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Ellinger, Andrea D.; Ellinger, Alexander E.; Yang, Baiyin; Howton, Shelly W.
doi: 10.1002/hrdq.1010pmid: N/A
The concept of the learning organization has received considerable attention in the scholarly literature because superior learning processes have been heralded as a source of competitive advantage. Organizations that embrace strategies consistent with the learning organization are thought to achieve improved performance. Yet few empirical studies have examined the relationship between the learning organization concept and firms' financial performance. To assess this association, the authors obtained managerial responses to the Watkins and Marsick Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ©) instrument along with both perceptual and objective measures of firms' financial performance. Results suggest a positive association between the learning organization concept and firms' financial performance. The article discusses implications for research and practice.
doi: 10.1002/hrdq.1012pmid: N/A
There is some inconsistency between the theory and practice of the analysis of deficits in managerial capabilities. Some academic literature suggests that the study of needs should be considered as gaps in competencies (Bee and Bee, 1994; Peiró, 1999), but organizations actually analyze needs as training preferences (Ford and Noe, 1987; Guthrie and Schwoerer, 1994, 1996; Tharenou, 1991). The aim of this study is to analyze technical and generic managerial competency needs and managerial training requests in order to conclude which method provides more accurate information on the real deficits in managerial capabilities. The sample was made up of eighty managers from hotels and restaurants in the Valencian Community on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. The results show, on the one hand, the existence of technical competency needs in many topics or areas of knowledge (for example, economic‐financial management, marketing and market analysis) and also in generic competencies (such as control of hasty reactions in highly emotive situations). However, managers request additional training only in technical aspects, such as information technology and languages, but not in generic aspects. In any case, both methods could be considered complementary. The authors discuss implications and limitations of the study as well as directions for future research.
Lowry, Diannah S.; Simon, Alan; Kimberley, Nell
doi: 10.1002/hrdq.1013pmid: N/A
This research investigated the effects of casual work arrangements on employee job satisfaction and commitment in a segment of the hospitality sector in Australia. The authors surveyed a total of 454 casual employees: they interviewed 42 employees in a sample of clubs within the top two hundred registered clubs in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and 384 employees returned questionnaires from a sample of different clubs. For the interviews, the authors selected eighteen clubs using nonproportionate stratified sampling, the strata being small, medium, and large. The team conducted systematic random sampling of the clubs within each stratum. Using nonprobability accidental sampling, they then selected individual interviewees at the clubs. For the questionnaire survey, the sampling procedure was identical, but the team selected eighteen different clubs. Questionnaires were administered to all two thousand employees at these eighteen clubs. Because of a low response rate to the survey, the authors questioned an accidental sample of twenty casual employees, who admitted to not responding, in order to see whether their responses differed from those of the participants. The responses were very similar. Key findings suggest that casual employees experience varying levels of commitment and satisfaction according to their perceptions of work context factors such as training, promotion, work scheduling, management practices, and social integration. The authors encourage employers in highly casualized enterprises to involve and empower their casual employees, provide continuous feedback as well as behaviorally based formal performance appraisals, address the issue of training opportunities and program content for casual workers, and consider ways of developing their career paths.
doi: 10.1002/hrdq.1014pmid: N/A
The author examines the relationship between training methods and factors of cognitive ability in order to determine whether a match between these variables will increase learning. Lecture‐based and case‐study‐based training were conducted using a repeated‐measure design. Predictive validity of verbal comprehension, verbal reasoning, and general reasoning abilities for learning from the two training methods were examined by way of MANOVA and multiple regression. Results indicate that knowledge gained in lecture‐based training was significantly related to verbal comprehension ability, and knowledge gained in case‐study‐based training was significantly related to general reasoning ability. The article discusses implications for designing training programs and for future research.
doi: 10.1002/hrdq.1015pmid: N/A
This survey explored the alignment of an organization's specific training program with its strategic direction and its practices to support usage of training on the job. The subjects, trainees and their immediate supervisors, were participants in a targeted sales training program of a Fortune 200 pharmaceutical company headquartered in the Midwest. This study found a low to moderate positive correlation between the perceived alignment of training with the strategic direction of the organization and the presence of practices to support usage of training. The group of trainees that self‐reported very high usage of training perceived a significantly higher alignment of the training program with the strategic direction of the organization as compared to the group of trainees that self‐reported low to high usage of training; field managers did not differ significantly in that regard. Trainees who self‐reported very high usage of training also reported a significantly higher presence of practices to support usage of training throughout the program than the group of trainees that self‐reported low to high usage of training; field managers did not differ significantly in that regard either. The study found a positive correlation between awareness of and commitment to the strategic direction of the organization.
Kaufman, Roger; Guerra, Ingrid
doi: 10.1002/hrdq.1016pmid: N/A
Our realities have shifted. What was comfortable and acceptable will no longer provide useful guidance on what any HRD professional uses, does, and delivers. There is a new and overriding focus on external value added for both clients and society. This article gives the rationale and guidance on what it takes to adjust our perspectives in order to define and deliver success. And prove it.
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