The purpose of this study is to identify how cultural characteristics of the learning organization
affect organizational performance improvement in the Korean business environment. We measured the
learning culture of five Korean businesses based on the Dimensions of Learning Organization
Questionnaire (DLOQ)(Watkins & Marsick, 1993, 1996, 1997) and re-validated the item internal
consistency of the instruments and applicability of the proposed structural model in the Korean
business context. Structural Equation Modeling(SEM) was used to examine the impacts of two levels
of learning culture—people level and structural level—on perceived performance improvement—
knowledge and financial outcomes—in organizations. The primary results of this research verified
that learning organization aspects influenced perceived organizational performance improvement in a
positive direction. Specifically, people level factors of the DLOQ showed dependent effects on
perceived organizational performance improvement through structural level factors. Furthermore, while
the structural level factors of the learning culture have statistically significant impact to the
organizational knowledge performance, they showed statistically non-significant direct impact to the
organizational financial performance. Implications for human resource development(HRD) are
suggested.