The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between the organizational learning capacity of manufacturing companies in the Spanish Basque Region and their management systems.
To this end, an ad hoc questionnaire was devised and addressed to the Chief Executive Officers of a representative sample of 200 companies from all manufacturing sectors of the Basque Country.
The results obtained show that the characteristics of the management system of a company (the strategy formulation process and organizational design) do not condition the learning level that can be attained as a result of an experience of concrete change. However, it is true that companies which have experienced changes in which a high level of learning has been achieved have adapted their management systems more according to what theorists deem appropriate to help future learning.
The research carried out allows a better practical knowledge of the existing relationship between management systems, change processes, and levels of organizational learning.
