Learning organization, internal marketing, and organizational commitment in hospitals

Background: This study provides empirical evidence of the relationships among learning organization, internal marketing, and organizational commitment. Internal marketing assists hospital administrators in improving the quality of service provided by nursing staff to their patients and allows hospitals to build a learning culture and enhance the organizational commitment of its nursing staff. Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed. Two hundred questionnaires were distributed to nurses working in either a medical centre or a regional hospital in Taichung City, Taiwan, and 114 valid questionnaires were returned (response rate: 57%). The entire process of distribution and returns was completed between 1 October and 31 October 2009. Hypothesis testing was conducted using structural equation modelling. Results: A significant positive correlation was found between learning organization, internal marketing, and organizational commitment. Internal marketing was a mediator between learning organization and organizational commitment. Conclusion: Nursing managers may be able to apply learning organization to strategies that can strengthen employee organizational commitment. Further, when promoting learning organization, managers can coordinate their internal marketing practices to enhance the organisational commitment of nurses.