A wide range of developments in science in recent years has altered our views of our world and ourselves in significant ways. These views challenge the direction of applied science and technology in many fields, including those associated with learning and performance in organizations. At the same time, they open up opportunities and…

Providing students with an education that employers view as relevant and valuable is an ever-increasing challenge for universities. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework that university professors can use to examine their own program offerings against competencies deemed important by the U.S. Department of Labor. This paper focuses…

An important issue of the demographic change in the German population is the maintenance and promotion of the employability of aging workforces. However, there are hardly any suitable concepts or usable tools available to realize this goal. Possible approaches should push the individual strengths of the aging workers to the foreground and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to argue that taking the educational purposes of schools into account is central to understanding the place and importance of facilities to learning outcomes. The paper begins by observing that the research literature connecting facility conditions to student outcomes is mixed. A closer examination of this…

Results from the Tasmanian Successful School Principal Project (SSPP) survey concur with the four major leadership tensions and dilemmas identified in a background literature review. These tensions and dilemmas relate to internal/external control, ethic of care/responsibility, and an emphasis on professional/personal as well as…

Relocation, an intraorganizational geographical transfer, can be used for human resource development (HRD) because of the positive developmental effects it can induce. It is, thus, important for HRD professionals to understand the implications of relocation to ensure it is used appropriately and effectively as an HRD technique. Research on…

Examines learning and performance diagnosis, separately and in relation to each other, as they function in organization systems; explains the relationship between learning and performance diagnosis at the individual, process, and organizational levels using a three-level performance model; and discusses types of learning, including nonlearning,…

Discussion of the ISPI (International Society for Performance Improvement) definition of human performance technology and the need to use performance improvement concepts from other fields focuses on applying systems thinking and systematic methodology from management design. Describes the application of these techniques in teaching a graduate…

Examines barriers that performance consultants face when selling an organization on HPT (human performance technology), such as establishing credibility, learning the language of the business, and demonstrating the ability to run the HPT function as a business. Explores strategies that can be employed to eliminate or reduce barriers. (Author/LRW)

Considers how results of systematic data collection can be used in decision making and how they are often not used properly. Examines two similar yet distinctive perspectives by which the performance technologist can assist organizational leaders in making difficult decisions based on valid and useful data. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the use of process improvement in performance technology to address industry's problems in quality, timeliness, and cost reduction. Examines both successes and failures that resulted from a focus on process and suggests that process improvement is used most effectively in conjunction with other performance tools and concepts. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the use of HPT (human performance technology) to get results that add value. Topics include ISD (instructional systems design) and desired results, other than achieving agreed-on learning objectives; cost effectiveness; systemic approaches; and results that can be seen in the performance of individuals. (LRW)

Discusses William of Occam's "razor" principle of scientific philosophy that given more than one theory, explanation, or definition of something, the simplest one is probably the best and helps us to "shave off" concepts, variables or constructs that are not needed to explain the phenomenon. Applies this principle to human…

Discusses measurement in performance improvement, including the Kirkpatrick four-level model of evaluation for training, and adding value. Highlights include adding value at all levels of organizational performance, for the clients and society; other models of performance improvement; the major focus of HPT (human performance technology); and…

Provides an overview of major models in HPT (human performance technology). Highlights include diagnostic models that show where HPT can be applied; process models that show how HPT can be applied; and holistic models that are nonlinear and consist of domains that exist separately but can be combined to form an ideal performance zone. (Author/LRW)