Business and Higher Education Partner to Develop a High‐Skilled Workforce: A Case Study

The workforce development literature contains little scholarly work on how organizations in a community work together to develop a high‐skilled workforce. This exploratory case study examined business and higher education partnerships that were instrumental in creating such an educational infrastructure for information technology in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The findings from this case study provide insight into the chronology of key events and the leaders' characteristics and their interactions. Tulsa's IT workforce‐development infrastructure was negotiated one partnership at a time, bridging diverse interests, until a workforce‐development system emerged. The infrastructure grew as the result of accident, purposeful activity, serendipity, and negotiated processes and structures. The leaders' differing motivations and energy, their history of collaboration and mutual trust, and their different perspectives influenced the information technology workforce development infrastructure that developed. The insights into inter‐organization processes that resulted from the study can contribute to theory building in human performance technology and to our understanding of how to address gaps between desired and actual workforce performance at a community level.     

Positioning the learning asset portfolio as a key component in an organization's enterprise risk management strategy

This article presents a process for valuing a portfolio of learning assets used by line executives across industries to value traditional business assets. Embedded within the context of enterprise risk management, this strategic asset allocation process is presented step by step, providing readers the operational considerations to implement this program within their organization to enhance performance improvement. At the individual initiative level, readers will recognize elements used in developing retrospective return on investments (ROIs) for learning programs.     

Human Performance Technology and Knowledge Management: A Case Study

ABSTRACT As organizations respond to competitive environments and strive to enhance performance, knowledge management (KM) has increasingly become a strategic activity. A KM strategy entails consciously helping people share and put knowledge into action. A key challenge is how to develop and implement KM solutions that provide performance support to knowledge workers and seamlessly integrate KM into business processes. We propose that human performance technology (HPT) provides a systematic framework to help guide KM initiatives. Specifically, HPT provides a holistic view of a knowledge worker's performance environment by considering the complex interdependencies between the organizational context, business processes, and individual performers. Via a case study, we describe and illustrate how HPT guided one organization in its journey to identify the content and structure to best support performance and manage knowledge in a core business process. Based on the case study, we offer lessons for other firms on how HPT can be used to guide KM initiatives.     

The Influence of Coaching on Employee Performance: Results From Two International Quantitative Studies

Coaching has been identified as a key managerial behavior that organizations must promote to develop employees and achieve higher levels of performance. Despite this agreement and an increasing interest in coaching, there is still a paucity of studies exploring the impact of coaching on individual performance. This article presents an empirical investigation from two international field studies, one using business‐to‐business salespersons working in Latin America and the other one using business‐to‐consumer frontline employees from a service organization in Canada. Building on leader‐member exchange theory, we propose that coaching increases individual performance beyond the potential impact of sales experience and tenure. We find that coaching can explain between 2.9% and 6.2% of the variance in performance when controlling for tenure and experience. This article makes several scientific and managerial contributions, and also opens new avenues for research.     

绩效考评与平衡计分卡

平衡计分卡作为战略绩效管理及评价工具,强调从财务、客户、内部流程以及学习与成长四个不同视角来衡量一个企业,四项指标的驱动关系有效地保证了组织战略的实现。平衡积分卡产生于西方完全市场化经济环境下,在中国的实施中受到了一定的限制。分步走,即先在组织或战略层面,然后在员工层面实施,是BSC的应用思路。作者的建议是将边际思想与平衡计分卡相结合,即边际平衡计分卡。BSC的发展趋势是个性化、个体化与复合型。它的有效实施还赖于充分的沟通。     

Online homework impact in undergraduate mathematics and business statistics courses

This evaluation examines the impact on student success rates related to changes in instructional programmes in undergraduate mathematics and statistics courses. Success for students taking courses with a computer-based homework component was compared with success of students who took the course in prior semesters without the computer-based component. Graphical and analytical tools are used to compare results. Results come from multiple semesters of each type of homework application, for both pre-calculus algebra and business statistics courses. Students whose performance is utilised in this study are undergraduate students taking introductory level college mathematics or business statistics courses, with mostly no prior instruction at this level. Comparing the success of the intervention group with the success of the baseline control group, findings support that the students using the computer-based homework instruction are just as successful as those using the traditional method of homework instruction. Utilising the online homework applications, provide several important advantages in today’s universities, including the reduced time for faculty grading, consistency of graded assignments across all sections of a course and most importantly, immediate feedback for students.     

影响口语流利度的程序化意识薄弱现象

近年来,非英语专业学生的综合英语水平虽然有所提高,但是口语流利度的水平依然不够理想。究其原因,虽然存在来自于学习动机、个人素质、学习能力或教学方法方面的影响因素,然而学习者关于口语学习的认识对口语发展的影响也不容忽视。口语学习本质上是将陈述性知识通过练习转化为程序性知识的过程,但是学生的程序化意识普遍不足。这体现在学生从事的程序化活动种类偏少而且相应的时间占比也比较少。学生薄弱的程序化意识制约了他们的口语流利度。     

Outcomes assessment: an examination of the ETS major field test and the comprehensive business exam

This study is the first to examine student performance differences between the major field test in business (MFTB) and the comprehensive business exam (CBE). Results reveal students performed at a statistically significant 50.8 percentile ranking on the CBE compared to a 38.0 percentile ranking on the MFTB. Additionally, this study finds that students transferring business core courses with a grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 or lower perform at a statistically significant lower level on both the MFTB and the CBE than those transferring business core courses with GPAs higher than 2.5. These findings have important implications for assessment of learning purposes.     

Reconsidering human performance technology

This article discusses three perceived challenges in the field of human performance technology: a missing link from training to performance, limitations in gap analysis and cause analysis, and a lack of attention to business and organization performance. It then provides possible alternatives for each issue, such as instructional system development frameworks for organizational learning, a soft performance technology framework, and a proposed framework for four levels of performance.     

Information Technology as Performance Technology

The articles in. this issue seem to be converging on the concept of the “performance support system”—an integrated electronic job aid designed to support all the performance requirements of a given job or job function. The concept has implications for design of hypertext, other databases, job structure, organization structure, and training needs. The economic (business) case for performance support systems seems to position them as strategic investments, and the developers and managers of the systems will be responsible for the most critical asset of knowledge-based companies.     

Performance capabilities and competencies at the undergraduate and graduate levels for performance improvement professionals

This quantitative study sought to identify the performance capabilities and competencies that organizations in the northern midwestern United States expect of future performance improvement professionals at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Eighty‐nine performance improvement professionals representing 89 organizations completed an online survey that captured the participants' perspective regarding undergraduate and graduate‐level performance capabilities, and undergraduate competency expectations. Results suggest that participants expect several training and development performance capabilities, a few organization developments, and no performance management performance capabilities at the undergraduate level. Several training and development capabilities, most organization development capabilities, and all performance management performance capabilities were expected at the graduate level. This definition is fundamental to support academic curricular development and the field of performance improvement.     

An Evaluation of Factors Regarding Students’ Assessment of Faculty in a Business School*

Student faculty ratings are used at most institutions of higher learning for three important reasons. First, the ratings provide direct feedback to the faculty, and this enables faculty to adjust their teaching styles. Second, the ratings provide the administration with information intended to assist in guiding and mentoring faculty toward more effective pedagogical performance in the classroom. Third, the ratings also provide the administration with information to be used in the reappointment, tenure, and promotion processes, as well as for assignment of salary range adjustments and teaching awards. To be of real value, however, all of this is predicated on the use of a valid and reliable faculty‐rating instrument along with a system designed to provide both the faculty and the administration with norming reports that allow for appropriate comparisons of ratings. This article reports such a study conducted within a large department of a business school and recommends that the process used be adapted by other business school departments and other academic units across the university and at other universities to ensure a more universally appropriate usage of students’ ratings.     

充分发挥实验室管理机构的职能与作用为构建高水平研究型大学提供条件保障

该文通过对高校实验室管理机构的现状分析,提出了高校设置实验室管理机构的必要性,设置独立、归口的实验室管理机构既是国家政策法规的要求,也有利于充分发挥实验室的综合效益。并简要介绍了北京理工大学实验室管理机构开展的主要工作和强化实验室管理机构职能与作用的体会。     

浙江金华餐饮住宿业摆脱发展困境对策研究——基于60家限额以上企业实证调研

2013年全国餐饮住宿业的经营业绩总体下滑,浙江金华地区两极分化明显。文章遴选60家限上企业开展实证调研,从企业网点布局、经营结构、经营成本、人才培养、企业品牌、行业竞争等方面探究发展困境及原因,进而从政府、餐饮住宿行业、企业三个层面研究对策,建议政府关注人才培养重持续,行业开拓市场谋创新,企业立足特色赢利润,使餐饮住宿业从容面对困境,健康发展。     

共青团“枢纽型”社会组织建设浅探

本文旨在探讨共青团如何通过“枢纽型”社会组织建设,更好地发挥在政治上的桥梁纽带作用、业务上的龙头聚合作用、管理上的集约服务作用.共青团建设“枢纽型”社会组织具有明显的政治、组织和人才优势,但也存在若干的问题.在新的时代背景下,共青团要确定好“枢纽型”社会组织建设的原则和思路,选择行之有效的方法和途径,不断强化社会职能,提高服务能力、发挥好关键载体的作用.把握好志愿服务、公益事业、创业就业、成长成才四个方面的着力点是共青团加强“枢纽型”社会组织建设的路径选择.     

Achieving accurate metrics using balanced scorecards and dashboards

The balanced scorecard was developed to align business practices with the overall strategy of an organization and to monitor performance. A dashboard is a computer interface designed to receive and manipulate data from the various departments within a company to present comprehensive information to decision makers. The balanced scorecard, when combined with the dashboard, provides a way for organizations to determine strategy and evaluate performance.     

Curriculum Development for Business and Industry

Curriculum development is usually associated with educational institutions. As a result, there are few curriculum development models that have been specifically created for the business and industrial setting. Those that have been published tend to adopt a “let's begin at the beginning” approach. They prescribe starting as though nothing previously existed within the organization to provide personnel training and development. The Professional Development Curriculum (PDC) model presented in this article starts with what already exists organizationally. It adopts a convergence strategy. It begins by systematically matching known needs with known resources and then, over a series of generations, creates closer fits between needs and resources. The model has been applied to two very different settings in General Motors: all GM wholesale divisions and GM's Latin American retail and wholesale operations. The results have been positive in creating coherent curricula tied to career path progressions for all employees in these organizations. Evolutionary and practical, this PDC model can be applied to any business or industry to build competency-based curricula that not only provide personnel development support systems for today's needs, but for tomorrow's as well.     

孙子兵法与商战之法

孙子兵法蕴含的宏大智慧对于企业经济运营具有广泛的借鉴意义。分析了兵法与商道之间的智慧互用空间,并就商战竞争中如何借用孙子思想,进行信息管理、战略决策、运营策略、组织管理做了详尽解析,同时指出,商道借鉴孙子兵法应当变通活用,避免庸俗曲解,力求中西结合。     

中小企业内部控制研究

中小企业组织结构简单、规章制度缺失、人才缺乏、内部控制管理水平低下。COSO(2006)关于小企业内部控制的正式指南中指出,小规模公司可以通过以下途径在符合成本效益原则的基础上实现有效的内部控制:(1)利用高层管理人员广泛而直接的控制;(2)建立有效的董事会;(3)针对有限的职责分派,建立弥补性机制;(4)利用其他人开发的信息技术;(5)加强对内部控制的监控,尤其关注内部控制的重大变化。我们可以结合我国实际借鉴COSO的小企业内部控制指南,强化中小企业内部控制。