LEARNING ORGANIZATION AND TOYOTA MOTOR THAILAND

Abstract

This paper examines the organization learning characteristic based on “The Fifth Discipline” of Peter Senge (1990) and compare with the case of Toyota Motor Thailand in order to find out what characteristics Toyota practices and to investigate whether Toyota provides additional practices from the theory. The qualitative research method was used to collect the data from the sample group. An interview was conducted with 7 people, who are Toyota employees and management, to explore its linkage with learning organization. Interview results were compared to the five characteristics proposed by Senge. Research findings were shown along with concrete and practical examples applied in Toyota organization. As the paper contains some limitations including limited number of interviewees and little benchmarking with other leading organizations in Thailand, therefore, further research and investigation are suggested to build on the findings of this study in order to explore more details in the area of learning organization in Thailand.