Translating organizational learning mechanisms into organizational development in schools: the roles of reform sensemaking and organizational literacy orientation

Purpose This study aims to examine how organizational learning mechanisms relate to organizational development in schools, whether reform sensemaking mediates this relationship, and whether these relationships vary across organizational literacy orientations. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from 1,261 respondents in 97 Taiwanese junior high schools. Of these, 767 were classified into one of four dominant organizational literacy orientations and formed the common analytic sample. Structural equation modeling was used to test direct and indirect relationships, followed by multi-group comparisons across orientations. Findings Organizational learning mechanisms were positively related to organizational development both directly and indirectly through reform sensemaking, supporting partial mediation. Neither of the two paths constituting the indirect relationship differed significantly across orientations. The indirect relationship as a whole, however, differed across orientations and was statistically significant only in the bureaucratic group. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional, individual-level design limits causal and school-level inference. Longitudinal and multilevel research is needed to establish temporal ordering, examine reciprocal relationships and determine whether these patterns hold across schools and reform contexts. Originality/value This study distinguishes organizational learning mechanisms, reform-specific meaning construction and organizational development as analytically separate processes. It shows how reform sensemaking links organizational learning mechanisms to development outcomes while demonstrating that this indirect relationship varies across organizational literacy orientations. The distinction clarifies why organizational learning mechanisms and reform sensemaking should not be treated as equivalent sources of organizational development.