Ontario's colleges share the provincial government's belief that apprenticeship must play a greater role in addressing skills shortages and contributing to innovative, high-performance workplaces that enhance Ontario's competitiveness. Given the severity of the economic downturn, Ontario faces an immediate, serious challenge as apprenticeship…

Administered by the Department of Labor (Labor), Job Corps received about $1.6 billion in program year 2007 and served about 60,000 students. Some have expressed concern that Job Corps centers are not meeting planned enrollment goals, particularly for women. To address these concerns, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed the: (1)…

This report focuses on funding and services provided through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Grants to States program in the most recent full reporting years. IMLS grants to State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAA's) represent the single largest source of federal funding for the nation's libraries and are the only…

This paper illustrates how Mode 2 "design science" research can generate HRD related "general knowledge" in support of evidence-based practice. It describes a "derived-etic" study that compares and contrasts the findings of six previous "emic" studies previously carried out within six different public and…

Although there are have been some studies on National Human Resource Development and HRD practices in certain countries, literature shows that we have just scratched the surface in terms of the number of countries we know about. This exploratory study reviews research associated with HRD policies and practices in Brazil, China, India, Italy,…

This study investigates the length of time it takes training budgets in five industries to respond to changes in the demand for their services/activity and for their speed of response to changes in productive activity. The results indicate that for the industries studied, the length of lag between change in demand and median adjustment to that…

The research to practice gap within HRD is increasingly important as a focus of research. This study seeks to expand on the findings from a pilot study presented at the 2006 AHRD International Conference by empirically investigating this gap from the perspective of practitioners who are directly asked about their use of research. Results indicate…

This paper reviews the literature on Confucian philosophy in general and explores its influences on adult learners who come from Confucian-influenced societies. The Confucian philosophy is reviewed to four principles and found to have a strong influence on Confucian adults in learning. The implication of findings and recommendations are discussed.…

Based on extensive literature review, this study reports the result of a meta analysis of learning outcome studies and presents an integrated typology of content types and learning outcomes. Examining the ERIC database for learning studies conducted from 1992 until 2006 shows that most empirical studies have assessed the learning outcome at lower…

Human resource development (HRD) professionals have an obligation to provide programs/products with the highest probability of success. The exclusion of workers' perspectives, from "their" standpoint, would seem to produce suboptimal results. Therefore, consulting workers' literature, labor and working class histories, management histories, and…

This article depicts the dual triumphs achieved by York Technical College and business/industry in creating a win-win solution to address workforce needs and shortages. The unique approach to partnership described is called "The Innovative Economy." It allows local companies and the college to maximize assets by providing exemplary showrooms with…

In January of this year the Government set out plans to reform the funding and planning of the learning and skills sector in a consultation document called "Delivering World-class Skills in a Demand-led System". The document followed the final report of the Leitch Review of Skills and accepted almost all of its recommendations. In relation to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the existing literature related to organizational vision and discusses its potential implications for human resource development (HRD). Furthermore, the paper aims to provide a forum for debate on the utility and effectiveness of organizational vision and how it is related to HRD and strategic…

Organizations spend as much as US$200 billion annually on training and development; however, much of this investment appears squandered on ill-conceived or poorly implemented interventions. Scholars have pondered the causes of failed training for decades, focusing on issues such as methods, program design, and trainee characteristics. Recent…

Purpose: This paper seeks to discuss the Investors in People (IIP) initiative in relation to SMEs and to consider the value of IIP in helping to inculcate a learning culture within this sector. Design/methodology/approach: A case study investigating the work of a Business Link (BL) in relation to IIP and SMEs highlights the conflicts advisers face…