or reduce the environmental and
occupational risks associated with its operations while enhancing and strengthening
its profitability; unfortunately in the real world, there is no such kind of organization,
yet (Velazquez et al., 2011).

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Conclusion
Employability skills may be developed through specifically designated course or
option units, e.g. on career planning, CV preparation or through incorporation of
simulated real-work activities and assessment tasks, input from employers or
practitioners, career planning and preparation or similar activities into subjectbased core or option units (Andrews and Russell, 2012).
Having contributed to creating growing awareness, confidence and e-learning
expertise, support strategies are now changing. Since the original e-learning
initiatives began in 2006 much has changed in educational technology. The rapid
advance of Web 2.0 (and beyond) communication and creative media has been built
on easy to use software that allows almost anyone to author materials for the web
without specialized skills or training. Possibilities and potential for engaging in elearning are now much more accessible and less costly (Csete and Evans, 2013).
In all sectors, e-learning has been implemented to enable training and development
of employees in the workplace without the need to relocate people to central training
rooms and employ large numbers of trainers. Indeed, many organizations convert
their traditional training delivery methods to e-learning for economic reasons in the
belief that it is cheaper.

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Recommendation
E-learning refers to the use of computer network technology, primarily via the
Internet, to deliver information and instructions to individuals. Workplace learning
refers to learning or training activities undertaken in the workplace, with the goal of
enhancing individual and organizational performance. Attention to workplace learning
has greatly increased due to the significant role of professional skills and expertise in
organization development. This work has focused on e-learning development in view
of short-term needs to improve job performance. The research on high
performance/high commitment organization maintains that achieving and sustaining
high levels of performance requires a positive workplace environment and practices
that develop and leverage employees knowledge and ability to create value
(Appelbaum et al., 2009). This in the workplace setting, learning needs should be
addressed to enhance personal and career development in the long term.
Developing e-skills among employees, because e-learning is a powerful tool for
delivering many and varied instructional technologies. For example, e-learning can
be used to present online lectures through the use of live stream audio and video
technology, textual materials in the form of electronic PowerPoint slides, and
discussions through the use of message boards and chat rooms. E-learning is a
rapidly changing area of practice; organizational practices must be examined
regularly to keep up with the state of the art in e-learning. In addition to using elearning in the training of IT skills, a growing number of businesses have used elearning in the training of business and soft skills. Some of the most common
business and soft skills to be taught via e-learning in organizations include
management, leadership, communication, customer service, quality management,
and human resources skills.
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Organizations are also need engaging e-learners through customization and

personalization of the learning experience and the use of stories to present
instructional material. Customization typically involves the adaptation of various
instructional elements to meet learner preferences and needs. Personalization refers
to changes that are made to the structure of the program to give the feeling that the
learner is engaged in a conversation with the program. Personalization can be
promoted in e-learning by using conversational rather than formal language in on
screen text or audio recording. To have a positive impact, e-learning programs need
to be designed to enable employees to transfer what they have learned to their work
in improving productivity and performance.

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HRM 730: Human Resource Management