One tradition within the complexity paradigm considers organisations as complex adaptive systems in which autonomous individuals interact, often in complex ways with difficult to predict, non-linear outcomes. Building upon this tradition, and more specifically following the complex systems leadership theory approach, we describe the ways in which…

Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) perform an important role in the long-term care system because they provide the majority of paid care to nursing facility residents. Unfortunately, annual CNA turnover often exceeds 100 percent nationally. Many factors account for this, including stressful working conditions, low pay, and limited benefits. The…

Purpose: This study aims to explore a relationship between the learning organization and transfer of training as strategies for learning and managing knowledge to make performance improvements and gain or maintain a competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach: Various similarities are identified in the literature that are indicative of a…

This evaluation was conducted at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, located approximately 40 miles south of the Virginia state line. ECSU, a historically Black institution of higher learning, was founded in 1891 and is one of 17 constituent universities in The University of North Carolina system. The…

This article describes a framework for managing the life cycle of knowledge in organizations. The framework emerges from years of work with the laboratories and facilities that are under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The article begins by describing the instructional systems design (ISD) process and how it is used to…

All executives strive for better results in their organisations and they are always dependent on others to achieve these results. This article is concerned with the ways in which these better results might be achieved and the role senior management might play in this process. The traditional view is that senior executives design and control the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conceptually demonstrate that the relationship between turnover and innovation is not direct as some research suggests, but rather indirect, with organizational learning as the prerequisite social mechanism that ties the two phenomena together. Design/methodology/approach: This paper integrates research…

People function within situational contexts, and these contexts define and limit behavior. An organization is a very important context and, accordingly, produces potent forces which circumscribe and channel the activities, attitudes, and motivations of personnel. For this reason, both individual and group behavior within an organization is simply…

Today's organizations are undergoing constant and substantial change due to many internal and external forces. These changes are impacting on the inter- and intra-organizational career mobility of managers and employees. This research assessed the relationship between career mobility history and a recent internal or external job change on…

Two visual monitoring tasks were used to further knowledge of the interactions between individual differences and task demands as determinants of performance and satisfaction. The subjects, 100 male university students, completed pre- and post-test batteries to assess general and specific abilities, personality variables, work orientation,…

This article discusses workplace participatory practices: the reciprocal process of engaging in and learning through work. The reciprocity between the affordance of the workplace (its invitational qualities) and individuals' engagement in the workplace is proposed as a means of understanding how learning through work proceeds. How workplaces…

A group of human resource development (HRD) practitioners participated in an innovative session on managing culture in the e-workplace. The session objectives were as follows: (1) bring cultural patterns of the e-workplace to the forefront; (2) discuss the impact of culture on performance improvement in the e-workplace; and (3) share resources for…

This article reports observations of teachers' collaboration within an inner city elementary school located in western Canada. The study traces the school's development as a learning organization, focusing on the interplay between individual--the level at which learning and action actually occur--and social learning--a conceptual tool for…

The General Accounting Office (GAO) examined selected experiences that six government agencies implemented to help empower or involve frontline employees. The agencies reviewed were as follows: the Federal Aviation Administration; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the Internal Revenue Service; the Office of Personnel Management; and the…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on organizations in transition that was conducted as part of a conference on human resource development (HRD). "Human Resource Development in an Industry in Transition: The Case of the Russian Banking Sector" (Alexander Ardichvili, Alexander Gasparishvili) reports on a study…