Purpose: Currently, lifelong learning and sustainable employability are increasingly fostered in the context of interorganizational networks, which provide workers with access to network activities (e.g., training, career counseling). This study aims to investigate the relationship between workers' participation in network activities and their…

This paper looks at the importance of mechanisms that give formal recognition to vocational skills acquired through work-based learning and how such mechanisms might be developed. It describes how skill recognition can benefit individuals, employers and society as a whole, and identifies in which contexts skill recognition has the highest…

The overall objective of this paper is to determine, through a qualitative case study of the Dutch sectoral training system, factors associated with successful employer engagement. As well as examining the key features of the Dutch approach to vocational education and training (VET), the article makes a number of specific arguments: (1) employer…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate which psychological determinants relate to the intention to participate in development activities. Psychological determinants such as attitude toward development activities, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and management support are related to the intention of support…

Sectoral levelling funds are an arrangement aimed at alleviating a well-known theoretical problem of underinvestment in worker training because of free-rider behaviour of firms. In the Netherlands, collective agreements require firms to participate in such funds in a number of sectors. Using a comprehensive dataset of Dutch firms, we attempt to…

Two empirical studies examined need for recovery (i.e., a person's desire to be temporarily relieved from demands in order to restore his or her resources) as a mediator in the relationship between poor job characteristics (high job demands, low job control) and high off-job demands, on the one hand, and fatigue and poor individual well-being, on…

Explores cultural variations in managers' interpretations of a key communicative process: worker participation. Finds that semantic patterns derived from structural analyses indicate cultural differences in meanings managers from five European Community nations attach to the term "participation." Supports two of G. Hofstede's dimensions…

Teachers in the Netherlands were asked what their goals are with regard to the development of values related to labor in their students. The study focused on the role of teachers in education--on their opinion about the pedagogical task of education. Differences between general secondary education and vocational education teachers and differences…

A study examined employee training policies and their implementation in four or five large companies in five countries (Belgium, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom). Data were gathered through interviews by an expert in each of the countries using an interviewer's guide developed for the project (resulting in approximately 30…

These three papers were presented at a symposium on human resource development (HRD) in selected nations moderated by Alan Mumford at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development. "Perspectives of United States Expatriates in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France on Expatriation and the Role of Their Sponsoring…

These five papers are from a symposium facilitated by Ronald L. Jacobs on financial analysis of human resource development (HRD) at the 1995 Academy of Human Resource Development conference. "Return on Investment--Beyond the Four Levels!" (Jack J. Phillips) offers a modification of the Kirkpatrick model of evaluation for HRD in…

This book presents results of a European study into the changing role of human resource development (HRD). Chapter 1, "Introduction," describes the background, objectives, research questions, and underlying research project. Chapter 2, "Learning Organizations and HRD" (Saskia Tjepkema, Hilde ter Horst, Martin Mulder), discusses…

These three papers were presented at a symposium on high-involvement work teams moderated by Michael Leimbach at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development. "Beyond Training to the New Learning Environment: Workers on the High-Involvement Frontline" (Joseph Anthony Ilacqua, Carol Ann Zulauf) shows the link between…

Sheltered work programs for the handicapped in five European countries (Denmark, Sweden, Poland, West Germany, and The Netherlands) are described in this paper. Basic features of the programs in each country are discussed, including population, financing, and aspects of the programs that can be applied in helping America improve employment…

The theme of this volume is new perspectives on organizational justice (OJ). It considers justice beyond the organizational context by recognizing that what happens in organizations influences and is influenced by aspects of workers' lives that occur outside the workplace. "Economic and Noneconomic Mechanisms in Interpersonal Work…