Influence of updating environmental knowledge through learning processes to improve performance in a tourist market

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between environmental knowledge, organisational learning and business performance through an empirical study of 87 companies in the Spanish hospitality sector. This study includes "time" as variable in the analysis and by focusing on the need to update environmental knowledge six years after the learning process took place. The results of the study indicate that environmental knowledge has a positive impact on business performance. Therefore, our findings show that in order to achieve a sustained effect on performance, it is necessary for the organisation to keep its environmental knowledge stocks up to date. That is, there is a need to review the organisation's environmental awareness at a regular intervals (in our particular research, six years after the initial analysis). This can be achieved by defining environmental knowledge as one of the priorities of the organisational learning processes. The paper discusses both conceptual and practical implications for the development of successful hotel operations and management.