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A training course was offered for maintenance employees in which trainees are supposed
to learn how to repair and operate a new, complex electronic system. On the job, maintenance
employees were typically told about a symptom experienced by the machine operator and were
asked to locate the trouble. During the training, the trainer would pose various problems for
maintenance employees to solve. He would point out a component on an electrical diagram and
ask “What would happen if this component was faulty?” Trainees would then trace the circuitry
on a blue print to uncover the symptoms that would appear as a result of the problem. You are
receiving complaints about poor trouble shooting from maintenance supervisors of employees who
have completed the program. The trainees are highly motivated and have necessary prerequisites.
Case Questions:
1. What is the problem with the training course?
____________________________________

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WHAT THE FUCK IS DIS

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Assume you are general manager of a small seafood company. Most training is unstructured and occurs on the job. Currently, senior fish cleaners are responsible for teaching new employees how to perform the job. Your company has been profitable, but recently wholesale fish dealers that buy your product have been complaining about the poor quality of your fresh fish. For example, some fillets have not had all the scales removed and abdomen parts remain attached to the fillets. You have decided to change the on-the-job training received by the fish cleaners. How will you modify the training to improve the quality of the product delivered to the wholesalers?

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Student answers may vary.  For learning to occur, trainees must understand the objectives of the training program, training content should be meaningful, and trainees should have the opportunity to practice and receive feedback

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oetron could collect affective (reaction) outcomes, cognitive (learning) outcomes, skill‑based (behavior) outcomes, results outcomes, or some combination of these.  Both reaction and cognitive outcomes are usually collected before trainees leave the training site.  Skilled‑based and results outcomes can be used to determine transfer of training. Since the training objectives are business­-related outcomes, the results outcomes should probably be included. 

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A training needs analysis indicates that managers’ productivity is inhibited because they are reluctant to delegate tasks to their subordinates. Suppose you had to decide between using adventure learning and a lecture using a virtual classroom for your training program. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each technique? Which would you choose? Why? What factors would influence your decision? 

Noe, Raymond,Noe, Raymond. Human Resource Management (p. 477). McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Kindle Edition. 

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The strengths of using an interactive video are that it is individualized, it provides immediate feedback, and it is convenient.  The main disadvantage is the high cost of developing the courseware.

The strength of using adventure learning is that it tends to develop skills related to group effectiveness such as self‑awareness, problem solving, conflict management, and risk taking.  The disadvantages are the inconvenience

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team could be poor management, an inappropriate reward system that does not reward teamwork, dissatisfaction with salaries, and so on.

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Recommendations would depend on what the problem(s) are; however, some students might recommend a review and change in course content to make it more relevant to the field, more involvement by the machine operators to develop the content, a pretest/posttest to determine the value of the training, and so on.

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team could be poor management, an inappropriate reward system that does not reward teamwork, dissatisfaction with salaries, and so on.

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team could be poor management, an inappropriate reward system that does not reward teamwork, dissatisfaction with salaries, and so on.

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18. Which of the following will enhance the work environment to influence an employee's motivation to learn?

A.   Letting employees know the purpose of the training programs.

B.    Emphasizing that learning is under their personal control.

C.   Sharing performance appraisal information.

D.   Using off-site rather than on-site formal training programs.

E.    Giving employees opportunities to practice and apply skills to their work.

As a factor that influences an employee's motivation to learn, self-efficacy is the employee's belief that he can successfully learn the content of a training program. It is enhanced by letting employees know the purpose of training

19. Through _____, expectations about the company, job, working conditions, and interpersonal relationships are developed through interactions with representatives of the company.

A.    orientation socialization

B.   anticipatory socialization

C.   settling-in

D.   encounter socialization

E.    initialization

Anticipatory socialization occurs before the individual joins the company. Through anticipatory socialization, expectations about the company, job, working conditions, and interpersonal relationships are developed through interactions with representatives of the company (recruiters, prospective peers, and managers) during recruitment and selection.

20. What method of team training shows a team how to share information and decisions to maximize team performance?

A.    Six sigma training

B.    Cross-training

C.  Coordination training

D.   Team leader training

E.    Action learning

Coordination training trains the team in how to share information and decisions to maximize team performance. Coordination training is especially important for commercial aviation and surgical teams

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10.    The first step of the training design process, needs assessment, refers to the process used to determine if training is necessary.    TRUE
The six steps of the training process emphasize that effective training practices involve more than just choosing the most popular or colorful training method. The first step is to assess needs to determine if training is needed.

11.    Tacit knowledge refers to knowledge that is well documented, easily articulated, and easily transferred from person to person.
FALSE

Explicit knowledge refers to knowledge that is well documented, easily articulated, and easily transferred from person to person. Tacit knowledge refers to personal knowledge based on individual experiences that make it difficult to codify.

12.    Person analysis and task analysis are often conducted at the same time.
TRUE

In practice, organizational analysis, person analysis, and task analysis are usually not conducted in any specific order. Person analysis and task analysis are often conducted at the same time because it is often difficult to determine whether performance deficiencies are a training problem without understanding the tasks and the work environment.

13.    Communities of practice are members of the surrounding community who work together, learn from each other, and give the company ideas on how to operate.
FALSE

Knowledge management systems often include communities of practice. Communities of practice are groups of employees who work together, learn from each other, and develop a common understanding of how to get work accomplished.

14.    An advantage of distance learning is that the company can save on the amount of labor hours used to perform a task.
FALSE

An advantage of distance learning is that the company can save on travel costs. It also allows employees in geographically dispersed sites to receive training from experts who would not otherwise be available to visit each location.

15.    Adventure learning focuses on developing creativity through the use of video games.
FALSE

Adventure learning develops teamwork and leadership skills using structured outdoor activities. Adventure learning may involve strenuous, challenging physical activities such as dog sledding or mountain climbing.

16.    The first step in choosing a training method is to consider the extent to which the method facilitates learning and transfer of training.
FALSE

The first step in choosing a method is to identify the type of learning outcome that you want training to influence. These outcomes include verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitudes, and motor skills.

17.    One way to think about the work environment's influence on transfer of training is to consider the overall climate for transfer.
TRUE

One way to think about the work environment's influence on transfer of training is to consider the overall climate for transfer. Climate for transfer refers to trainees' perceptions about a wide variety of characteristics of the work environment that facilitate or inhibit use of trained skills or behavior.

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Noetron, a retail electronic store, recently invested a large amount of money to train sales staff to improve customer service.  The skills emphasized in the program include how to greet customers, determine their needs, and demonstrate product convenience.  The company wants to know whether the program is effective.  What outcomes should they collect?
Student answers may vary.  Noetron could collect affective (reaction) outcomes, cognitive (learning) outcomes, skill‑based (behavior) outcomes, results outcomes, or some combination of these.  Both reaction and cognitive outcomes are usually collected before trainees leave the training site.  Skilled‑based and results outcomes can be used to determine transfer of training. Since the training objectives are business-related outcomes, the results outcomes should probably be included.

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To improve product quality, a company is introducing a computer-assisted manufacturing process into one of its assembly plants.  The new technology is likely to substantially modify jobs.  Employees will also he required to learn statistical process control techniques.  The new technology and push for quality will require employees to attend numerous training sessions.  Over 50 percent of the employees who will be affected by the new technology completed their formal education over 10 years ago.  Only about 5 percent of the company's employees have used the tuition reimbursement benefit. What should management do to maximize employees’ readiness for training?

Students might suggest such things as providing remedial learning sessions, providing pretraining sessions to prepare employees for the changes, testing of employees to determine their actual skill levels, and so on.

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A training course was offered for maintenance employees, in which trainees were supposed to learn how to repair and operate a new, complex electronics system.  On the job, maintenance employees were typically told about a symptom experienced by the machine operator and were asked to locate the trouble.  During training, the trainer would pose various problems for the maintenance employees to solve.  He would point out a component on an electrical diagram and ask, "What would happen if this component was faulty?"  Trainees would then trace the circuitry on a blueprint to uncover the symptoms that would appear as a result of the problem.  You are receiving complaints about poor troubleshooting from maintenance supervisors of employees who have completed the program.  The trainees are highly motivated and have the necessary prerequisites.  What is the problem with the training course?  What recommendations do you have for fixing this course?

One idea students might have about the problem with the training course is that the course material is not really job‑relevant.  In other words, the situations provided in the class are not the same as the problems found in the field.  Another possibility might be a lack of evaluation or post test to determine if the trainees actually learned what was being presented in the class.

Recommendations would depend on what the problem(s) are; however, some students might recommend a review and change in course content to make it more relevant to the field, more involvement by the machine operators to develop the content, a pretest/posttest to determine the value of the training, and so on.

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Why might employees prefer blended learning to training using cellphones?

Employees may prefer a blended learning program because
(1) the limitations of online learning related to technology (e.g. need connection to download materials, compatibility issues),
(2) trainee preference for face-to-face contact with instructors and other learners, and
(3) employees’ inability to find unscheduled time during their workday to devote to learning from their desktops.

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What factors contribute to the effectiveness of Web training programs?

Advantages of Web-based training include the ability to deliver training to trainees anywhere in the world at any time, cost savings and efficiency in training administration, the use of self-directed, self-paced instruction, the ability to monitor trainees’ performance, and controllable access to training.  The program also has advantages from learning and cost perspectives.  Web-based training allows the trainee to have complete control over the delivery of training, provides links to other resources, and allows the trainee to share information and communicate with other trainees and the trainer or to make ‘deposits” into databases.  Web-based training also allows more than one person to access the training materials at the same time (asynchronous training).  In addition, Web-based training has ease of updating the training program using authoritative language (such as html), which continues to become more user-friendly.

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What can a company do to encourage informal learning?

Suggestions could include providing employees with the technology that they can use to engage in informal learning that occurs through activities such as social networking. The company can encourage informal learning, too, by helping employees understand the entire work system which sets the expectation that employees continually acquire new skills and knowledge. Employees can informally learn through face to face and technology-aided interactions, which should be encouraged and supported by the company.

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What learning condition do you think is most necessary for learning to occur?  Which is least critical?  Why?

Student answers may vary.  For learning to occur, trainees must understand the objectives of the training program, training content should be meaningful, and trainees should have the opportunity to practice and receive feedback.

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A training needs analysis indicates that managers' productivity is inhibited because they are reluctant to delegate tasks to their subordinates.  Suppose you had to decide between using adventure learning and interactive video for your training program.  What are the strengths and weaknesses of each technique?  Which would you choose?  Why?  What factors would influence your decision?

The strengths of using an interactive video are that it is individualized, it provides immediate feedback, and it is convenient.  The main disadvantage is the high cost of developing the courseware.

The strength of using adventure learning is that it tends to develop skills related to group effectiveness such as self‑awareness, problem solving, conflict management, and risk taking.  The disadvantages are the inconvenience, the cost, and the physical dangers.

Since delegation is not one of the skills normally emphasized in adventure learning, an interactive video that includes various scenarios of effective and ineffective delegation might be best.  However, the cost may be prohibitive.

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"Melinda," bellowed Toran, "I've got a problem and you've got to solve it.  I can't get people in this plant to work together as a team.  As if I don't have enough trouble with the competition and delinquent accounts, now I have to put up with running a zoo.  It's your responsibility to see that the staff gets along witheach other.  I want a human relations training proposal on my desk by Monday."  How would you determine the need for human relations training?  How would you determine whether you actually had a training problem?  What else could be responsible?

Students will probably recommend a needs assessment, assuming Melinda has time for this, to determine if the problem can be successfully addressed by training.  The needs assessment would ideally include organizational, person, and task analysis.  Some other reasons why the employees are not working as a team could be poor management, an inappropriate reward system that does not reward teamwork, dissatisfaction with salaries, and so on.