Learning-Adaptive Capability and Organizational Performance of Driving Schools in Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

Driving schools contribute to road-user competence, mobility, employment creation and transport-sector safety, yet their organizational performance depends on their ability to respond to changing regulations, learner expectations, technologies and competitive conditions. Many schools operate with limited formal learning systems, irregular staff development, weak knowledge-sharing routines and reactive approaches to regulatory change. This study examined the effect of learning-adaptive capability on the organizational performance of driving schools in Meru County, Kenya. The study was anchored on Organizational Learning Theory and supported by Dynamic Capabilities Theory. A descriptive-correlational research design was adopted. The target population comprised 104 respondents drawn from top, middle-level, and operational-level management across 26 driving schools. A census approach was applied, and 79 usable questionnaires were returned. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, the validity and reliability of which were confirmed prior to the main survey. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and simple linear regression. The findings established that learning-adaptive capability was highly practised through staff training, competence development, regulatory adaptation, knowledge sharing and professional development. Learning-adaptive capability had a positive and statistically significant effect on organizational performance, explaining 48.2% of its variation (R² = 0.482), thereby rejecting the null hypothesis. The study concluded that employee development, institutional knowledge sharing, and regulatory adaptation enhanced service quality, customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and competitiveness. It recommended that driving-school managers institutionalize continuous staff development, structured knowledge-sharing practices, regulatory update mechanisms, and role-specific professional development to strengthen organizational performance and promote sustainable institutional growth within the driver-training sector.