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... Encouraging a culture of continuous learning is equally important. Organizations that foster a continuous learning culture see improved outcomes in training success and employee performance (Zaitouni et al., 2020). This culture can be supported by creating personal learning networks and providing opportunities for non-formal learning activities, such as industry-focused webinars and workshops, which help professionals stay updated on the latest trends and best practices (Manning, 2015). ...
This article explores the crucial connection between organizational efficiency and strategic procurement, with a specific focus on the West African context. It examines how lean supply management principles can enhance procurement processes by reducing waste, improving supplier relationships, and fostering operational efficiency. Through a detailed analysis of challenges such as cultural resistance, infrastructure limitations, and economic and political instability, the article highlights the obstacles that organizations in West Africa face in achieving procurement success. Case studies of companies that have successfully navigated these challenges demonstrate the potential for strategic procurement to drive significant improvements in supply chain performance. The article also emphasizes the importance of adopting advanced technologies, such as AI, blockchain, and data analytics, to bridge the gap between organizational efficiency and procurement effectiveness. Additionally, it underscores the need for continuous learning and development programs for procurement professionals, as well as the value of collaboration with industry associations and leveraging regional trade agreements. Looking forward, the article presents an optimistic outlook on the future of procurement in West Africa, with a focus on the potential of lean supply management to drive further improvements. It concludes with a call to action for companies to invest in organizational efficiency and lean procurement practices, positioning themselves for long-term success in the region's evolving market.
... The Indian cement industry thus needs to focus on human resource development (HRD) practices to improve staff skills because of which OE could be attained. Employees participating in HRD practices is alone not enough for enhancement of EC, as the competencies acquired through HRD practices may not be transferred appropriately (Antunes and Pinheiro, 2020;Zaitouni et al., 2020). Therefore, a firm must develop a learning environment within the organization so that the individual can exchange, obtain and generate knowledge and skills, which can modify employee behaviours. ...
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the moderating role of organizational learning culture (OLC) on the relationship between human resource development (HRD) practices and employee competencies (EC) in enhancing organizational effectiveness (OE).
Design/methodology/approach
An integrated research model of HRD practices, EC, OE and OLC was developed. The validity of the model is tested by applying structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to data collected from 506 employees working in 4 medium-size cement manufacturing companies.
Findings
The results confirmed that training and career development had a significant impact on EC, the moderating effect of OLC on the relationship between HRD practices and EC was found significant and there is a significant and positive relationship between EC and employee perceived OE.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the HRD literature, integrating HRD practices, OLC and EC. The research is unique as it has applied moderated SEM to test hypotheses of the study.
Using data collected from 115 management trainees, the results from a series of LISREL analyses showed that job involvement, organizational commitment, work-related supports for training, and pre-training self-efficacy were antecedent of pre-training motivation. The results also showed that pre-training motivation had a direct influence on two levels of training reactions and an application level of cognitive learning.
This study is an attempt to understand how the dimensions of the strategy process (change, thinking and formation) are present in strategists' minds. The methodology used is exploratory-descriptive. During the exploratory stage, we carried out desk research, which resulted in the development of a measurement tool for the strategy process. For the descriptive stage, we conducted a virtual survey of a sample of 109 executives of different companies. The data obtained were submitted to multivariate analysis (factor analysis and structural equations modeling). The factors that formed the studied dimensions were identified, confirming the existence of paradoxes in the strategy process. The dependence relations and the correlations observed were used as an input for the construction of a model for the strategy process.
The paper analyses the implementation of IT based innovations through a communities of practice lens. It is suggested that such a framework can add fresh insights to the dynamics of innovation processes. The paper makes an empirical and theoretical contribution to the innovation literature by both examining case study evidence from a number of technological innovation projects, and reflecting on the relationship between innovation processes and communities of practice. It is concluded that this relationship is not unidirectional. Not only did the communities of practice influence the innovation processes, for example through shaping important knowledge sharing processes, but the innovations also impinged on organizational communities of practice in important ways. The paper also proposes ways in which the analytical utility of the community of practice concept can be improved, for example by taking greater account of potential negative effects that communities of practice can have for innovation processes.
There is growing evidence that an organization’s training climate can influence the effectiveness of formal and informal training activities. Unfortunately, there is limited data regarding the psychometric properties of climate measures that have been used in training research. The purpose of this article is to examine the construct validity of a training climate measure. Results from content adequacy, reliability, aggregation, and convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity assessments provide support for the measure’s use in diagnostic and theory testing efforts.
Human resources are often seen as one of the most important assets of tourism and hospitality organizations. Numerous studies have examined how employee performance can be managed to contribute to the organizational bottom line. This article is a structured review of the literature regarding key human resources management (HRM) issues in the tourism and hospitality industry. Based on this review, the authors offer an assessment of emerging trends in HRM and a summary of what has been advocated in the literature for managing employee performance.
Although few hospitality organizations are listed in the annual survey of Fortune magazine’s one hundred best companies to work for, an analysis of companies with similar operating challenges provides clear direction for hospitality and service companies’ human resource practices. This study examined twenty-one companies, including one food-service firm (Starbucks) and three hotel chains (Four Seasons, Kimpton, and Marriott). The remainder of the companies analyzed were grocery and health care organizations, both of which share human resources issues with the hospitality industry, such as long operating hours, relatively high turnover, and relatively low pay. The innovative human resources practices isolated in this analysis were a culture that emphasizes the value of people, scheduling flexibility, creative staffing practices, people-oriented training programs, transparent and well-aligned performance management policies, and compensation policies that reflect the organization’s values and link pay to performance.
The success of large-scale or “paradigm change” training programs often hinge on work climate factors that support transfer of training. Focus groups (N = 70) and survey data from both trained (N = 564) and untrained (N = 345) municipal employees were used to assess perceptions related to change (e. g., role ambiguity) and transfer climate that constrained or facilitated their use of Total Quality (TQ) training. Employees who felt blocked from applying training reported significantly less customer orientation than untrained employees, whereas those reporting a helpful transfer climate reported significantly more customer orientation than the untrained group. Regression analyses suggested that controlling for contextual factors (e. g., department affiliation), both a change and stress climate and, to a lesser extent, transfer climate (e. g., supervisor and coworker support) predicted customer orientation. Results have implications for organizational development practitioners and managers who seek to improve transfer of training in the midst of organizational change and stress.
Purpose
– The purpose of the paper is to present an empirical study based on a trainee‐oriented systemic model for training transfer. The paper examines trainee characteristics which affect the motivation to learn and transfer and determine the trainees' entry behavior. Then, during the training process, the complex interactions among the trainer, the trainees and the content and method used are taken into account to assess what are here termed direct and indirect training transfer. Finally, organizational factors affecting both the training transfer and the trainee him/herself are examined.
Design/methodology/approach
– The authors used 44 in‐depth interviews with trainees from different organizations who participated in a training program that was based on an innovative experiential training method (project method).
Findings
– The results reveal the importance of trainee characteristics in the training transfer process and provide useful insights regarding the design and management of the training program.
Originality/value
– The qualitative methodology used is a strong element of this study as it provides rich information regarding the training transfer process. The research design framework, i.e. interviewing trainees one year after the training took place, revealed important factors affecting the training transfer process.
Organizational renewal requires that a firm's top managers make timely adjustments in their mental models following significant changes in the environment. Our initial propositions about the difference between renewal and decline focused on whether similar organizations in similar contexts differ in their ability to recognize significant changes in their environments. Analysis of longitudinal data from a matched pair of U.S. railroads suggested, however, that renewal hinges not so much on noticing new conditions, but on being able to link environmental change to corporate strategy and to modify that linkage over time. In the successful company we studied organizational renewal is a continuous process of first and second order changes in cognitive maps.
Although interest in organizational learning has grown dramatically in recent years, a general theory of organizational learning has remained elusive. We identify re- newal of the overall enterprise as the underlying phenomenon of interest and organ- izational learning as a principal means to this end. With this perspective we develop a framework for the process of organizational learning, presenting organizational learning as four processes-intuiting, interpreting, integrating, and institutionaliz- ing-linking the individual, group, and organizational levels.
Although transfer of learning was among the very first issues addressed by early psychologists, the
extant literature remains characterized by inconsistent measurement of transfer and significant variability
in findings. This article presents a meta-analysis of 89 empirical studies that explore the
impact of predictive factors (e.g., trainee characteristics, work environment, training interventions)
on the transfer of training to different tasks and contexts. We also examine moderator effects of the
relationships between these predictors and transfer. Results confirmed positive relationships between
transfer and predictors such as cognitive ability, conscientiousness, motivation, and a supportive
work environment. Several moderators had significant effects on transfer relationships, including the
nature of the training objectives. Specifically, most predictor variables examined (e.g., motivation,
work environment) had stronger relationships to transfer when the focus of training was on open
(e.g., leadership development) as opposed to closed (e.g., computer software) skills. Other moderators
related to the measurement of transfer also influenced transfer relationships, including situations
in which transfer outcomes were obtained by the same source in the same measurement context—
which consistently inflated transfer relationships. Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance
for future research and training practice.
Evaluates how HRD needs which arise from different business strategies will depend on, among other things, the purpose and structure of the strategies involved. Considers the motivation for strategic HRD, expenditure and responsibility. Concludes that a strategic approach to training and development necessitates increased theoretical rigour, more rigorous evaluation of effectiveness, and resolution of responsibility for training.
The management of knowledge is frequently identified as an important antecedent of innovation. However, very little empirical research has specifically addressed antecedents and consequences of effective knowledge management. Using data collected from 443 New Zealand firms, a knowledge management instrument, which comprises three components and 16 factors, is regressed against a three-factor innovation scale that captures incremental innovation, innovation that changes consumers’ behaviour and innovation that destroys existing competencies. The results of this research show that knowledge acquisition and responsiveness to knowledge are more important for innovation than knowledge dissemination.
Training participants' cognitions (training self-efficacy and training instrumentality) can be powerful motivational forces (and impact their motivation to learn and motivation to transfer) and influence important distal outcomes (such as training transfer). Our paper provides a set of ideas linking training cognitions with training outcomes. In addition, we support our propositions with a preliminary empirical test, based on a sample of 254 employees, who provide information on their training perceptions of training and development efforts at their organization. The results indicate that although the ‘can do’ (training self-efficacy) is a primary predictor or motivation to learn, the ‘will do’ aspect (training instrumentality) is the primary predictor for motivation to transfer. In addition, training transfer is predicted primarily by motivation to transfer, and has a strong relationship with training instrumentality. Given the paucity of research on the instrumentality aspect, we discuss theoretical and practical implications, and directions for future research.
Describes the Learning Company (LC) approach to business and human resource development. An LC is an organization that facilitates learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself; individual and organizational self-development are emphasized. The approach combines learner-centered perspectives on management development with work at the organizational level. The LC model is particularly appropriate for a competitive business environment. Implementation guidelines are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In a field study, the factors that influence employees' participation in development activities are investigated. The proposed model hypothesized that the influence of self-efficacy and work environment perceptions on development activity is mediated by learning attitudes, perceptions of development needs, and perceived benefits. Attitudinal and perceptional data and self-report and objective measures of development activity were collected from employees in health maintenance (
n = 343), financial services (
n = 196), and public sector engineering firms (
n = 496). No statistical support was found for the proposed mediated relation. However, motivation to learn, perception of benefits, and work environment perceptions had significant unique effects on development activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study examined whether variables at individual, unit, and suborganization levels influence the extent to which the knowledge and skills learned in employee involvement (EI) training are generalized beyond specific EI activities. Training generalization occurs when the knowledge and skills learned in training for a specific purpose in one context (e.g., EI training for use in quality circles) are applied by trainees in another context (e.g., regular job duties). A multiple-cross-level design using data gathered from 252 employees and supervisors drawn from 88 units across 11 suborganizations provided support for both individual and situational effects. Hierarchical regression results demonstrated that characteristics at individual, unit, and suborganization levels significantly predicted the extent EI knowledge, skills, and attitudes were generalized to the core job activities. As predicted, trainees were more likely to use EI training in performing core job activities the more EI activities they participated in, the greater their commitment to the organization, and the less cynical they were about the likelihood of positive organizational change. Contrary to expectations, more generalization of EI training was found to occur in units and suborganizations with less participative climates.
Organizational culture can be a powerful force that clarifies what's important and coordinates the work of employees without the costs and inefficiencies of close supervision. Culture also identifies an organization's distinctive competence to external constituencies. In order to effectively employ culture as a leadership tool, managers must recruit and select employees who fit the firm's culture, socialize and train employees to share the firm's values, and reward employees whose efforts reflect and reinforce the firm's culture. In addition, managers must both act and be perceived as acting in ways that are consistent with the values they want employees to share.
This article explores the role of consistency in human resource praaices. It explores and explains different forms of consistency and why they are valuable in managing human resources: consistency among different aspects of human resource policy, such as integrating compensation, recruitment, and promotion policies; consistency in how human resource policies affect different classes of employees (should scientists and engineers be treated similarly, for instance, and what about clericals?); and consistency of human resource policies over time. In the context of the second sort of consistency, the article explores both the span of consistency and "manufactured distinctions" that facilitate distinctive treatment to different employees. The article discusses the problem of measuring consistency and provides examples illustrating consistent and inconsistent human resource practices.
Strategic management researchers have emphasized concept development but generally have ignored construct measurement issues. Because a strong linkage between concepts and their measures enhances theory development, it is necessary to validate strategy measures systematically. In this vein, this paper (a) critically reviews the state of construct measurement in organizational strategy research; (b) develops a set of key criteria specifically for strategy measurement; and (c) proposes some recommendations for integrating strategy concepts with their measures.
Drawing on the theoretical insights from the resource-based view of strategic management, this article explores the potential of human resource systems to facilitate or inhibit the development and utilization of organizational competencies. These competencies-managerial, input-based, transformational, and output-based-are presumed to yield sustained competitive advantage for a firm. The competency-based perspective, by focusing attention on the HR activities, functions, and processes that enhance or impede competency accumulation and exploitation, complements the behavioral perspective (Schuler & Jackson, 1987) and, thus, potentially enhances the understanding of strategic human resource management.
Results support the hypothesis that individuals transfer their training to the job when their ‘real’ environment matches or fits the preferred ‘ideal’ environment. Five aspects of environment were assessed: supervisory encouragement, sufficient resources, worker’s perceived freedom, workload pressures, and perceived worker creativity. In addition to the traditional criteria of hiring people whose skills match the job, organizations might consider creating environments to match employees’ needs.
Strategic human resource management researchers have strongly advocated a system perspective and provided considerable evidence that certain systems of human resource practices have a significant impact on individual and organizational performance. Yet, challenges of understanding the construct of human resource systems still remain in the literature. Specifically, few efforts have been made to explicate the internal fit in human resource systems referring to how the practices in human resource systems work together. For the purpose of clarifying human resource systems construct, we review the components of human resource systems and delineate how the parts of human resource systems work together to influence employee performance. Theoretical and empirical implications for future research are also discussed.
This research aims to analyse the influence of organizational culture and human resources management (HRM) practices on the success of training at restaurants. Effective training is especially important for modern restaurants that aim to gain competitive advantage by means of good quality service and performance of their employees. To achieve this objective, an empirical study was conducted on 137 restaurants in the Canary Islands. Results show that organizational culture does not influence the success of the training programmes unless HRM practices that support the training process are implemented. Specifically, the study reveals the full mediating role of HRM practices between a continuous learning culture and effective training.
Organizations spend as much as US$200 billion annually on training and development; however, much of this investment appears squandered on ill-conceived or poorly implemented interventions. Scholars have pondered the causes of failed training for decades, focusing on issues such as methods, program design, and trainee characteristics. Recent interest in the role of organizational context rarely extends to organizational culture. The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between training failure and the manifestations of various levels of culture.
This study integrates the resource-based view of the firm, the resource dependence model, institutionalism theory and the cybernetic system model into a framework to investigate the determinants of international human resource (IHR) control at the subsidiary level. The effects of competitive strategies and the mediating effects of inter-organizational interdependencies on three different dimensions of IHR control (input, behaviour and output) were studied by using a sample of 101 Taiwanese subsidiaries operating in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Four notable associations were found: (1) a robust direct relationship between the adoption of a low-cost strategy and two dimensions of IHR control (behaviour and output) was testified; (2) an indirect effect of a low-cost strategy on IHR input control through dependence on the parent's resources was found; (3) the direct relationship between local differentiation strategy and IHR input control could not be testified because a positive mediating effect of dependence on local resources counteracted the negative mediating effect of dependence on parents resources; (4) the direct effects of dependence on local resources on the IHR input control and dependence on parent's resources on IHR input control and behavioural control were testified.
Outdoor adventures are part of the curriculum, as are exercises that put participants 'in touch with their emotions.'' Popularly called ''personal growth training,'' this approach is being enthusiastically embraced as the ''latest'' in leadership development. As an outgrowth of the humanist psychology movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the basic objective is to empower participants to assume greater personal responsibility for their lives and (ultimately) greater responsibility as leaders of their organizations. Yet, amid all the enthusiasm for this methodology, no one seems to be taking an objective look at its effectiveness. In this article, Jay Conger challenges both the assumptions on which personal growth is based, as well as the relevance of the learning experience to corporate leadership. The ability to be ''emotionally honest'' with oneself, for example, may well improve the quality of an individual's personal life-but there is no objective evidence to link emotional candor with better leadership. An outdoor adventure may engender the courage to take greater risks, but this type of risk taking seems much different from the risks one faces in daily corporate life. Conger raises a question sure to ignite controversy: ''Have we fallen for the medicine man's snake-oil?''
This article draws on the training and business ethics literatures to craft a framework for creating and maintaining effective ethics training programs. We identify four themes in the recent training literature — trainee characteristics, training design, transfer of trained skills, and evaluation issues — and use these as the basis for creating a model of ethics training. As an illustrative example, we explore the research on individuals' cognitive moral development and examine how a framework built on sound training principles might enhance the efficacy of ethics training. Finally, we present a series of research questions that arise from this integration of ethics and training research.
Purpose
– Recent developments in research related to training transfer have recognized transfer as a complex process rather than a product of training. Transfer intention has been viewed as the first and most crucial stage in the transfer process. Despite its importance in determining the extent to which training transfer can occur, transfer intention has not been examined sufficiently in the literature. This paper aims to address this deficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
– For the purpose of enhancing the knowledge and understanding of transfer intention as an important facet of the transfer process, the study was conducted to examine the influences of self‐efficacy as an individual‐level factor and supervisor support as an organizational‐level constituent on transfer intention. Owing to the paucity of research on transfer intention, the theoretical framework on the bases of which the hypotheses regarding the relationships between those two antecedents and transfer intention were constructed was partially supplemented by the Theory of Planned Behavior. The mediation role of motivation to learn in each of those relationships was also investigated, based on a series of regression analyses performed on the data collected from 287 public employees in Saudi Arabia.
Findings
– The results showed that supervisor support was the most salient factor that affects transfer intention. Motivation to learn was found to influence transfer intention directly and to partially mediate the relationships of transfer intention with supervisor support and self‐efficacy.
Originality/value
– Further analysis showed that supervisor support fully mediates the relationship between self‐efficacy and transfer intention.
Organizational concerns over the cost and effectiveness of training programs have focused attention on the effectiveness of the transfer of training to the job-site. This paper identifies the key trainee and environmental factors that influence transfer effectiveness, addresses the various underlying issues, discusses the implications, and presents a framework to guide future research and interventions.
Purpose
This editorial aims at providing a general framework for papers in this special issue. The main theme is to understand the organizational effectiveness from recent developments in technology innovation and human resources strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The editorial first describes the need for technology innovation and HRM integration. A three‐strategy model for global technology innovation and organizational development was adopted: personnel strategy, system strategy, and organizational strategy.
Findings
The personnel strategy could play a crucial role in enhancing the effects of human resources management (HRM) and entrepreneurship by supporting the main dimensions of HRM. The system strategy was used to facilitate technology innovation through knowledge management while the organizational strategy was adopted to create positive organizational culture and high performance systems.
Originality/value
The paper suggests that globally distributed engineering and international technology entrepreneurship be new area for theory building. The strategies from this special issue have implications for the study of new information technology innovation and e‐HR developmental approaches as well as professional service, customer relations modeling and strategic HRM.
The HRM literature emphasises the importance of people in enhancing firm performance or even creating competitive advantage. This study provides further evidence on the link between so-called high performance work systems and firm performance and relates these to organisational culture. In total 175 organisations from different sectors in the Netherlands participated. Senior HR managers were questioned on HRM practices and chief executives on organisational culture. Three different groups of personnel are distinguished in the measures: core employees, managers and specialist professional staff. One high performance work system could be distinguished, consisting of a combination of practices with an emphasis on employee development, strict selection and providing an overarching goal or direction. Results of regression analyses controlling for sector, firm size and age show a significant impact of this system on several performance outcomes (perceived economic outcomes, beyond contract and absenteeism), as well as positive relationships with three organisational culture orientations. Practices that are not part of this combination also show some positive (but limited) links with culture and outcomes.
The present study was conducted to determine whether trainees' general beliefs about training affect pretraining motivation and transfer of training in a large-scale training curriculum. In addition, the influence of social support for training from four organizational constituents (top management, supervisors, peers, and subordinates) and task constraints in the work environment on pretraining motivation and training transfer were evaluated. Nine hundred sixtyseven managers and supervisors completed a questionnaire that assessed 14 constructs. Structural equations analysis with LISREL VII indicated that the overall reputation of training, intrinsic and compliance incentives, organizational commitment, and three social support variables (subordinate, supervisor, and top management support) were predictive of pretraining motivation. In addition, pretraining motivation and subordinate, peer, and supervisor support were predictive of managers' perceived training transfer. These findings suggests that previous theory and research (e.g., Noe, 1986; Noe & Schmitt, 1986) serve as a useful heuristic for predicting the effects of general beliefs about training on training effectiveness. Implications of the findings for future research and practice are discussed.
This article reviews some major studies that were conducted in the past decade (1989-1998) on the transfer of what employees learned from training programmes back to their jobs. A conceptual framework is developed for this article to better present the “popular” constructs that have been tested empirically. The achievement is twofold. First, this review paper highlights that some individual, motivational and environmental factors are related to transfer of training. Second, some directions for further studies have been suggested. For example, longitudinal study was highly recommended for measuring transfer outcomes. Some new individual (e.g. achievement striving), motivational (e.g. trainee-control-over-training) and environmental (e.g. transfer climate) constructs are recommended to be incorporated in newly created models. These models can then be examined using structural equation modelling. After extensive testing and refinement of these models, a set of critical constructs can be distilled. By that time, convergence of research efforts focusing on major themes can be achieved.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to look at the issues concerning barriers that managers face in relation to participation in training and transfer of training, which have become increasingly important to HRD scholars and practitioners. To date, these areas have largely been examined independently. This paper aims to argue that there is an increasing need to understand and explore these two areas in unison.
Design/methodology/approach
Although this paper is primarily conceptual in nature, in order to investigate a model derived from relevant literature, survey data from 137 Canadian employees, mostly from the broader public sector, was examined. These respondents completed a short transfer of training questionnaire three months after a one‐day managerial training programme. In this study, open‐ended questions investigating training barriers are analysed.
Findings
The exploratory examination of information from participants of a managerial training programme suggests that the model which links literature on participation in training and transfer of training warrants additional examination. Most significantly, there was substantial overlap between the participation and transfer barriers with the most common barriers being linked to “lack of time” and “unsupportive culture”.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this paper is the relatively small sample size with regard to data concerning barriers to transfer. However, the authors feel that a key implication is that a “bridge of understanding” is created concerning the numerous factors that impact participation in training, transfer of training and the relationships between them. Hence, HRD practitioners and scholars can now use this model to begin to understand how they might improve the overall quality of training programmes and to further explore the relationship between transfer and participation.
Originality/value
The conceptual model developed further integrates the respective literatures pertaining to management training participation and transfer of learning in the workplace. The proposed model shows how barriers to participation can become barriers to transfer and how barriers to transfer from one programme may become barriers to participation to subsequent learning activities.
Culture is often seen as the key inhibitor of effective knowledge sharing. A study of companies where sharing knowledge is built into the culture found that they did not change their culture to match their knowledge management initiatives. They adapted their approach to knowledge management to fit their culture. They did this by: linking sharing knowledge to solving practical business problems; tying sharing knowledge to a pre-existing core value; introducing knowledge management in a way that matches the organization’s style; building on existing networks people use in their daily work; and encouraging peers and supervisors to exert pressure to share.
This study was conducted in four electronics companies in Shenzhen, China. It employs a transfer model that argues that training develops only potential capacity in trainees. The transfer of training in the workplace depends on organizational factors that facilitate the utilization of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) gained in the training setting.
Analyses indicate that training, recently adopted nationwide in industry in China, is related to transfer behavior. In addition, organizational variables that encourage application of KSA in the workplace promote the transfer of training. Among the organizational variables, supervision appears to be the most influential.
The study's findings also suggest that management concepts and practices for organizing a modern workplace are important in improving productivity in a newly developed industria! zone in China.
The effectiveness of distal outcome goals, proximal plus distal outcome goals, and being urged to “do your best” interventions on self-efficacy and transfer was investigated in a field experiment involving government employees (N = 72). Six weeks after the training session took place, both participants who were urged to do their best and those who set proximal plus distal goals had increased transfer (that is, generalization and maintenance) relative to those who set outcome goals. There was no significant difference in the transfer level of participants urged to do their best and those who set proximal plus distal goals.
Organizations invest a significant amount of time and money on management and supervisory training programs. The intent of this study was to examine the relationship between four specific work-environment factors (organization support, supervisor support, peer support, and participation in a peer support network) and transfer of training at one-month, six-month, and one-year points following supervisory skills training. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from both trainees and their direct supervisors. ANOVA results of aggregate data showed that trainees who reported receiving high levels of organization, supervisor, and peer support, and who also participated in a peer support network, reported higher levels of transfer of knowledge and skills. When data were segregated and examined according to length of time since trainees had completed training, findings were still significant for organization, supervisor, and peer support but only at the one-year point, not at one month or six months. Participation in a peer support network was not significant at any of the three points of time. In short-answer responses, trainees indicated that lack of time and lack of management support and buy-in were significant barriers to transfer. T-test results indicated that trainees and their supervisors did not differ in their perceptions of level of transfer of skills or amount of organizational or direct supervisor support received by the trainees.
This study describes the development and investigation of the concept of organizational transfer climate and discusses whether it influences the degree to which trainees transfer behaviors learned in a training program to their job situations. The study was conducted in a large franchise that owns and operates over one hundred fast-food restaurants in a large metropolitan area. Analyses indicated that when manager trainees were assigned to units that had a more positive organizational transfer climate, they were rated as better performers of the behaviors previously learned in training. As was predicted, it was also found that manager trainees who learned more in training performed better on the job. It was concluded that, in addition to how much trainees learn in training, the organizational transfer climate of the work situation affects the degree to which learned behavior will be transferred onto the actual job. This research suggests that organizational transfer climate is a tool that should be investigated as a potential facilitator for enhancing positive transfer of training into the work environment.
Results from a study examining the predictors of skill transfer from an instructional to a work environment are presented. Prior research indicates that skill transfer is a function of both individual and contextual factors. A total of 186 employees from a work organization were surveyed on individual dimensions (goal orientation, training self-efficacy) and contextual factors (supervisor and peer support). Pre-training motivation was proposed as proximal training outcome and further connected to the distal outcome, skill transfer. Analyses with structural equation modeling using EQS indicate that individual dimensions, such as mastery-approach goal orientation and training self-efficacy, are related to pre-training motivation. Also, contextual factors, such as peer support, predicted both pre-training motivation and skill transfer, while supervisor support was unrelated to either pre-training motivation or skill transfer. Pre-training motivation, in turn, was related to skill transfer. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Increasingly the makeup of the top management group is believed to affect the development, identification and exploitation of strategic opportunities. This paper explains a creative management model, which goes beyond conventional strategic management, and identifies the behaviors of top managers needed for the ongoing renewal of their business. It is proposed these behaviors cluster and can be aligned with different and distinct cognitive styles or types. The implication is that top management groups should be composed of a mix of types. This paper posits a mix of Jungian types, Intuitives, Feelers, Thinkers and Sensors. This diversity can yield great strength if the differences can be focused and unified. Propositions and suggestions for further empirical research are developed.