Examines the cultural adaptation process experienced by people working in foreign environments. Reviews current organizational gaps in managing cross-cultural challenges; examines the phenomenon of culture shock; and presents a model for applying HPT (human performance technology) strategies to change culture shock to cross-cultural competence.…

Drawn by a vision of solving performance problems in a systematic, systemic and results-based approach, training professionals are turning to human performance technology (HPT). However, many who try to implement HPT find themselves struggling to measure the improvements their interventions are designed to achieve. Ford notes that these…

Describes a study of the barriers and enablers to the practice of HPT (human performance technology) that included a research review and interviews with professionals. Highlights communication and language, business environment change, professional relationships and placement of HPT expertise, and the need for a new business model for HPT.…

Discusses high-involvement work teams, in which groups of workers participate in improving their work activities; describes how a typical work team progresses through a project; and introduces a systems model of interrelated steps through which teams may progress to solve problems. (LRW)

The major change from an industrial to an information-based society has far-reaching implications for the profession of arms. This shift challenges many assumptions about soldier development and requires an aggressive response to retain the U.S. Army's edge despite an expanding mission and a shrinking budget. This article explores some of the…

Examines the concept of human capital, including how it is linked to strategic analysis and how it relates to four alternative models for return-on-investment (ROI). Discusses how to choose the best model for ROI justification of training or other human performance technology (HPT) interventions. (AEF)

These four papers are from a symposium that was facilitated by Richard J. Torraco at the 1995 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD). "Performance Technology--Isn't It Time We Found Some New Models?" (William J. Rothwell) reviews briefly two classic models, describes criteria for the high performance workplace…

Reports the results of a survey of 23 business organizations regarding the current effectiveness of performance technologists and current preparation of people for the role. Highlights include the desired performance, including designing interventions, and a three-stage model for preparing performance technologists based on the organizations'…

Discusses problems that arise when computer software users have to learn a new system while maintaining productivity. Highlights include active learning; a constructivist view; Vygotsky's zone of proximal development; and a model called Design for Learnability (DesiL) that focuses the performance technologist on an ethnomethodological study of…

Presents practices from post-training performance evaluation for continuous quality improvement in developing countries. Highlights include performance specification and analysis of performance factors; guidelines for planning follow-up performance evaluations; human performance models and cross-cultural portability; and an example from Togo, West…

Reviews and evaluates representative models of performance from multiple disciplines. Presents an integrated taxonomy of performance domains and clarifies performance outcomes and performance metrics. Proposes a research agenda related to performance domains. (AEF)

Learning object technology is viewed as a method for fast retrieval. This effort is on developing unique schemas for a targeted group to aid efficient retrieval. In this article, I study a user-centric model for developing tags for K-12 educators that is based on user needs, expectations, and problems. I use a combination of techniques from human…

This study reports on an approach for assessing managerial development needs. The approach uses multi-methods such as qualitative career plots, critical incidents, a skill rating form, and surveys to identify the critical managerial development needs for a target managerial position. In addition, it uses multi-subject groups in an effort to…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on the human resource development (HRD) function in organizations. In "Comparing Quality Profiles of Training Organizations--A Multi-Level Approach" (Martin Mulder), analysis of over 1,300 training projects indicates that variation in quality is almost entirely explained by the…

Argues that a process orientation, rather than a focus on inputs and outputs, offers performance technologists a more direct way of contributing to the realization of key business goals and more effectively focuses training and development on performance issues. Process redesign is a key strategy in the realization of these two goals. (Contains 15…