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1 – 10 of over 27000Svenja Richter, Timo Kortsch and Simone Kauffeld
This study uses a holistic approach to learning at work to examine the role of reflection in the formal–informal learning interaction. The purpose of this study is to investigate…
Abstract
Purpose
This study uses a holistic approach to learning at work to examine the role of reflection in the formal–informal learning interaction. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the reflection on a formal training affects the subsequent informal learning activities. This study also aims to provide insights into the effects of national culture values (in terms of uncertainty avoidance) on learning in the context of a globalized world of work.
Design/methodology/approach
In a longitudinal study, 444 employees working for a global acting automotive company located in 6 countries were surveyed 2 times (4–6 weeks between both measurements). Participants reflected on a training they participated in (t1: satisfaction and utility) and indicated their informal learning activities (t2). Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the effect of the reflection of training (t1) on the proceeding use of informal learning strategies (t2) and how uncertainty avoidance affects the use of different learning forms.
Findings
Results show a spillover effect: when employees reflect a formal training and rate it as satisfying, more use of informal learning proceeds. No effects were found for utility. Uncertainty avoidance had direct effects: high uncertainty avoidance results in better evaluations and more informal learning. Furthermore, uncertainty avoidance had an indirect effect on informal learning via reflection.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the formal–informal learning interaction longitudinally and to introduce reflection as a mediator within this process. Furthermore, the study provides evidence that uncertainty avoidance is an important factor for formal and informal learning in the globalized world of work.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Results showed a spillover effect when employees were satisfied with formal training and this was associated with enhanced informal learning. No effects from utility of training were found. Uncertainty avoidance was an important factor for both formal and informal learning.
Originality
The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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Flávia Lucena Barbosa and Jairo Eduardo Borges-Andrade
This study aims to investigate the impact of Hofstede’s six national cultural dimensions on informal learning behaviors (ILBs) and how they moderate the prediction of these…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the impact of Hofstede’s six national cultural dimensions on informal learning behaviors (ILBs) and how they moderate the prediction of these behaviors by workplace interaction (WI), autonomy (WA) and readiness to learn (RtL).
Design/methodology/approach
Cultural scores were extracted from The Culture Factor Group in 2023. Data on ILBs and their antecedents were selected from a Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies sample of 59,103 workers – 33 Countries. The authors applied hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to analyze data.
Findings
None of those cultural dimensions had significant direct relationships with ILBs. The moderations were significant for power distance (ILBs with WA and RtL), individualism (ILBs with WI) and motivation toward achievement and success (ILBs with WA).
Research limitations/implications
The cultural dimensions were limited to Hofstede’s model, and scores at the country level did not consider individual perceptions of them. The results provide empirical evidence for solid theoretical development on the impact of national culture on informal learning and the development of public policies to promote it.
Originality/value
The authors are unaware of other studies that have quantitatively investigated relationships between ILBs and their antecedents and the cultural dimensions using HLM. Findings from different countries allow for better generalization and may provide directions for research and the expansion of the nomological network on the impact of national culture on ILBs.
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In a best-case scenario, both organisations and their employees gain from technological changes by staying up to date on developing digitalisation. However, opportunities to learn…
Abstract
Purpose
In a best-case scenario, both organisations and their employees gain from technological changes by staying up to date on developing digitalisation. However, opportunities to learn and use modern technologies may not be shared equally in the workplace. Employee groups can be divided between those with and without access to new technologies. This study aims to examine the extent to which the position of an employee may be associated with the opportunity to work with robots.
Design/methodology/approach
Health-care work was chosen as an exemplary context of emerging robotisation. To gain correlative evidence on how the position and technology orientation of an employee associate with access to care robots, the study used online survey data collected from Finnish care workers (N = 226).
Findings
Workplace hierarchies were found to play a significant part in robotisation. Management experience increased the probability for an employee to have access to care robots, but this position did not differentiate between the employees in their aspiration to use care robots. Individual interest in technology was associated with robot use only among care workers with no management experience, whereas managers’ access to robots did not depend on their personal interests.
Originality/value
This study brings new information about the equity of robot-use opportunities in workplaces. Distinctive to care robots was the significant number of motivated non-users. Thus, adding to the categories of “have-bots”, “have-nots” and “want-nots”, this study introduces an important group of “want-bots”.
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Talat Islam, Saima Ahmad and Arooba Chaudhary
The purpose of this paper is to examine curiosity as a distal predictor of knowledge sharing facilitated by informal learning. It also probes the boundary conditions imposed by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine curiosity as a distal predictor of knowledge sharing facilitated by informal learning. It also probes the boundary conditions imposed by ebullient supervision in the influence of curiosity on knowledge sharing.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data through a two-wave survey of 349 knowledge workers in the IT sector and used structural equation modeling to analyze the data.
Findings
The results indicated a positive relationship between curiosity and knowledge sharing. In particular, informal learning was found to mediate the relationship between curiosity and knowledge sharing and ebullient supervision was identified as a significant condition that strengthens the effect of curiosity on informal learning.
Practical implications
Organizations can promote knowledge sharing by harnessing curiosity as an intrinsic motivator for employees to engage in informal learning. Moreover, the findings identified ebullient supervision as an extrinsic motivator within the work environment, suggesting its potential to enhance the impact of curiosity on knowledge sharing.
Originality/value
This paper broadens the limited literature on ebullient leadership by revealing how it strengthens the effects of curiosity and informal learning on knowledge sharing.
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Asks whether company boards are used to full effect in the light of thegrowing responsibility on the shoulders of directors today. Highlightsthe inadequate preparation provided…
Abstract
Asks whether company boards are used to full effect in the light of the growing responsibility on the shoulders of directors today. Highlights the inadequate preparation provided for directors, considering the substantial potential for their effectiveness. Outlines the processes involved in building and maintaining a coherent, purposeful and productive boardroom team, including the importance of defining directorial competences. Punctuates throughout with comments by experienced directors and suggested exercises for assessing directors′ training needs. Presents recommendations for how boardroom effectiveness might be improved and maintained, providing key lessons and a business excellence action plan.
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Nadia Roos Spaan, Anne R.J. Dekker, Alike W. van der Velden and Esther de Groot
The purpose of this study is to understand the influence of formal learning from a web-based training and informal (workplace) learning afterwards on the behaviour of general…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand the influence of formal learning from a web-based training and informal (workplace) learning afterwards on the behaviour of general practitioners (GPs) with respect to prescription of antibiotics.
Design/methodology/approach
To obtain insight in various learning processes, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 GPs. These interviews were transcribed and analysed with a theory-based template, that had been defined beforehand, but with an open mind for emerging themes.
Findings
The web-based training was perceived by GPs to change their prescription behaviour, mostly as a result of informal learning processes. Being a research participant and being a supervisor appeared to create most opportunities for informal learning.
Practical implications
The current research shows that being a research participant and/or a supervisor enhance informal learning activities, for example, reflection and social interaction, and thereby formal training becomes more effective. It is recommended to remind GPs regularly to reflect on their prescribing behaviour and to stimulate them to reflect and seek social interaction besides participating in formal training.
Originality/value
Our study adds to the existing literature by considering informal learning processes in an evaluation of the perceived effects of formal training. Our findings have implications for the design and evaluation of formal trainings with the purpose of behavioural change of doctors.
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Much of the scholarship relating to educator learning in the context of school change centers on promising organizational structures that support educator knowledge-building and…
Abstract
Purpose
Much of the scholarship relating to educator learning in the context of school change centers on promising organizational structures that support educator knowledge-building and sharing. However, recent studies have found that educators' social networks also enhance learning of new practices. This study aims to explore how informal interactions support organizational learning in schools.
Design/methodology/approach
Applying structuration theory to concepts of organizational learning mechanisms, this paper proposes a framework for examining informal interactions and organizational learning. Employing an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design, this paper utilizes social network analysis of survey data and thematic analysis of interview data of a purposive sample of participants in a rural school district.
Findings
Within this rural district, organizational and social conditions supported recursive interactions where educators developed and shared knowledge of new instructional practices. Organizational resources and routines, and individuals' habits of mind mediated these recursive interactions, resulting in somewhat dependable knowledge-sharing spaces. Through these recursive interactions between individual agents acting within the opportunities and constraints of the normalized organizational expectations of each school, informal knowledge structures emerged.
Originality/value
This article applies structuration theory to examine organizational learning mechanisms in schools. This novel approach provides researchers with a new perspective on the organizational learning process—one that facilitates the exploration of the role of informal knowledge-building in this process.
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Maria Ferreira, Annemarie Künn-Nelen and Andries De Grip
This paper provides more insight into the assumption of human capital theory that the productivity of job-related training is driven by the improvement of workers’ skills. We…
Abstract
This paper provides more insight into the assumption of human capital theory that the productivity of job-related training is driven by the improvement of workers’ skills. We analyze the extent to which training and informal learning on the job are related to employee skill development and consider the heterogeneity of this relationship with respect to workers’ skill mismatch at job entry. Using data from the 2014 European Skills and Jobs Survey, we find – as assumed by human capital theory – that employees who participated in training or informal learning show greater improvement of their skills than those who did not. The contribution of informal learning to employee skill development appears to be larger than that of training participation. Nevertheless, both forms of learning are shown to be complementary. This complementarity between training and informal learning is related to a significant additional improvement of workers’ skills. The skill development of workers who were initially underskilled for their job seems to benefit the most from both training and informal learning, whereas the skill development of those who were initially overskilled benefits the least. Work-related learning investments in the latter group seem to be more functional in offsetting skill depreciation than in fostering skill accumulation.
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Eva Schürmann and Simon Beausaert
The topic of informal learning at work has received increasing attention in the past years. The purpose of this study is to explore in which informal learning activities employees…
Abstract
Purpose
The topic of informal learning at work has received increasing attention in the past years. The purpose of this study is to explore in which informal learning activities employees engage and what are the drivers for informal learning.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were taken from ten human resources (HR) and ten marketing employees working at a German machinery manufacturer.
Findings
Employees mostly learn informally by talking or collaborating with others, searching information online, feedback giving and seeking from colleagues and supervisors and reading. Next, it was found that organizational drivers, task and job drivers, personal drivers and formal learning influenced employees’ informal learning. Background characteristics on the contrary were not found to influence informal learning. Overall, within these categories, the following drivers had the greatest influence on informal learning: commitment to learning and development, feedback as well as interactions with and support from colleagues and supervisors.
Research limitations/implications
The design of this exploratory qualitative study brings some limitations. Based on the findings, suggestions for future quantitative and intervention studies are done.
Practical implications
The results show how human resources development (HRD) professionals could better support employees’ engagement in informal learning and gives an overview of the determinants that could be influenced and in turn have a positive effect on employees’ informal learning.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first studies unraveling informal learning as perceived by employees. It develops a comprehensive framework for categorizing drivers for informal learning.
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