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The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of managers, supervisors, and employees from different organizations relevant to the seven dimensions of a learning organization (LO), and the two dimensions of knowledge and financial performance.

The perceptions of 143 organizational members from different levels of four organizations were measured and compared using the Dimensions of a Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ).

ANOVA results indicated significant effects for level and organization for the LO dimensions and the two performance dimensions. The results indicated significant differences across levels for two of the learning dimensions (empowerment and system connections), and across organizations for six of the learning dimensions including all except continuous learning. The results for the performance dimensions showed managers higher than supervisors and employees on financial performance, and managers higher than employees on knowledge performance. The results also showed variations in the performance dimensions across organizations.

The results indicated variations across levels and across organizations that may hinder progress toward a learning organization and performance improvements. Practical implications include the need for more communication and participation across all levels of the organization, improved access to and sharing of information at lower levels, and empowering employees to use information for decision making.

The paper addresses the paucity of research on the perceptions of disparate groups relevant to the learning organization and organizational performance. It identifies an important area of research by identifying a potential road‐block for organizations attempting to adopt a learning organization culture.

This study aims to explore a relationship between the learning organization and transfer of training as strategies for learning and managing knowledge to make performance improvements and gain or maintain a competitive advantage.

Various similarities are identified in the literature that are indicative of a relationship between the learning organization and transfer of training such as: emphasis on both as strategies for a competitive advantage, focus on learning and knowledge, emphasis on taking action to improve performance, link between individual learning and organizational learning, and the focus of previous studies. This paper proposes a positive relationship suggesting that learning organizations are more likely to practice transfer of training.

The importance placed on the learning organization and transfer of training as critical factors for improving performance and gaining a competitive advantage necessitate that both areas be further investigated. Any relationship between the learning organization and transfer of training could lead to performance improvements and maximize the benefits gained and enable organizations to remain competitive in the face of global competition, a constantly changing environment, and unstable economic conditions.

This paper introduces an important stream of research relevant to a relationship between the learning organization and transfer of training as strategies for facilitating learning and knowledge management. Although numerous similarities are identified in the literature, no theoretical or empirical studies have been conducted.