The Learning Organization in a Small Government Unit: Case Study of the Center for Academic Services, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand

The research is R&D and aims to investigate and assess a learning organization in a government organization. A Learning Organization (LO) is one of the key developments in Thai government organizations. However, not many government organizations can successfully build and implement it in their organizational culture. This research studied and evaluated problems and methods of developing a LO in a small government organization named Center for Academic Services (CAS) at Srinakharinwirot University (SWU), which is a public university. CAS is a supporting unit of the university and is a semi-autonomous organization. Its main mission is to earn income for the university through providing academic services projects to both public and private organizations. Building up a learning organization could help CAS achieve its mission more effectively and efficiently. The CAS has sixteen staff working, which includes executives, who are lecturers and have been appointed by the university to work at the CAS apart from their teaching. The data collection methods were focus group discussions with questionnaires during the training on LO throughout the year. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, which are frequency, percentage, mean, and standard of deviation. The findings reflected six main characteristics of a LO, which are learning dynamics, personal mastery, mental model, shared vision, team learning and system thinking, and the findings showed that the CAS tended to be able to develop a LO in the organization.