Trust and organizational learning in service businesses in the United States: A correlational study

The primary purpose of this correlational study was to explore to what extent is trust in management significantly correlated with organizational learning in service businesses in the United States. The research question was, how does organizational learning theory explain the relationship between trust in management and organizational learning in service businesses in the United States? The reason for exploring the relationship between two latent variables, trust in management and organizational learning in service businesses in the United States, was to add knowledge to organization and management literature that trust is associated with organizational learning. This research was based on Argyris's (1994) research belief that organizational learning involves trust if organizations want to survive in the future. The research instruments used were Marsick and Watkin's Dimension of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ), and Nyhan and Marlowe's Organizational Trust Inventory (OTI). Service business employees in multiple types of service businesses in the United States were surveyed using simple random sampling methods with the assistant of SuveyMonkey online platform. The survey questions on each research instrument (DLOQ and OTI) were completed and returned by 229 respondents for statistical data analysis. The analysis that tested the overall hypothesis in this study was a correlation statistical test with the aid of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 computer software program. Pearson correlation coefficient was the type of test that was used to assess the relationship between variables at an organizational level. The results and implications from this study revealed a moderate to strong positive relationship, ranging from 0.456 to 0.877, between trust in management and organizational learning in service businesses in the United States. Further research was recommended to explore the relationship between trust in management and organizational learning in other types of businesses besides service businesses in the United States.