Search results

Although training is essential to continuous improvement, scant literature examines post-training facilitators for continuous improvement. The study aims to explore the relationship between training and continuous improvement, the mediating role of self-efficacy and the moderate role of training transfer climate.

This study utilizes the questionnaire survey of 455 Vietnamese employees to test the link between continuous improvement training and continuous improvement, the moderate role of the training transfer climate and the mediating role of self–efficacy.

Research results reveal that training positively influences continuous improvement. Furthermore, self-efficacy fully intervenes in the link between training and continuous improvement. Finally, the training transfer climate positively moderates this link.

Although the link between training and continuous improvement is suspicious, there is scant research on post-training facilitators of continuous improvement applications. To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is one of the first to explore the moderation role of transfer climate and the mediation role of self-efficacy in the relationship between training and continuous improvement.

This paper aims to explore and document how the question of continuous training/education is presently being dealt with in the area of public services and private security providers and trying to assess best and wrong practices of discussions and negotiations regarding this same question.

This research relied on content analysis of all 65 working agreements that have been negotiated in both the police and the private sectors in the province of Quebec within the last few years. In‐depth interviews were also conducted among 91 representatives of both employers and employees in order to explore more deeply the different contexts into which negotiations and discussions took place about the question of continuous training/education provisions.

What clearly emerged from interviews conducted with police organization representatives, employees and employers alike, is that a confrontational attitude rather than a more collaborative standpoint is the norm in negotiations. There is, however, one element on which both parties agree – the idea that training must be of immediate relevance to the job. In this respect, police employers and employees are often united in their resistance to new and higher training standards imposed by governments and public sector professionals, who are often suspected of not knowing much about the “reality” of police work. Field interviews revealed that negotiations generally favor employers, while employee unions, when present, do their best to defend previously gained conditions, particularly those pertaining to seniority in determining who is eligible for training.

Having documented the limitations imposed by the confrontational approach that is still being used in negotiations and discussions on the object of continuous training/education in the area of both public and private security sectors, we propose, as a final remark, that both employers and employees should envision the possibility of exploring new discussion and negotiation modalities which rest on a more consensual approach. This could help to give training and education its true value in this sector in an ever changing and globalizing economy.

This exploratory study is the first one being conducted in Quebec's security sector about a question that is at the heart of the competition capacity in a fast changing economy; lessons learned through this research should help this sector to better its negotiation practices regarding training/education as well as other crucial elements of its social mandate.

Describes the unique institutional mechanism in France whereby firms are required by law to devote a fraction of their wage bills to continuous training. Indicates that since the Act of 16 July 1971 was passed there has been a marked increase in expenditure on training and that the greatest benefits have gone to the most highly skilled employees. Concludes that the intervention has not allowed sufficiently for the heterogeneity of firms but notes that recent years have seen a number of adaptations and innovations which have improved this situation.

This article discusses the importance of training and education for TQM. The best way to institute quality into an organisation, particularly a bank, is to train employees to do their job better. The training structure must be top‐down, starting with the top team and cascading down the organisation. This is necessary to show management commitment and to ensure managers actually understand the TQM principles and methods. Results of the research project have indicated that none of the respondents’ organisations possess a well‐developed TQM training strategy and plan.

This paper explores the role of effective resource and knowledge management capabilities on product innovation capabilities of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, the authors research the role of the human resource investments in the form of employee training in developing firm's innovation capabilities and how SMEs manage these investments when we account for the boundary conditions such as the level of employee education, SME size and the frequency of investments in research and development (R&D).

The authors use survey data conducted by The Centre for European Economic Research (Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung – ZEW). The final sample for analysis includes 983 SMEs from Germany that belong to 13 different industries. The authors use hierarchical OLS regression to test the hypotheses presented in this paper.

The authors find a positive association between increased investments in employee training and product innovation capabilities in the context of SMEs. More specifically, the authors’ findings support that (1) the relationship between employee training and innovation capabilities is weaker in industries with greater proportion of employees with university degrees, (2) the effectiveness of investments in employee training is lower among larger SMEs than smaller SMEs, and (3) continuous R&D weakens the relationship between training expenditure and innovation capabilities. While on the one hand the authors’ findings contribute to the debate of whether employee training is necessary for SMEs by affirming this notion, on the other hand the authors show that investments in employee training have differing implications for small and large SMEs within boundary conditions. Moreover, these findings have practical implications for the managers of all SMEs in terms of management of their knowledge resources.

The authors’ research makes important contributions to the study of innovation in SMEs. First, the authors contribute evidence to the debate whether employee training is necessary for SMEs by showing that employee training is particularly important for SMEs that are smaller in size, have lower proportion of employees with university degrees and when they invest in research and development in a targeted manner. The authors also demonstrate that investments in employee training is not a waste, rather such investments can increase the likelihood of survival for many of these firms through its positive impact on product innovation.

For managers of SMEs, the authors’ findings suggest that while investments in employee training are important, the managers of particular SMEs with above-mentioned qualities should be persistent in such investments and must make deliberate efforts to reap the benefits in terms of innovative capabilities. Unlike large firms, who have the financial means to carry out investments in an abundant manner, SMEs appear to be more enterprising with their scarce resources when we also consider the role of investments in human resources.

The authors’ research makes important contributions to the study of innovation in SMEs. First, the authors contribute evidence to the debate whether employee training is necessary for SMEs by finding that employee training is particularly important for SMEs that are smaller in size, have lower proportion of employees with university degrees and when they do not invest in R&D continuously. The authors also demonstrate that investments in employee training is not a waste, but such investments can increase the likelihood of survival for many of these firms.

The aim of this paper is to detail the way in which the Innovia Films workforce at one of its facilities, a cellulose‐film plant at Wigton, Cumbria, UK, has safeguarded the plant from the threat of closure through taking part in an award‐winning training program.

The paper draws on information provided by the 830‐employee plant's training and development manager. It details the threats to the plant three years ago and the high‐performance culture that now exists. The paper stresses the key role of training in continuous‐improvement techniques in helping to change the culture at the plant. The paper also describes how the 15‐day Process Industries Centre for Manufacturing Excellence program helped to bring about the required improvements, through training in team behaviors, measurement, problem solving and performance, among other elements. It highlights the way in which National Vocational Qualification accreditation proved to be a strong motivational force.

The paper's findings demonstrate how training helped to change the culture at the plant, empower the workers, improve output and reduce waste.

The paper provides plenty of evidence for the power of training in changing worker behavior and organizational performance.

Total quality management (TQM) is a management approach that was established to seek sources of continuous motion of improvement to provide quality products and services to customers or clients. TQM promotes organizational effectiveness through promoting stakeholder satisfaction, pursuing continuous improvement and fostering proactive leadership. The purpose of this paper is to explore TQM practices in secondary schools. The researchers set objectives which were to identify the TQM principles being practiced in secondary schools, the extent to which these principles are practiced and finally to determine the factors that affect the practice of these principles. The paper includes findings from an exploratory study of TQM practices in Zambian secondary schools.

The research employed a purposive and simple random sampling in order to collect data from 120 secondary school teachers from a total of 1,740 secondary school teachers in Lusaka district drawn from ten secondary schools which were stratified into five zones, namely, Lusaka Central, Chilenje, Mumuni, Chibolya and Chunga zones. Questionnaires and structured scheduled interviews were used to collect data for the research. The research was also anchored on the theoretical and conceptual framework where hypotheses were formed and tested.

The research formed hypotheses based on the seven principles of TQM and this was also verified through the analysis of questionnaires and structured interviews conducted. From the analysis and interpretation of the results, the following was found. Teamwork principle was found to be practiced although most respondents did not know the extent to which it was been practiced. Continuous improvement and training are also principles which were explored and found to be practiced. For continuous improvement, most of the respondents indicated this to have been achieved through carrying out monthly tests and end of term examinations to measure the excellence in-service delivery, as for the training principle; this has been interwoven with the policy of the ministry in programmes aimed at training in-service teachers and anticipated teachers. For the commitment principle, there was commitment from management with a view to working together for pupil satisfaction. For the quality principle, it was found that, at 95 per cent confidence level the mission statement, the motto and the vision of the school depicted quality-related activities. The research also established that at 95 per cent confidence level, teachers were empowered to take direct action whenever action is likely to affect quality.

First, the value of this research was to inform management on the need to employ strategies aimed at sensitization programmes before, during and after the programme has come to an end. Second, to promote work attitudes that should promote quality management in education for continuous improvement in pupil performance. Third, for TQM to create a platform among head teachers, teachers, pupils, parents and other stakeholders to work to everyone’s ultimate advantage.

This research is original work as it has never been done before in Lusaka district.

Total quality management (TQM) and knowledge management (KM) are two similar and complementary management philosophies synergistic combinations that can form a cycle of improvement and development. This paper aims to investigate the impact of TQM factors on knowledge creation in the organizations of Bangladesh.

A list of TQM factors was identified through reviewing the relevant literature. Knowledge creation was analyzed through the framework proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire survey among 450 top and mid-level managers of the organizations. A quantitative research approach, namely, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in the study. The data were analyzed in SmartPLS 3.

From the study, it is found that a positive and significant relationship exists between leadership, employee empowerment, benchmarking, customer focus and information technology with the knowledge creation process and four knowledge conversion modes. In contrast, a negative and significant relationship has been found between employee training and continuous improvement with the knowledge creation process and three knowledge conversion modes.

Previous researches in Bangladesh empirically validated the effect of TQM on organizational performance, competitive advantage, financial performance, market performance and productivity. But, no such study was undertaken to empirically validate the effect of TQM on knowledge creation process for organizations of Bangladesh. Here, the study has a unique contribution. The empirical support for the hypotheses to explain and predict the contribution of the TQM in promoting knowledge creation.

The findings highlight the role of leadership practices. Organizational leadership needs to focus more on following issues: gathering required knowledge from the superior sources; transforming prevailing knowledge into a meaningful format to perform activities in better and innovative ways; employing opinions from experiences; facilitating mechanism for employees to update their knowledge; creating a virtual network; implementing customer relationship management system and providing tools and technologies to employees for performing KM activities more efficiently. On the other hand, negative effect of employee training and continuous improvement on knowledge creation sheds light on understanding the reasons for this kind of relationship and formulating effective strategies to resolve problems inside the organizations. In this regard, employees need to be well equipped through regular and appropriate training. Also, employees need to use problem-solving approach to identify problems inside the organizational system thereby availing opportunities for continuous improvement.

This study was conducted to identify factors that enable knowledge creation in organizations from developing countries like Bangladesh. TQM has been adopted in many organizations. But, its effect was mostly measured to determine its impact on improving organizational performance or competitiveness or identifying its critical success factors of implementation. Hence, this study sheds light on identifying the effect of TQM from a new perspective.

This research paper investigates the theoretical frameworks encompassing a nuanced analysis of the digital divide in the Indian educational context, recognising that it is not merely a matter of technology access but also the ability to effectively use the resource for enhancing learning outcomes. This research provides valuable insights for fostering a more equitable and digitally inclusive learning environment by integrating conceptual insights with empirical evidence. The New Education Policy (NEP), India 2020 firmly emphasises the appropriate integration of technology into the teaching-learning process to develop relevant competencies. The pertinent question is, for India to conquer the second digital divide challenge, is the pace of technology accessibility and skill development sufficient?

The paper is a desk research, using secondary data from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+), the Indian Government database of schools. A structured dataset has been created for all years, where states are grouped in descending ranking order of availability of infrastructure and teachers trained. A colour key segregates the States into three zones demonstrating their different levels of performance – high (green), moderate (blue) and low (yellow). The purpose is to identify state/s that have moved from one zone to another and, thereafter, analyse the reasons behind the movement.

Almost all states remained in the same digital resource availability zone for the four years studied, except for a limited few. Despite government interventions through higher budget allocation and targeted policies, growth rates of teacher training in computer usage slowed down post-COVID-19. A high positive correlation between Teachers' training in computer usage and the availability of computer and Internet facilities in schools indicates that an increase in digital infrastructure in schools is highly linked to teachers' training in computer usage and would ultimately translate into better use of digital resources to impart equitable education opportunities.

Primary data collection through interviews might have added to the critical findings. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further on a case-by-case basis for any state under consideration.

Enhancing digital infrastructure in schools and building digital competence in teachers must be understood in the context of the learning organisation and the beneficiaries' attitudes at the meso-level to expand stakeholder motivation towards digital internalisation. This requires continuous engagement with education institutions as professional learning organisations, which will thereby help develop a decentralised context for teacher competency building. Collaboration, continuous monitoring of the outcomes of professional development programs, and sharing best practices are crucial in improving teacher readiness for digital education.

Access to tangible resources, such as computers, Internet connectivity and educational software, and developing intangible resources, such as teacher digital competencies, will play a pivotal role in shaping students' learning experiences. By studying the discrepancies in digital resource accessibility and teacher technology adoption, this research endeavours to add to the efforts towards enhancing the educational landscape.

This paper seeks to address a critical issue in the Indian education system and contribute to the ongoing effort to prevent the widening of the second and third digital divide in schools, and help achieve UN SDG Goals 4 and 10.

In order to accommodate the rapid technological changes, employees must master increasingly complex technical skills. Five major forces behind training becoming so important and central to any firm′s operations are as follows: global and domestic competition; changes in technology; mergers, acquisitions and divestitures causing realignment of structures and functions of companies; better educated workforce;.