Assessment of Current Training Program and Its Effectiveness in Hotels of Bhutan

The increasing number of tourist in Bhutan demands for more high-quality hotels to provide better services to guests. The objectives of the study are, (1) to assess the current training provided to the hotel employees; (2) to evaluate the training gap concerning training design and; (3) to examine relationship between the training factors affecting the training effectiveness in Bhutanese hotel industry. Findings showed mismatch of training provided to employees resulting in poor quality of service. Negative score was found between the importance and satisfaction level of hotel employees on contents of training design. However the results showed positive relationship between the training factors and training effectiveness, work environment has strong influence.     

Employer-provided training,innovation and skills in post-Soviet countries

This paper analyzes the extent of employer-provided training in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine and investigates its relationship with innovation, having international business contacts, use of computers at work, reported skills shortages and other firm characteristics. It contributes to the literature by examining different types of training – initial on-the-job learning, more formal in-house training and external training, which is provided by firms to two categories of workers – white- and blue-collar workers. After controlling for a range of firm characteristics, we find a positive link between technological innovation and intensity of training of all types provided to white-collar workers that points to the technology-skills complementarity. Furthermore, the level of computer use at work is a significant determinant of the incidence and intensity of external training provided to white-collar and blue-collar workers.     

Effects of state-sponsored human capital investment on the selection of training type

Since the 1990s, firms in Japan have reduced their human capital investment in the workplace to minimize costs. Moreover, in response to the increase in the number of non-regular employees and turnover rates, workers need to have greater incentive to make the self-motivated investment in themselves for their self-protection. In this study, we first estimate the effects of workers’ self-motivated investment in themselves on wage rates. Next, we explore who is likely to participate in which training type and accordingly estimate the effects of the self-motivated investment on wage rates by training type. Our estimates controlling for individual-level fixed-effects indicate that the return is significantly positive and particularly high for practical training related to workers’ current jobs, and regular workers tend to self-select these higher-returns programs, while non-regular workers are more likely to enroll in lower-returns programs, such as schooling. This trend in investment in oneself could potentially increase the wage inequality between regular and non-regular workers through the self-selection of training types. Our estimates reveal that receiving the training and education benefit raises the likelihood for workers to participate in a high-return training program regardless of whether they are non-regular or regular workers. This suggests that government benefits on self-investment change workers’ self-selection of training type and serve to promote practical trainings that lead to high returns.     

Multiple job holding as a strategy for skills development

This study investigated the training effect of multiple job holding on the activity of main jobs. First, we developed a dual-labor supply model by adding the training effect of working second jobs. The theory showed that workers with unconstrained hours hold second jobs when they develop skills via the experience of second jobs. To verify the hypotheses from the theoretical model, the causal relationship between holding a second job and the wage rate of a main job was estimated using the Keio Household Panel Survey. Difference generalized method of moments was adopted to remove time-invariant individual effects and endogenous bias. Moreover, the estimations showed heterogeneity of main jobs in terms of length of working hours, tasks, and job turnover. Full-time workers engaged in intelligent tasks and those who did not change their jobs secured training effects from second jobs but only when the comparison group was the workers allowed to hold second jobs by their employers. It was presumed that employers paid to restrict employees’ activities. On the contrary, part-time workers engaged in physical tasks were exhausted by second jobs, which decreased the wage rate of their main jobs.     

Trading off learning and performance: Exploration and exploitation at work

Employees are increasingly given control over how they learn, and their choices for training are diverse and varied, yet employees must balance competing demands. On one hand, they are expected to be increasingly efficient in their current job duties – on the other hand, they are expected to develop new skills and competencies that enable them to adapt and respond to changing job demands. Drawing from the organizational learning literature, we propose a model of worker and work characteristics that inform choices between two mindsets related to learning at work. The first mindset is exploration, or the pursuit of learning outside one’s current knowledge domain; the second mindset is exploitation, the refinement/deepening of one’s existing knowledge stock focusing on the task at hand. We further propose that these strategic choices, or trade-offs, influence employee learning and performance in unique ways, with different implications for both routine and adaptive performance. Finally, we incorporate the notions of feedback loops and risk assessments that influence ongoing decisions between exploration and exploitation mindsets. Recommendations for future research and extensions of the theoretical model are also proposed.     

卫健系统干部培训课程体系常见问题及完善之道

全面质量管理是干部教育培训项目实现持续改进的基础,课程设计作为干部培训体系的关键环节,直接影响着干部培训的成效。就课程体系而言,PDCA循环注重基于培训要求的专题策划、满足学习需求的课程设计、完善管理服务的过程控制以及回应培训评估的改进处理。近年来,上海市卫生局党校立足培训需求,强化培训管理,增强培训实效,不断开创干部教育培训新局面,为上海市卫生健康系统干部培训作出了重要贡献,但在课程体系设计、执行和评估等方面也存在改进空间,可以通过强化政治训练、加强师资队伍建设、创新培训方式、完善培训评估等途径,进一步提高干部培训实效。     

中国地区间研发资源错配测算与影响因素分析

随着中国的研发投入总量进入世界第一梯队,研发投入(资源)的配置状况成为决定研发产出效率的关键因素之一。本文基于一个包含研发资源价格扭曲的多部门竞争均衡模型,以2001—2016年各省份规模以上工业企业数据为样本,对中国地区间研发资源错配情况及其影响因素进行全面考察。研究发现:(1)各省份之间的研发劳动错配高于研发资本错配,多数省份倾向于过度配置研发资源,省份之间研发资源配置效率总体上呈逐步改善趋势,纠正错配可以使研发产出提升约16%;(2)东部各省份研发资源配置相对较为合理,但研发劳动配置略有不足,中部、西部和东北各省均存在不同程度的研发资源过度配置现象,东部和西部的研发资源配置效率一直在改善,东北和中部则没有表现出持续的改进态势;(3)市场发育程度、偏向性政策扶持、地区创新环境是研发资源错配的主要影响因素,在研发资源过度配置地区,这些因素的作用更为显著。本文的启示是,在当前全面实施创新驱动发展战略的大背景下,政府相关部门在积极引导全社会加大研发投入力度的同时,还应以市场为导向,进一步优化不同地区间的研发资源配置,实现研发效率的提升和经济的高质量发展。     

Fine-dining in prisons: Online TripAdvisor reviews of The Clink training restaurants

This study evaluated customer reviews about The Clink restaurants to understand how they are rated and what experience is gained by fine dining in a prison. The Clink Charity runs training restaurants in four U.K. prisons and aims to change attitudes and transform lives through prisoner rehabilitation. This research used an interpretive case study of the Clink restaurants to evaluate online customer reviews posted on TripAdvisor. In total, 3951 reviews were analysed using Leximancer 5.0. The most prominent themes were Food: ‘fine-dining in prisons’, Visit: ‘The Clink ambassadors’, and Prison: ‘the inside and outside divide’. Despite the prison location, customers reported having exceptional, professional and memorable dining experiences delivered by highly trained chefs, and that the front of house staff would rival those in many fine-dining restaurants. Further research is required to confirm how dining at a Clink restaurant may have potentially begun to change the public perceptions of prisoners.     

珠海市商业银行机构员工培训管理研究

现代企业之间的竞争,归根到底是人才的竞争。培训已经成为企业日常经营的一项关键性工作。近几年,我国商业银行越来越重视培训的重要作用,不断增加对培训的投入力度。本文以珠海市商业银行机构的培训现状为研究对象,分析珠海市商业银行机构从业人员培训管理的特点以及存在的问题,并提出加强商业银行培训管理的建议。     

The impact of firm-provided training on productivity,wages, and transition to regular employment for workers in flexible arrangements

This paper examines the incidence and density of firm-provided training for workers in flexible work arrangements – i.e., non-regular employees who are working part-time or with fixed-term employment contracts – and analyzes the effect of this training on skills, productivity, and wage growth, using a unique survey of Japanese workers. Among non-regular employees, those who work on a full-time basis are found to receive a higher density of both on-the-job training (OJT) and off-the-job training (Off-JT). Participation in firm-provided training is shown to improve job skills and productivity, but does not appear to impact the wage growth of non-regular workers. However, training participation is shown to make the transition from non-regular to regular employment in the current occupation more likely, enhancing the probability of future wage increases.