Do competitive strategies moderate the relationship between learning organization and performance of higher education institutions?

This study seeks to examine the moderating effect of competitive strategies which include cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategies in the relationship between learning organization and organizational performance of Yemeni HEIs. The study employs a cross sectional approach. A questionnaire was distributed to all deans of colleges or their representatives and 189 questionnaires were returned, with a total of 184 questionnaires being usable for further analysis, representing a 63 percent valid response rate. The researchers used SPSS for descriptive analysis, while Smart PLS 3.2.7 was used for analyzing the collected data. The results confirm the theoretical model, showing that there is a positive effect of the learning organization on organizational performance. The findings of the study also show that cost leadership strategy positively moderates the relationship between learning organization and performance of Yemeni HEIs, while differentiation strategy and focus strategy don’t moderate this relationship. This research evaluates the interaction effect of the learning organization with competitive strategies in enhancing performance. Theoretical insights that cost-leadership plays prominent role in moderating the link between learning organization and performance were confirmed empirically