Evaluating Corporate Training and Development: An Indian Experience

The central purpose of this article is to report on the current practices of evaluating training and development programs in the Indian corporate sector. The data were collected from written questionnaires mailed to 252 respondent companies—127 private, 99 public, and 26 multinational corporations (MNCs). The results and discussions are based on the major drivers and key result areas of training and development; purposes, levels, instruments, timing, and designs of evaluation; serious limitations of the training system; and finally the major challenges currently faced by the Indian corporate sector in strengthening the training and development function.     

面向中亚的涉外经贸特色专业人才培养模式改革探索——新疆财经大学个案分析

新疆财经大学目前在面向中亚的涉外经贸特色专业人才培养工作和教研教改方面已取得较大进展，但仍存在一些矛盾和不足。在总结今后涉外经贸特色专业人才培养特点和展望培养目标和思路基础上。提出如下人才培养改革策略：强化实践教学，整合优化教学内容；加大专著和教材开发力度，提升教学辅助资料质量；坚持加大内部投入和加强外部合作并行之路等。     

Marketing the by-products of development programs

The Boeing Co., through two of its internal units, has been able to leverage the creativity of staff members and reap significant income from resources that might otherwise be underutilized.     

Perceived benefits of loyalty programs: Scale development and implications for relational strategies

Positive outcomes of loyalty programs are clear for firms, yet little research examines customer perceptions. To address this gap, this article investigates various perceived benefits of loyalty programs using a multi-benefit framework based on utilitarian, hedonic, and relationship literature. Two quantitative studies, involving 658 French members of loyalty programs, provide a 16-item scale that measures five types of perceived benefits: monetary savings, exploration, entertainment, recognition, and social benefits. The five dimensions have different impacts on satisfaction with the program, loyalty to the program, and perceived relationship investment of the firm. This article offers a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings for relationship marketing strategies.     

Evaluating training effectiveness in India: Exploring the relationship between training components,metacognition and learning outcomes

This study aims to examine the key training factors that significantly impact the learning outcomes of trainees. A comprehensive framework is proposed to investigate the interrelationships among various training components, trainer performance, training usefulness, and their effects on metacognition and learning. Empirical testing of the model is conducted using the partial least squares structural equation modelling approach, analyzing data collected from 322 public servants in North India. The findings reveal that almost all the focal factors comprising a training programme, such as the usefulness of training, trainer performance and metacognition, positively influence trainees' learning. While training agencies should consider all components of the training programme, the perceived usefulness, trainer performance and trainees' metacognition are particularly influential factors in facilitating learning. Training components and trainer performance predict the usefulness of training. This study integrates all focal factors of a training programme into a comprehensive framework using employee data, explaining a significant portion (45%–64%) of the variance in trainees' learning. These findings emphasize the importance of addressing these focal factors thoughtfully when designing and implementing effective training programmes.     

Evaluating the contribution of competency‐based training: an enterprise perspective

The article reports the findings of a national evaluation study conducted in 1998 of the contribution of competency‐based training (CBT) to outcomes in vocational education and training in Australia. The study found that CBT has made significant contributions to employers, its main benefit being that learning can be achieved on‐the‐job. Thus the key advantage for enterprises is relevant training where relevance means ‘specific skills for specific jobs’. The conclusion is drawn that three key issues in relation to the practice of competency training in Australia need to be addressed: (i) recognition of the role of the expert practitioner in augmenting, and thus improving, CBT; (ii) recognition of the limitations of CBT with regard to the provision of knowledgeable skill; and (iii) recognition of the importance of defining learning in terms of outcomes and process.     

Supplier development programs and firm performance: evidence from Chile

This paper evaluates the impact of the Chilean Supplier Development Program, aimed at improving and stabilizing the commercial linkages between small and medium-sized suppliers and their large firm customers, during the period 2003–2008. We use the panel structure of our dataset to control for observables and time-invariant unobservable factors that affect the participation and performance of firms. We find that both small and medium enterprises and large firms benefited from the coordination efforts. The program increased sales, employment, and the sustainability of small and medium-sized suppliers; it also increased the sales of large firms and raised their ability to become exporters. In addition, we find that the timing of the effect is different for suppliers and large firms. While the effect on suppliers appeared 1 year after the firms enrolled in the program, the effect on large firms took 2 years to appear.     

电子商务专业实训体系构建研究

为了有效提高电子商务专业学生实践能力,本文以电子商务专业课程体系、实训课程开展内容等方面为切入点,构建电子商务专业实训体系.     

从物流管理的角度看对员工职业道德培养

团队管理是物流管理的重要内容之一,特别是目前在我国物流专业人才比较匮乏的情况下,企业的物流核心管理团队组建与员工队伍的建设,成为关系到企业经营成败的关键性因素。现代物流管理追求的目标是服务目标、快捷目标、节约目标、规模优化目标、库存控制目标、安全性目标。这就对物流从业人员的职业道德素质提出了高的要求。     

Measuring learning from others: The development and validation of the Proactive Social Informal Learning Questionnaire

The present study aims to develop, validate, and cross-validate an instrument measuring three proactive social informal learning activities, namely feedback seeking, help seeking and information seeking. Prior research mainly focused on detecting or measuring the frequency of these seeking behaviours and did not consider whether the information, help or feedback that has been sought was also used. Furthermore, although these seeking behaviours were studied extensively in different research fields, the current study takes a learning perspective and interprets feedback, help and information seeking as learning activities. The questionnaire was completed by a convenient sample of 650 professionals working in higher education, consultancy, retail and food production. We performed an exploratory factor analysis (N = 230 educators) to explore the structure of the questionnaire. This was followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (N = 230 educators) to confirm the structure. Finally, we cross-validated the questionnaire in a sample of business professionals (N = 190) by testing for measurement invariance. The final questionnaire resulted in a five-factor structure measuring the (1) Use of Feedback Seeking, (2) Frequency of Help and Information Seeking, (3) Use of Help seeking, (4) Use of Information Seeking and (5) Frequency of Feedback Seeking. The current study presents a preliminary, yet promising instrument that taps into proactive social informal learning.     

International briefing 16: training and development in the Republic of Ireland

This paper explores the landscape of training and development in the Republic of Ireland, a country with an impressive economic record in recent years. Both the Irish economic context and business context are explored. The national system for training and development and the surrounding policy and strategy context are set down. Survey data are drawn upon to examine the nature of training and development at organizational level. Here influence on training and development, levels of expenditure, the number of days per employee category and the dominant methods employed training and development are all discussed. Finally the academic study of training and development in the Republic of Ireland is examined.