A Creative Organizational Culture Affecting the Kaizen Behavior of Personnel at The Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology

Abstract

The objectives of this study were: (1) to examine the levels of creative organizational culture and Kaizen behavior of personnel at The Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology; (2) to investigate the influence of creative organizational culture on Kaizen behavior; and (3) to explore approaches to creative organizational culture that affect Kaizen behavior among personnel. A mixed-methods research design was employed in this study. Data were collected using questionnaires from 159 personnel and in-depth interviews with 7 executives and experts. The findings revealed that personnel placed the highest level of importance on creative organizational culture overall (= 4.37, S.D. = 0.49). The factors influencing Kaizen behavior included the self-actualizing dimension (= 4.50, S.D. = 0.50), followed by the achievement dimension (= 4.41, S.D. = 0.55), the affiliative dimension (= 4.31, S.D. = 0.63), and the humanistic-encouraging dimension (= 4.27, S.D. = 0.68). Regarding the overall level of Kaizen behavior, personnel exhibited the highest level (= 4.35, S.D. = 0.53), with the change-oriented behavior dimension ranked first (= 4.47, S.D. = 0.51), followed by the reduction dimension (= 4.35, S.D. = 0.60) and the elimination dimension (= 4.19, S.D. = 0.67) The analysis further indicated that the achievement, self-actualizing, and humanistic-encouraging dimensions of constructive organizational culture positively influenced Kaizen behavior. In contrast, the affiliative dimension demonstrated a negative influence. The relationship can be expressed in the following equation: y = 0.908 + 0.422x₂ + 0.277x₄ + 0.308x₁ − 0.235x₃ This suggests that an excessive emphasis on individual support may hinder Kaizen behavior. Therefore, adjustments may be needed by incorporating Kaizen behavior as a key performance indicator (KPI) in the personnel performance appraisal system.