This study understands workplace learning as a social phenomenon and explores ways of how to successfully respond to industrial transformation out of a role-related perspective. The focus is on interactions of social actors in the process of structural change and economic adaptation. The goal of this inductive case study is to explore how 26…

This paper seeks to bridge the existing knowledge gap between workplace learning and life course studies by investigating how young adults in the retail industry identify, pursue, and actualise learning opportunities in their workplaces. It considers the elements from their life course that either facilitate or impede these learning opportunities.…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyse young adults' positive experiences of learning when entering the labour market. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on 13 individual in-depth interviews with young adults (aged 18-28) working within the retail sector in Sweden. The interviews explored the interviewees' experiences when…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine how instructional videos produced by retail employers and tech companies have modelled cashier roles and skills in service encounters over time, providing insights into cashier training and job responsibility evolution across different retail eras. Design/methodology/approach: Online video research is used, with…

A study from Lumina Foundation and Walmart shows how Walmart's Live Better U employee education initiative improves outcomes for associates and for Walmart. The report focuses on measurable impact for participating associates and includes disaggregated outcomes by race and ethnicity. Specifically, it shows how Walmart's employees of color use and…

E-learning is of increasing importance in delivering flexible and distributed programmes for workforce skill development such as induction, product knowledge, systems compliance, and customer service. This research consists of a desktop exploratory review of e-learning concepts, policies, surveys, and a set of proposals and recommendations from…

Purpose: This study aims to investigate which "a priori" factors documented in the literature and new factors that influence employees' self-regulated microlearning behavior and the utilization of internal microlearning platforms in organizations. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a single-case study on a Swedish retail…

Purpose: This study aims to examine the effect of strategic human resource management (SHRM) practices on two learning outcomes, learning orientation and learning competence, which past research has seldom examined in the UAE context. SHRM practices consisted of four factors, namely, talent acquisition, learning and development, performance…

This article explores how professional identity is shaped through experiences on a work-based learning programme. In this context, professional identity is defined as a range of beliefs and attitudes about the professions for which an individual is preparing themselves. Set within the current Higher and Degree Apprenticeships agenda, the research…

The paper investigates how learning and processes of becoming are shaped and enacted in retail apprenticeship in Norway. The analysis draws upon a qualitative study of managers and apprentices in different retail sub-sectors. The empirical point of departure is managers who, more or less deliberately, throw apprentices into tasks from day one.…

Many retailers argue that university students do not have the practical experience and skills required in the workplace when graduating. This paper reports on research undertaken to address this issue and to identify a model to guide development and implementation of a retail store, on a university campus, to be used for work-integrated learning.…

The goal of this paper is to illustrate how the promotion of 21st Century process skills can be used to enhance student learning and workplace skill development: thinking, problem solving, collaboration, communication, leadership, and management. As an illustrative case, fashion merchandising and design students conducted research for a…

This paper analyses the workplace learning experiences of young male retail employees. Deeming formal education highly unattractive, the pursuit of lifelong learning and continuous development for such people relies on workplace learning. Their experiences, however, over several years and across various retailers painted a grim reality.…

Purpose: Marks and Spencer's Plan A environmental strategy is an ambitious one which addresses economic, social and environmental considerations. As part of this process it recently used a sustainable learning store strategy to develop, capture and disseminate learning before, during and after construction so that learning could be transferred to…