Learning organisation in Malaysian manufacturing companies

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical study of the learning organisation culture in Malaysian manufacturing companies. A survey, called the Dimensions of Learning Organisation Questionnaire (DLOQ), was used to collect data from employees of selected manufacturing companies. The data were analysed to assess the reliability and validity of the score of the DLOQ. The data were also analysed to determine the differences between large and small/medium (SME) sized companies with respect to the presence of a learning organisation-oriented culture. Results of the analysis indicated that the DLOQ is valid for measuring the learning organisation culture in the Malaysian manufacturing context. The results also suggest that Malaysian companies can use the DLOQ to assess their learning culture as part of operations management analysis before embarking on any organisational changes or improvements. Finally, it was found that the presence of a learning organisation culture was more prevalent within large companies than within SME.