The Role of Learning Culture, Transformational Leadership, and Human Capital Practices in Organizational Sustainability: A Case Study of a Food and Beverage Firm

This study examines how a resilient food and beverage company, XYZ, established several decades ago, managed its survival and sustainability in a dynamic environment of an emerging economy. The company’s leader employed a transformational leadership style and fostered a learning culture. In addition, human capital has been professionally selected, developed, and encouraged to contribute the best to the company. The current corporate culture and systems enable employees to practice job crafting, which boosts productivity and ultimately leads to the development of innovative products or services. This study reveals that the implementation of a learning culture encourages employees’ continuous learning through knowledge sharing to achieve high performance. They share their knowledge through a continuous learning paradigm. In conclusion, employees’ strong engagement and commitment to learning, supported by the learning culture and transformational leaders, make the company grow and sustain. The company introduced many innovative healthy products that have been successfully marketed to satisfy its customers. 

Introduction

Organizations operating in emerging markets face unique challenges and opportunities that call for effective learning and innovative strategies to maintain a competitive advantage and ensure long-term viability (Doet al., 2022; Pilav-Velic et al., 2024). In addition to competition against larger multinational corporations (MNCs), these firms must deal with the systemic instabilities of emerging matkets, characterized by rapid economic shifts, regulatory uncertainties, cultural heterogeneity, and infrastructure inefficiency, reflecting many attributes of a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguity) environment (Bennett & Lemoine, 2014; Khanna & Palepu, 2010). In this dynamic yet unpredictable landscape, leadership style, learning culture, and human capital management are critical determinants of organizational performance and sustainability.

Transformational leadership has been extensively studied and widely recognized for its ability to motivate employees, foster learning, and promote innovation (Agazuet al., 2025; Tinget al., 2021). In parallel, an effective learning culture can boost various aspects of organizational performance through knowledge sharing to continuously improve output (Zgrzywa-Ziemak & Walecka-Jankowska, 2021). Knowledge accumulated and created from the learning process enhances innovation and improves internal processes (Alerasoulet al., 2022). This is particularly evident in industries in which knowledge is a key driver of competitiveness. Similarly, research indicates that human capital development positively influences adaptability and performance (Chenet al., 2021). Effective development equips employees with expanded knowledge and sharpened competencies that enhance their productivity and innovative abilities, which are essential for organizational survival and competitive advantage.

Although evidence from established economies is abundant, further research is needed to explore the contributing factors that foster effective learning through knowledge sharing, thereby promoting innovation in emerging economies (Muhammed & Zaim, 2020). An in-depth investigation into a company that has successfully implemented such factors offers broader insights and enhances our understanding of how to manage learning for sustainable performance. By examining the topic through several interrelated theoretical lenses, we find that the knowledge-based view highlights the importance of integrating the specific knowledge of the company’s employees to sustain a competitive advantage (Pereira & Bamel, 2021). This view is linked to the concepts of organizational learning and transformational leadership, which seek to inspire employees through intellectual stimulation (Kim & Park, 2020).

Furthermore, empirical evidence is limited regarding the strategies employed by companies in emerging markets to cultivate engaged, motivated, and innovative employees who can drive long-term sustainability within their organizations (Saunilaet al., 2021; Manaloet al., 2024). These gaps in the literature underscore the pressing need for research that aligns theoretical perspectives with practical solutions, providing organizations with valuable guidance as they navigate the unique challenges associated with emerging markets.

This study addresses these gaps by exploring the case of XYZ, a resilient food and beverage company that has survived and thrived for several decades in an emerging market context. XYZ’s journey provides an insightful perspective for analyzing the role of transformational leadership, supported by a strong learning culture and effective human capital management, in promoting innovation that improves organizational efficiency and ensures long-term sustainability. Specifically, this study investigated the following research questions:

• RQ1: How does transformational leadership influence learning and innovation in a VUCA environment?

• RQ2: What role does XYZ’s value framework play in fostering a learning culture and driving high performance?

• RQ3: How do human capital practices enhance employee motivation and innovation at XYZ?

The significance of this study lies in its dual contributions to academic knowledge and practical applications. From a scholarly perspective, it bridges critical gaps in the literature by providing empirical evidence on the interplay between transformational leadership, learning cultures, and human capital management in emerging markets, a topic that remains underexplored and fragmented. This study enriches the theoretical frameworks on leadership and organizational culture, particularly in dynamic and resource-constrained environments. From a practical standpoint, XYZ’s success serves as a blueprint for other organizations seeking to navigate the complexities of emerging markets while promoting innovation and resilience. Its ability to sustain growth over decades underscores the importance of integrating short-term performance with long-term adaptability, a balance that is often elusive in such contexts (Barney, 1991; Harteret al., 2002). The company values of Innovation, Collaboration, Respect, Integrity, and Learning are expected to be the mainstay in ensuring the sustainability of its business.

Using a case study methodology, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of how learning can be effectively managed through knowledge sharing with the support of transformational leaders to build a sustainable organization. This study also provides a foundation for future research on the intersection of leadership, culture, and human capital management in resource-constrained settings. Ultimately, this study aims to provide a comprehensive roadmap for organizations seeking to harness opportunities in emerging markets while mitigating their inherent risks. This study provides deeper insights into the interrelatedness of transformational leadership, organizational learning, and human capital management through what has worked remarkably well in emerging economies (Do & Mai, 2020; Kim & Park, 2020).

Literature Review

Business Environment and Innovation

Many organizations operate in rapidly and frequently changing business environments. The dynamism of this environment is characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) (Baran & Woznyj, 2021). It affects many aspects of an organization, including leadership and innovation (Lavieet al., 2010). In this type of environment, competition is fierce and demands that companies be agile and innovative to grow and sustain their operations (Baran & Woznyj, 2021). Companies are required to renew themselves and adapt to the environment in order to remain relevant. The innovation approach has become very important in such an environment. Christensenet al. (2015) further highlight that innovation is a key success factor for a company. Recent research shows that dynamic environments encourage innovation, both in exploitation and exploration (Zhenget al., 2021).

In a dynamic environment, companies must creatively do something different to deal with uncertainty. In other words, companies must innovate to maintain viability. Companies need to adjust their products, processes, and business models. In some studies, this dynamic environment positively moderates the relationship between antecedents such as transformational leadership (Dong, 2023) and the company’s innovative performance. In this context, the positive effects of transformational leaders become more prominent. A constant change in the environment necessitates that companies continually innovate.

Transformational Leadership

MacKenzieet al. (2001) argued that transformational leadership is an effective leadership style that encourages positive employee behavior. Given their critical role in managing sustainability, strategic leaders should use a transformational style to foster innovation through knowledge-sharing activities. Effective transformational leaders establish a vision and constantly communicate with all employees or followers. They motivate followers to contribute their best beyond expected performance by transforming their attitudes, beliefs, and values (Rafferty & Griffin, 2004). Kim (2014) added that transformational leaders can transform an organization by socializing and implementing a future vision. They can empower subordinates to be responsible for achieving this. Transformational leadership is defined as a set of four interrelated behaviors known as the four Is (Bass & Avolio, 2004), which include:

• Idealized influence refers to charismatic, admirable leaders who influence subordinates through their vision.

• Inspirational motivation refers to the ability of leaders to inspire and motivate subordinates to achieve the organization’s vision. Hughbank and Horn (2013) state that leaders should have a vision and inspire subordinates to accomplish it.

• Intellectual stimulation refers to leaders’ actions to encourage subordinates to innovatively solve problems.

• Individual consideration refers to leaders’ behavior in establishing personal relationships with their subordinates through effective communication; they should be empathic and helpful.

Transformational leaders enhance employees’ creativity through job crafting. The support of a learning culture encourages employees to engage in job crafting, resulting in breakthroughs and innovation. Congruent values between employees and organizations are the key elements of culture that guide employee behavior. Ulrichet al. (2008) introduced five rules of leadership, comprising five leadership styles: Executor, Talent manager, Human capital developer, Strategist, and Personal proficiency. These five leadership styles relate to four types of transformational leadership behaviors. An effective leader applies all styles interchangeably with the related transformational behaviors based on the situation. As such, the leader enhances change and promotes innovation, and subordinates are stimulated to be innovative through job crafting activities.

Slemp and Vella-Brodrick (2013) argued that practitioners often state that job crafting is related to the task of encouraging employee satisfaction, well-being, and performance. Its original construct was introduced by Wrzesniewski and Dutton (2001), who stated that there are three types of job crafting: a) task crafting refers to the commencement of changes in the number of events or activities for a job has been completed; b) relational crafting refers to an exercise of one’s discretion by involving others with the same competence and interests; and c) cognitive crafting refers to one’s change in seeing a job to obtain more personal meaning. It is obvious that job crafting is related to greater autonomy given to employees to be more responsible for their performance. As a result, they become more motivated and committed to accomplishing their jobs at their best (Parker & Ohly, 2008). Undoubtedly, implementing a job crafting policy provides employees with more meaningful jobs to deliver their best performance. In conclusion, a learning culture emphasizes work autonomy and plays an important role in enabling employees to craft their jobs. In addition, job crafting functions as an instrument to provide internal employees with mechanisms to overcome the negative effects of hindrance on their performance (Kuijperset al., 2020).

Learning Culture

A corporate learning culture is said to be powerful in encouraging employees to be innovative (Schein, 2010). If a learning organization paradigm is adopted, it will build a knowledge-based organization, which will positively impact organizational effectiveness. Corporate culture is the soul of an organization and is significantly correlated with its performance (Liet al., 2020). Therefore, organizational changes that are mainly based on values and norms will facilitate the learning process, leading to the creation of an organizational learning culture (Malik & Garg, 2017). To become a learning organization, it should develop three building blocks, as postulated by Garvinet al. (2008):

• A learning-supportive environment refers to an organizational environment that enhances creativity and innovation. This building block is reflected in a learning atmosphere that facilitates openness to new ideas, tolerance to differences, psychological safety, time for reflection, and appreciation of diversity.

• Concrete learning practice refers to organizational learning activities related to experimentation, transferring knowledge, training, and education, and collecting data and information.

• Learning-encouraging leadership is a leadership style that encourages followers to learn continuously, share knowledge, and generate innovative ideas.

To win business competition in a dynamic and turbulent environment, an organization should practice a learning culture because it anticipates a dynamic competitive environment. This culture encourages knowledge-sharing practices to generate various organizational capabilities, particularly innovation, which is essential to support corporate performance (Kogut & Zander, 1996). Retaining an impactful learning culture is important (Schein, 2010; Budihardjo, 2014) because it plays a crucial role in the innovation process to achieve sustained high corporate performance. By adopting a learning culture (British Council, 2023), an organization can have several benefits, such as adapting quickly to change, increasing creativity and innovation, and decreasing the turnover of organizational members.

Learning culture, which includes the elements of culture, is concerned with valuing, enhancing, and rewarding learning practices at the individual, team, and organizational levels (Marsick & Watkins, 2003; Skerlavajet al., 2007). Furthermore, Marsick and Watkins (2003) developed DLOQ Scales represented by the following levels of learning:

• The individual level consists of Continuous learning, referring to a learning process designed within the job so that employees can learn during their work, and Inquiry and dialogue, referring to the extent to which employees receive reasoning skills to express their views and the capacity to listen to and ask other people’s views.

• The team level comprises Collaboration and team learning. This refers to the extent to which a job is designed to facilitate a team’s access to different ways of thinking. The team is expected to learn from and cooperate with each other. In line with this, collaboration was appreciated and rewarded.

• Organizational level is composed of Systems to capture learning refers to a low or high level of technology related to a variety of knowledge created and integrated within a job; Empowerment refers to the extent to which employees are involved in determining and implementing organizational vision; System connection refers to the extent to which employees are assisted in understanding the effect of their job on the company; Strategic leadership refers to the extent to which a leader functions as a role model and supports organizational learning.

Further, they developed diagnostic tools to measure changes in corporate performance related to organizational learning, which consist of financial and knowledge performance. Financial performance refers to the state of a corporation’s financial health, and knowledge performance refers to the extent to which new products and services are encouraged and created as a consequence of its learning process and knowledge capacity.

A company that practices all levels of learning has a positive impact on performance. In other words, a company has outstanding financial and knowledge performance. In some cases, corporate performance is not directly affected by the learning process, as its consequences may take time to obtain a significant result. In fact, there are several influencing factors, such as corporate strategy and the business environment. To become a learning organization, the following characteristics should be in place: commitment to learning, effective and reliable science, transparency and clarity, topic guidance and leadership, and responsibility and accountability.

Organizational Performance

Organizational performance (OP) is a crucial construct in management research, and many researchers have devoted considerable attention to it (Kirby, 2005). Every organization should achieve its performance goals to survive and sustain itself. Drucker (1954) argued that the essential measures for organizational survival and long-term prosperity include (a) market standing relative to the market potential, both now and in the future, (b) innovation, (c) productivity, (d) physical and financial resources, (e) profitability sufficient to cover the risk premium for being in business, (f) manager performance and development, (g) worker performance and attitude, and (h) public responsibility.

Kaplan and Norton’s (1992) balanced scorecard indicates that corporate performance should be based on four balanced perspectives: financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning and growth. All four perspectives should be balanced to achieve a balanced performance. A balanced scorecard is a useful instrument for analyzing an organization, making more effective communication, establishing organizational goals, and providing holistic feedback on corporate strategy (Anthony & Govindarajan, 2003). In many cases, companies that focus on the financial perspective often neglect other performance perspectives. In so doing, it may have a large amount of revenue and profit, but its stakeholders may not be satisfied, and its employees may not be well developed. Consequently, sooner or later, its financial perspective is negatively affected.

Customers’ complaints increase as their needs and wants are not met. Maltzet al. (2003) introduced an organizational success measure based on five perspectives or dimensions, also known as the dynamic multi-dimensional performance model (DMPM), which includes financial, customer, market, process, people development, and future plans. In contrast to the balanced scorecard, this model measures the future-preparation dimension, aimed at anticipating future conditions or changes. This model measures a company’s readiness to face changes; for instance, the quality of partnership and its readiness to anticipate several changes, such as investment, new markets, and technology. Abu-Jaradet al. (2010) argued that organizational performance involves accomplishing organizational financial (e.g., revenue growth) and non-financial goals (e.g., increasing the awareness of the members of certain stakeholders).

Innovation

Innovation is widely recognized as a vital determinant of competitive advantage, thereby enhancing organizational performance. Innovation refers to the creation and application of novel ideas and solutions that provide value. Scholars have argued that the advantages associated with innovation allow businesses to access new markets, outperform competitors, and secure profitable growth, particularly in a competitive and dynamic business landscape (Eisenhardt & Brown, 1999). However, advancing innovation in such an environment requires more than just focusing on research and development; it also requires a supportive leadership style, a learning culture, and engaged employees who are capable of taking risks or anticipating. Organizations that effectively manage these elements are better positioned to produce more innovation and achieve sustainability.

Organizations may pursue innovation through various strategies, such as creating new products, enhancing operational efficiencies, and establishing novel business models. Innovation is frequently narrowly defined as the development of new products or activities in research and development (R&D). Innovation encompasses more than just introducing new products, services, or processes; it is not limited to technological advancements alone. This restricted perspective on innovation can obscure a firm’s awareness of its diverse opportunities. From a broader perspective, innovation introduces novelty and yields significant advantages, fostering enhanced value and sustainable growth (Sawhneyet al., 2006).

While leadership is often seen as a promoter of innovation, not every leadership style fosters innovation effectively. For example, transformational leadership drives innovation by inspiring employees, encouraging risk-taking, and promoting a shared vision (Judge & Piccolo, 2004). These leaders, who exhibit intellectual stimulation, tend to challenge employees to think creatively and to explore unconventional solutions. (Akteret al., 2023; Gulet al., 2024). Conversely, autocratic and transactional leadership may hinder innovation by discouraging risk-taking and creativity (Moreira, 2023). These leaders, who often create environments of control, tend to focus on routine and compliance, eventually limiting the sharing of ideas and risk-taking. To mitigate this unfavorable impact, organizations should adopt a more participative and democratic approach that fosters collaboration, empowers employees, and invests in human capital to enhance competencies.

Along with supportive leadership, a strong organizational culture that values creativity, collaboration, and continuous learning also serves as fertile ground for innovation (Schein, 2010). This particular culture, which emphasizes collaboration and accountability, encourages employees to share knowledge and work collectively toward innovative outcomes. Therefore, investing in human capital is essential to drive innovation. Employees with diverse skills, experiences, and perspectives bring fresh ideas and approaches to problem-solving (Barney, 1991). Companies should focus on professional selection, training, and development to ensure that their employees possess appropriate capabilities for innovation. Additionally, practices such as job crafting enable employees to tailor their roles to align with their strengths and enhance their intrinsic motivation and creativity.

Despite its potential benefits, innovation is often hindered by various obstacles, including organizational, cultural, and systemic factors. Rigid hierarchies and siloed structures can suppress innovation by discouraging experimentation and collaboration (Amabile, 1998). Organizations that prioritize short-term profits over long-term investments may also neglect innovation initiatives. A risk-averse culture and resistance to change can impede innovation, particularly in traditional societies. For example, collectivist cultures may prioritize conformity over individual creativity, limiting the generation of novel ideas. Finally, emerging markets often face systemic barriers, such as limited access to funding, inadequate infrastructure, and weak intellectual property protection (Khanna & Palepu, 2010). These challenges make it difficult for an organization to invest in research and protect innovation.

Research Model

The business environment tends to change continuously and drastically, and competitors are global, tense, and dynamic. Therefore, an organization should offer new value-added products, systems, or services to attract potential buyers to win the competition. This can be realized if the organization adopts a lean culture and is led by a transformational leader. Transformational leadership is said to have a positive influence on followers and result in good organizational performance (Judge & Piccolo, 2004). Further, the learning culture reflected by the supportive, innovative climate, learning practices, knowledge management activities, and leadership enhancing knowledge-sharing activities, known as the three building blocks (Garvinet al., 2008), leads followers to achieve high performance. The learning culture, which is supported by transformational leadership, encourages followers to be motivated; they will demonstrate innovative, continuous learning, and job crafting behavior. These behaviors lead to innovative products and services that support organizations in growing, surviving, and sustaining themselves. The research model based on the theories discussed in the literature review is presented in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Research model.

Research Methodology

A qualitative approach was used to generate profound insights into how to manage learning effectively for competitiveness. XYZ was selected for this case study because of its unwavering commitment to excellence for sustainable growth. Since its inception over 40 years ago, the company has pioneered and maintained its position in the healthy food and beverage market. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with five senior managers. As informants, they were asked to describe issues related to the research theme, such as how knowledge sharing is practiced, how the learning culture is instilled, how new products are developed, and other practices related to the organizational learning paradigm. The results of the interviews were validated (triangulated); three other senior managers were asked the same questions related to knowledge sharing practices, the inculcation of corporate culture, product development, and organizational learning practices to verify the validity of the collected data. In addition, the head of the human resources department was thoroughly questioned regarding the current implementation of transformational leadership, learning culture, innovation processes, and knowledge-sharing practices. To triangulate the data collected, five staff members, two former employees, and three customers were interviewed to describe the XYZ culture. All interviews were transcribed and coded for systematic thematic analysis. The analysis revealed the crucial role of transformational leadership in fostering a learning culture. Two interrelated sets of codes supported this central theme. First, the components of learning culture – including psychological safety, respect for differences, open to new ideas, valuing diversity, and sharing knowledge – were consistently present. Second, the leader behaviors that were linked to components of transformational leadership, coded as idealized influence, individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, and inspirational motivation. The generated codes were then analyzed for patterns and organized into broader, meaningful themes. The consistent co-occurrence of these codes confirms their interdependence. In addition to the primary data, secondary data were collected from various sources such as company-related websites, blogs, news, and social media.

Results and Discussion

Based on the in-depth interviews, it can be concluded that most employees learn continuously; all informants underlined the significant role of corporate culture. Through learning, employees can generate new ideas, analyze them critically, and generate preliminary commercial products. The interviewees also revealed that transformational leadership encourages and facilitates a learning culture. XYZ leaders use a transformational leadership style to instill corporate values and enhance employees' innovation through knowledge sharing. Employees share knowledge captured from external sources such as customers, suppliers, and other parties. As discussed earlier, a learning organization consists of three building blocks, and XYZ has been identified to meet the criteria based on the collected data. XYZ’s environment supports the learning culture: employees appreciate differences and something new.

Employees endeavor to be innovative and find new breakthroughs. Knowledge sharing among employees is frequently conducted, resulting in innovative ideas. Employees are given time to reflect on what they have related to the production of innovative ideas. All new ideas are accepted and intensively discussed; this proves that XYZ has positive psychological safety as it is open to any input. Based on in-depth interviews, the working environment supports employees to learn continuously and exchange ideas. Many employees like to learn by themselves and share knowledge with one another, both formally and informally. There are a large number of different types of products, services, and other facilities that have been developed, such as new innovative products, working systems, room design, and other management activities.

A learning-supportive climate is manifested through the open sharing of knowledge and opinions, respecting new ideas and differences, and allocating time for reflection. Most employees feel comfortable working at XYZ as it fosters a warm, collegial, and casual working environment to enhance creativity. To encourage individual or team learning, management provides essential facilities, such as a library as a source of knowledge or a place for self-reflection, and an enterprise’s social network to promote collaboration and accelerate information diffusion.

Annually, the company arranges an innovation festival event to encourage employees to present innovative ideas as outcomes of their intensive learning processes. Regarding the learning organization’s second block (Garvinet al., 2008), it has been identified that the company practices concrete activities, such as knowledge management, focusing on capturing, sharing, using, and developing knowledge. The firm also facilitates employees to conduct experiments on developing new products as well as finding more effective and efficient ways of achieving corporate goals.

Through in-depth interviews, it was revealed that employees are involved in continuous learning, resulting in the creation of innovative products and services; for instance, its authentic drink product NS started with only one flavor; now it has more than 40 flavors. Employees are encouraged to conduct experiments and exchange ideas in many different ways. Leaders frequently motivate themselves to engage in creative learning processes. They are highly motivated to contribute new ideas and discuss them with many diverse teams to ensure that new ideas can be commercialized. In fact, many new innovative products are offered from time to time, such as new supplement products with certain benefits, working hubs for employees and stakeholders, and the recycled-container-room.

To implement a learning perspective effectively, the company adopts a flat structure to quickly respond to customers’ wants and needs. Management is open to feedback and input from employees and stakeholders for improvement. With regard to human capital development, leaders support their subordinates in sharing knowledge and developing their competencies continuously so that they can deliver their best performance. Employees are also provided with training packages to develop their competencies. However, if performance issues arise, intensive counseling, mentoring, and supervision are provided.

Top management believes that learning and development are important not only for organizational and humanitarian benefits but also for creating new leaders. In his view, young employees can learn faster and more effectively by giving them increased responsibility in an environment that provides them with an opportunity to learn from failure. This can be easily practiced as the company applies three building blocks that facilitate and support the learning process (Garvinet al., 2008; Budihardjo, 2016). The company’s policy also considers the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve a more sustainable future by caring for employees, societies, and the environment.

Over time, the company showed reasonable revenue growth with relatively low employee turnover (much lower than that of the industry). XYZ has been awarded numerous different types of awards, such as the most creative companies in 2016, Indonesia Industry 4.0. Readiness Index in 2020, and the brand for the year 2022-2023. Obviously, it was established not only to achieve high revenue but also to help customers achieve a longer, healthier life through reputable and leading brands. It builds good relationships with the stakeholders. Regarding the customer perspective on the balanced scorecard, XYZ listens to its customers by responding to their needs and wants. The relationship between customers and the company is maintained through many activities and events. Their inputs, feedback, and suggestions were welcomed and carefully discussed for further follow-up.

Having interviewed some customers, it can be concluded that they are satisfied with XYZ’s products and services. Through continuous learning, the company attempts to find innovative systems to manufacture better and innovative products. Eventually, learning and growth focus on developing human capital; XYZ provides many learning activities informally and formally, and encourages them to self-develop to be employable. Facing an uncertain, complex, and turbulent environment, an organization should adopt a learning culture to maintain its operations, as this kind of culture enables all members to be innovative through continuous learning. Principally, a learning organization requires three conditions: support for an innovative climate, knowledge-sharing activities, and transformational leaders (Garvinet al., 2008). These conditions facilitate employee commitment to continuous learning, resulting in high corporate performance and sustainability. Unequivocally, XYZ has adopted a learning culture supported by a strong, committed CEO who communicates the company’s vision and values intensively.

XYZ leaders are involved in communicating corporate values to all their followers; knowledge sharing among employees is encouraged and facilitated. Furthermore, they are empowered to make decisions and to provide intensive training and supervision. Additionally, human capital is respected, trusted, and encouraged to innovate. Regarding performance, XYZ has demonstrated many positive actions focusing not only on financial but also on non-financial goals, such as employee health and well-being. It also ensures that the workplace is free of gender discrimination, applies green environment orientation, strives for decent work, economic growth, and innovation. In building a sustainable organization, leaders, in this case, are managers, heads of department, and directors, have adopted the transformational perspective by practicing the four “I's” to support the achievement of organizational effectiveness as follows (Bass & Avolio, 2004):

• Idealized influence on their subordinates: Leaders are close to their followers and frequently discuss and direct them in a very soft way. They embraced their followers and inculcated values. In doing so, leaders indirectly influence followers through their role modeling and storytelling. It has been found that employees are inspired and intrinsically motivated to work for XYZ. Even a few employees who had left the company admitted to it; some even returned to work for XYZ.

• Intellectual stimulation: Leaders stimulated their followers to learn continuously and be innovative. Employees’ self-actualization through continuous learning is encouraged and facilitated. Many employees are aware of the need for continuous learning and intrinsically motivated to do so.

• Inspirational motivation: Leaders often motivate followers by inspiring them to contribute their best. Leaders guide them to achieve the individual and the company’s targets related to corporate goals and vision.

• Individualized consideration: Based on in-depth interviews, leaders respect their followers and pay attention to their needs to make them mentally healthy and have high well-being. Consequently, employees are committed to delivering their best performance. Practicing the four I demonstrate how transformational leadership drives the company to bolster a learning environment in which members are committed to sharing knowledge to build a sustainable company.

In-depth interviews with managers revealed that they strive to become credible role models while practicing transformational leadership. They are very open and actively develop their subordinates’ competencies to achieve their corporate goals and vision. The intertwining of its strong culture and engaged human capital supported by strong transformational leadership leads XYZ to perform well in its industry. Employees are empowered to perform their jobs within their competence and authority. They are encouraged to conduct job crafting by redesigning their jobs to align better with their personal skills, values, and interests. They could make necessary changes to their task, relationships with colleagues, and the way they perceive the work to result in high job satisfaction. At XYZ, they are encouraged to conduct tasks, relationships, and even cognitive job crafting supported by a learning culture and transformational leadership. Job crafting and knowledge-sharing practices in XYZ enhance employees’ motivation to innovate. In addition, its learning culture functions as a platform to stimulate employees to deliver their best contributions. Obviously, XYZ leaders socialize the company’s culture and facilitate employees' success in knowledge sharing and job crafting (Tureket al., 2024).

Consequently, this company has implemented a learning culture and practiced it consistently, resulting in its strong corporate brand, high performance, and sustainability. In fact, XYZ produced many innovative products, grew steadily, and consistently achieved high customer satisfaction. It has received several prestigious awards, such as the National Brand of the Year, from both national and international agencies. With more than 3000 employees, XYZ applied a flat organizational structure to rapidly respond to the needs market. The company has developed its products based on scientific and market research to fulfill its mission of promoting healthier populations. It grew from a small firm with a few products into a prominent company offering high-quality, healthy products for local and overseas markets.

Conclusion

This study reveals the mechanism of nurturing a learning culture to foster innovation and organizational sustainability in order to win competition in a dynamic and uncertain environment. This indicates that such a culture leads to employees’ behavior toward achieving the company’s goals. This highlights the power of corporate values reflected in Innovation, Collaboration, Respect, Integrity, and Learning, providing avenues for employees to learn continuously and share their knowledge for innovation. In addition, transformational leaders play an important role in providing a family-like learning atmosphere for employees to improve their competencies and contribute to their best performance. Through knowledge-sharing activities and a psychologically safe atmosphere, employees are encouraged to practice job crafting to generate new ideas and breakthroughs. A strong organizational learning culture led by transformational leaders results in high corporate performance. In conclusion, XYZ’s strong learning culture, together with transformational leadership and its human capital practices, has resulted in continuous innovation, leading to its sustainability. The company has successfully launched and marketed several healthy foods and beverages with authentic local flavors.

The above findings provide empirical evidence and meaningful insights that actively cultivating learning culture, transformational leadership, and human capital practices can be a strategic imperative for organizations. However, since the findings are context-specific with a distinct strategic orientation, their generalizability is limited. Future research should, therefore, validate and extend these findings through both qualitative and quantitative approaches across diverse organizational contexts.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they do not have any conflict of interest.