Abstract

The education sector is crucial to any nation committed to building future human capital. The Higher Education sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is at the centre of transforming the nation's future in a radical move to end oil-dependency. But this is only possible if universities make a decisive change and start working as learning organisations in all employee's levels. The present study investigates the direction of higher education in becoming learning organisations. We collected data from 840 staff members in 20 public Saudi universities. We designed a questionnaire exploring the seven dimensions of learning organisation found in the literature.  Regression analyses were used to assess the impact of those dimensions on the organisational performance. Results showed that universities that adhered most to the learning organisation principles demonstrated a better organisational performance, particularly concerning research and knowledge performance. We recommend that universities should (1) use change agents to help transform effectively and meet rising demands and (2), promote continuous learning for all employees to increase productivity.

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