Mediating effect of organizational learning in relationship between cost leadership strategy and firm performance : A study on travel agecies

Due to globalization and rapidly changing environmental conditions, today's businesses are faced with more intense competition than ever. In this context, besides competitive strategies that enterprises will implement to gain competitive advantage, organizational skills that can sustain this advantage in the long term are also very important. The main aim of this research is to examine the mediating role of organizational learning in the relationship between cost leadership strategy and firm performance. The research consists of two stages, theory and practice. In the first stage of the research, the concepts of cost leadership strategy, organizational learning and firm performance, which are the fundamental variables of the research, have been examined in detail. In the second stage of the research, a field study was conducted to determine the effect of independent and mediator variables on the dependent variable. The universe of the research is composed of middle and senior managers of IATA member travel agencies operating throughout Turkey. Quantitative research method was conducted and the data were obtained by face-to-face and email survey technique. Total number of questionnaires, taken into consideration and used in the data analysis, is 351. The gathered data were analyzed by Structural Equation Modeling and AMOS package program. As a result of the research, it was determined that there is a positive relationship between cost leadership strategy, organizational learning and firm performance. In addition, it was determined that the relationship between cost leadership strategy and firm performance is mediated by organizational learning. According to these results, a number of suggestions have been made for practitioners and researchers. Keywords: Cost Leadership Strategy, Organizational Learning, Firm Performance, Travel Agencies.