Supporting the Career Development of Older Employees: an HRD Study in a Dutch Company

Many organisations are confronted with an ageing workforce. Older employees are often seen as less flexible and open to HRD activities than their younger colleagues, yet rapid developments taking place within society and organisations require a flexible and responsive workforce. The necessary knowledge and skills demanded here can be taught through HRD activities. In 1995 a quantitative exploratory survey into the conditions considered important for the career development or mobility of older workers was carried out within a Dutch multinational chemical company. From a training and development viewpoint, these conditions are defined as demands made on corporate HRD policy, HRD activities and employees’ willingness to learn, as well as stimulating factors that promote the career development of older workers. Results show that while the company operated an age-awareness personnel policy, this still focused on younger employees so that participants in the career development process were insufficiently stimulated in their roles and traditional formal HRD activities had little effect on older workers’ careers. This article describes the survey, highlighting its major results, and offers recommendations.     

Road safety perspectives among employees of a multinational corporation in urban India: local context for global injury prevention

In rapidly developing economies, like urban India, where road traffic injury rates are among the world's highest, the corporate workplace offers a non-traditional venue for road safety interventions. In partnership with a major multinational corporation (MNC) with a large Indian workforce, this study aimed to elicit local employee perspectives on road safety to inform a global corporate health platform. The safety attitudes and behaviours of 75 employees were collected through self-report survey and focus groups in the MNC offices in Bangalore and Pune. Analysis of these data uncovered incongruity between employee knowledge of safety strategies and their enacted safety behaviours and identified local preference for interventions and policy-level actions. The methods modelled by this study offer a straightforward approach for eliciting employee perspective for local road safety interventions that fit within a global strategy to improve employee health. Study findings suggest that MNCs can employ a range of strategies to improve the road traffic safety of their employees in settings like urban India including: implementing corporate traffic safety policy, making local infrastructure changes to improve road and traffic conditions, advocating for road safety with government partners and providing employees with education and access to safety equipment and safe transportation options.     

Impact of International Business Education on Ethnocentricity

Abstract

As evidenced by recent surveys of American managers, there is a serious shortage of qualified candidates on the US job market. This shortage is most evident in two specialization areas: high-technology knowledge workers and internationally competent managers. Indeed, American companies rate lack of qualified high-technology personnel as their number one reason for slower than desired business expansion. The other less glamorized, yet serious shortcoming of the American educational system is its inadequate training of cross-culturally competent workers for this truly global post-industrial era. In response to this human resources crisis, realizing that “the future economic welfare of the US will depend substantially on increasing international skills in the business community,” the United States Department of Education began an active campaign of promoting international education and research in several major American universities in the late 1980s. Since 1988, nearly 40 universities have been awarded tens of millions of dollars to engage in such activities as developing formal international business curricula, offering foreign language courses, promoting internationally-oriented research, provoking international education and research dialogues among the faculty, exchange programs between American and foreign universities for students and the faculty and similar activities. This research is a first attempt in evaluating the impact of one such program on the internationalization level of American students. It will be shown that the international education program at one major American university has successfully produced a cadre of more global and less ethnocentric workforce for American corporations.     

Responsible Leaders as Agents of World Benefit: Learnings from “Project Ulysses”

Research from the fields of criminology and social psychology suggests that the deterrent effect of security countermeasures is not uniform across individuals. In this study, we examine whether certain individual characteristics (i.e., computer self-efficacy) or work arrangement (i.e., virtual status) moderate the influence of␣security policies, security education, training, and awareness (SETA) program, and computer monitoring on information systems misuse. The results suggest that computer savvy individuals are less deterred by SETA programs and computer monitoring, while these countermeasures are also less influential (from a deterrence perspective) on employees that spend more working days outside the office. Implications for both the research and practice of information security are discussed.     

Employee Training in SMEs: Effect of Size and Firm Type—Family and Nonfamily

The study examined the main and interaction effects of size and firm type on a variety of informal and formal training programs in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Samples of 448 family and 470 nonfamily SMEs were separated into four size groups and differences were assessed using multivariate analyses of variance. The results point to prevalence of informal training for all sizes and an increase in adoption of formal, structured, and development-oriented training with increasing firm size (especially for firms with 20–99 employees). This pattern was evident for nonfamily but not for family firms. For family firms, formal training programs increased significantly during the critical growth phase only (20–49 employees). Gaps in employee training between the two types of firms were greatest at 50–99 employees but narrowed thereafter at 100–199 employees. The approach to employee training in family SMEs is in consonance with their slower growth, informal management styles, limited financial resources, and greater emphasis on efficiency compared with nonfamily SMEs.     

Computer ethics: The role of personal,informal, and formal codes

Ethical decisions related to computer technology and computer use are subject to three primary influences: (1) the individual's own personal code (2) any informal code of ethical behavior that exists in the work place, and (3) exposure to formal codes of ethics. The relative importance of these codes, as well as factors influencing these codes, was explored in a nationwide survey of information system (IS) professionals. The implications of the findings are important to educators and employers in the development of acceptable ethical standards. Margaret Anne Pierce is a Full Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA. She teaches primarily computer science courses, and her research interests include computer science undergraduate education, study of random number generators, and computer ethics. Her work is found in publications such as Computers in Human Behavior, Mathematics and Computer Education, Simulation, and regional and national proceedings. John W. Henry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management at Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA. His research interests are information systems use in health care contexts, implementation of medical information systems, and the determinants of end-user technology success. His work is found in publications such as Executive Development, Computers in Human Behavior, and regional and national proceedings.     

Adult consumer education across Europe – redressing the market or reaching the vulnerable consumer

Consumer education is an important EU and United Nations priority. In most countries’ formal education systems, it is not a single discipline in its own right, but a cross‐curricular subject involving many areas of the school curriculum. Adult consumers are expected to be critical and informed consumers but may not know how to acquire the appropriate skills. The formal school system in many countries has failed to deliver these skills and values and adults need consumer education through both formal and informal means. With increasingly varied societies consumer education will help to produce active socially responsible citizens and citizenship is an essential element of the delivery of consumer education to adults. It is particularly important that consumer education should reach the vulnerable groups in society. Increasing globalisation and business power necessitate ethical and sustainable business practices; an informed, educated and empowered consumer will strengthen the market place to the benefit of both consumers and business. Unlike school education, adult education across Europe is fragmented with a mixture of formal education, including training for vocational qualifications, continuing and community education, and informal education, an essential contributor to life‐long learning delivered through media, women's groups, consumer groups and many other large and small organisations. The issues have been addressed by the EU Socrates supported CEA (Consumer Education for Adults) project which has 10 partners from 7 European countries drawn from non‐government organisations, teacher training and adult education institutions, universities and research institutes. The project has produced a training manual for adult consumer education, a training module, piloted in Vienna, which includes a handbook of teaching materials and a video, and has initiated a dialogue between consumers, consumer educators, business and producers.     

A document analysis of drowning prevention education resources in the United States

There have been long-standing calls to better educate the public at large on risks of drowning; yet limited evaluation has taken place on current resources in circulation. The purpose of this qualitative research is to develop an understanding of the content in currently circulated drowning prevention resources in the United States. Data points (n = 451) consisting of specific content within 25 different drowning prevention educational resources were analyzed using document analysis methods; a grounded theory approach was employed to allow for categorical development and indexing of the data. Results revealed six emerging categories, including safety precautions (n = 152), supervision (n = 109), preventing access (n = 57), safety equipment (n = 46), emergency procedures (n = 46), and aquatic education (n = 41). Results provide an initial insight into the composition of drowning prevention resources in the United States and provide a foundation for future research.     

Incompetency training: Theory, practice, and remedies

“Incompetency training” includes formal and informal instruction that consciously (purposively) or unconsciously imparts knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior (including procedures) that are useless, inaccurate, misleading, and/or will lower performance outcomes of the trainee versus no training or training using alternative training methods. “Imparts” in the definition refers to exposing a trainee to incompetency training; such exposure is not a guarantee that the training increases the trainee's incompetence. This editorial is to stimulate research interest among scholars in incompetency training theory, evidence, and the efficacy of remedies. The editorial offers an early workbench model of incompetency training theory. The theory includes the proposition that executives and associates in firms, academia, and government organizations consciously as well as unknowingly offer incompetency training in many contexts. Increasing trainees' vigilance and ability to recognize exposure to incompetency-training may help trainees to decrease the effectiveness (impact) of exposures to incompetency training—advancing incompetency training theory and knowledge of incompetency training practice may be necessary conditions for remedying negative outcomes that follow from trainees receiving such training. Available evidence supports the first proposition and, to a limited extent, the second proposition.     

Major workforce and workplace trends influencing the training anddevelopment field in the USA

A recent research study sponsored by the US-based Society for Human Resource Management identified six key workforce and workplace trends facing HR managers. These trends focused around changes in technology, globalisation, cost containment, speed in market change, knowledge capital, and change. This article examines the implications of these trends for training and development professionals.     

Human capital and economic development: A macroeconomic assessment

The role of human capital has so far not been well documented at the macroeconomic level. Many empirical studies lack a consistent theoretical foundation and there are measurement problems due to a very narrow concept of human capital focusing on formal education. Future empirical research should take into account other important determinants of human capital such as the quality of education, the experience of the workforce, and the health and nutritional status of the population.     

The use of NDAs in the IT service sector

Business people are advised to use contracts for the protection of their assets when entering business transactions with other strategic partners. Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are examples of such contracts that limit what those with access to certain knowledge can do with the privileged information. However, knowledge is constantly changing as soon as someone gains knowledge and adds personal knowledge to that knowledge. As such, the NDA may be redundant soon after it is signed. IT service professionals realize the boundless nature of knowledge and regularly work with professional colleagues to provide technical services to their customers. I provide a qualitative analysis of interviews with four IT service professionals on their use of NDAs in formal business transactions and in informal consultative sessions. I find positive attitudes toward the use of NDAs in formal business transactions such as in strategic partnerships but limited use of NDAs in informal consultative sessions.     

Career aspirations of older workers: An Australian study

Global challenges associated with the ageing workforce include lower levels of education and negative attitudes of older workers towards learning and covert age discrimination in the workplace. This report discusses initial findings from a survey of older workers employed in regional areas in Australia. The older workers surveyed were predominantly blue collar with low levels of formal education. Contrary to the stereotypical views, there were few attitude differences between older (>40 years) and younger workers (≤40 years). However, gender, education level and job type had a greater impact on attitudes in the older workers when compared to their younger colleagues.     

Knowledge and training in family firms of the European periphery: Spain in the eighteenth to twentieth centuries

This article is a first attempt to explore the relationship between training and entrepreneurship in Spanish family firms. It examines changes and continuities over time, and relates the evolution of the training practices of Spanish family firms to the technical and economic conditions of the first and second industrial revolutions. The article demonstrates the interaction betweeen technical and educational ideas, the creative adaptation to the entrepreneurial needs of regions and economic sectors, and institutional conditions. It is organised in three main sections. The first briefly introduces new institutional and sociological theories applied to the study of the formation of business groups. The second summarises existing literature and research that deals with knowledge transference and business training in Spanish family firms, and provides a general survey of informal and formal business education in eighteenth to twentieth-century Spain. The third presents case studies of changing training practices in big and old family firms, and relates this evidence with theoretical and institutional insights.     

Individual influences on knowledge acquisition in a call center training context in Germany

From both a practical and a theoretical point of view, it is important to identify factors that foster knowledge acquisition in organizational training programs. Recent models of training effectiveness have proposed relationships between trainees’ characteristics and subsequent learning. The present study tested the impact of trainees’ pretraining expectations, post‐training reaction to training, expectation fulfillment and commitment on declarative knowledge acquisition, while controlling for education and motivation to learn. Participants were call center agents (N = 84), working in 10 call centers in Germany. Results showed that, in addition to education and motivation to learn, only expectation fulfillment significantly predicted learning. Implications for practice and future research were discussed.     

Water safety education among primary school children in Grenada

Drowning is a common cause of death among children. Successful prevention interventions currently used in developed countries are often not transferable into developing countries due to differences in both environment and resources. In this study, we adapted a water safety education programme developed by the American Red Cross for primary school students in Grenada. Water safety knowledge before and after the training session was assessed using a nine-question evaluation tool. Following the training, a survey was administered to all teachers to assess the adaptability and effectiveness of the WHALE Tales training. Fifty-six students (30% males) completed the training. The age range was between 5 and 12 years old. Participants’ water safety knowledge increased 15% (p < 0.01). Mean scores of correct answers increased for every grade level, ranging from a 5% increase for first graders to 33% increase for second graders. The findings from this study suggested that implementation of such a programme is effective. With cultural modifications and outsourcing, we believe this adapted programme would be successful in Grenada and other similar settings.     

Education and training as a strategy for improving worker health and safety: a survey of U.S. apparel companies

Maintaining a healthy work force is becoming increasingly important to apparel manufacturers today. The purpose of this study was to examine the issues involved in worker health and safety, particularly that of educating and training production workers. Data were generated from responses to a mailed questionnaire by 134 upper level managers in companies located throughout the United States. Results indicated that educating workers was an important concern for managers, ranking second to controlling workers' compensation costs. Chi-square analysis showed that there was a significant difference between those who used education and training as a cost-reduction strategy and a decrease in workers' compensation costs. Education and training was reported as a component of ergonomics and safety programmes by over three-quarters of those who were developing and implementing such programmes. The findings from this study suggest that apparel manufacturers should seriously consider the importance of education and training programmes as a cost-reduction strategy as well as a means of improving the safety and health of production workers.     

Teaching beliefs of non‐formal consumer educators: a perspective of teaching in home improvement retail stores in the United States

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the teaching beliefs of instructors who provide consumer education clinics (e.g. tile laying, faux painting, faucet replacement) in home improvement retail stores. Research in adult and higher education and the K‐12 field demonstrate that beliefs about teaching and learning and their relationship to practice are quite significant. Only recently have teaching beliefs begun to receive attention in the field of consumer education. Using participatory observations and in‐depth interviews a complex picture was revealed about non‐formal consumer education representative of a customer‐centred approach, an emphasis on transmission model of education, a fostering of fun and informal communication, minimal learner expectations and an epistemology rooted in personal experience. The implications are important for training future adult educators who practise in non‐formal consumer education settings.     

Practical Skills in International Business: Training Needs for Workforce Competence by Minnesota Companies

Companies doing business internationally face the competitive challenges of a constantly changing operational environment. Employees need to update their international knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) frequently by attending training programs. A survey of Minnesota firms indicate that almost all companies are willing to cover the time and cost of employees attending such programs, apparently believing that workforce development benefits both day‐to‐day operations and improves employee morale. The current specialization in educational (K) and training (SA) programs by academic and nonacademic providers largely meets the needs of students and of corporate workforce development, but company competitiveness overseas could be enhanced if international K and SA providers cooperated more closely in complementary programming.