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A case study of efforts by one company in the food industry to transform itself into a “learning organization” in the face of a rapidly changing and challenging competitive environment. Develops a rationale for the “learning organization” in terms of the need for a new type of personnel (higher education, able to learn, to work without supervision, to solve problems and with good interpersonal skills) and a new type of leadership. A second part (next issue of this journal) will detail the actual training interventions.

The concluding article of two parts, which observes a culture change project – The Learning Edge – developed at Grand Metropolitan Foods Europe and discusses the training interventions involved. Describes the Learning Wheel – which allows employees to enter at any particular stage – and also the courses which involve line managers. The latter have four different courses; Leadership and Counselling Skills being the last two, preceded by Development Workshop and Manager as Coach, which develop complementary effects from differing skills and qualifications. Women in clerical grades were introduced to the “Springboard” programme to give impetus to self‐development and to enable full potential to be acquired. The benefits are starting to accrue in various areas, though only time will tell (three to five years is the prediction). Concludes that only with change from knowledge, constant reviews and flexibility can organizations continue to prosper and grow.

Posits that every enterprise must institutionalize its workplace learning systems and opportunities in such a way that it radiates what it has already achieved and from this moves on to realize its full potential – in short, the enterprise itself is the key. Examines in successive chapters: the individual manager and questioning insights (Q); the major systems which the enterprise uses to capture and structure its learning; a SWOT analysis of the enterprise′s total learning; action learning, its contribution to the achievement of enterprise growth, and the role of programmed knowledge (P); the Enterprise School of Management (ESM) as a phoenix of enlightenment and effectiveness rising from the ashes of traditional, less effective management training initiatives; and, finally, the practical realization of the action learning dream, as evidenced by emerging examples of successful and profitable implementation worldwide. Concludes with a selection of pertinent abstracts.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of Personnel Review is split into 8 sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Career/Manpower Planning and Recruitment; Health and Safety; Industrial Relations and Participation; Pay, Incentives and Pensions; Performance, Productivity and Motivation; Redundancy and Dismissal; Work Patterns; and Training and Development.

In this special abtracts edition of the Journal of European Industrial Training, material has been selected from a wide range of international journals which form part of the Andar coverage list. Such an editon provides an ideal forum to expose industrial trainers to a wide variety of relevant articles, some from journals with which there may be familiarity, others, the RSA Journal for example, which may be less well known, but on occasion provide quality, pertinent information, of interest to those involed in industrial training.

Examines current themes in organizational design which permeate the extant literature and highlights possible implications for human resource development (HRD). Highlights key factors forcing change and innovation in organization design, namely competition, the need for flexibility and the ability to meet the demands of the new knowledge workforce. Presents and evaluates organizational responses in the form of TQM, employee empowerment, structural de‐layering, competitive cultures and high performance work design. Finally, discusses possible implications for HRD and the HRD specialist, emphasizing the need for a rethink of the nature of learning in organizations.

The purpose of this study is to frame digital transformation (DT) within municipalities to improve the life cycles of urban infrastructure.

The study provides the results from a systematic review of the literature on concepts of DT and its implications for municipalities, barriers and challenges to DT, as well existing DT frameworks for municipalities and their built assets. This literature review leads to the development of a DT framework to help cities conduct a planned and federated DT beforehand. Then, workshops are conducted with two major Canadian municipalities.

The results of these studies point to the need for a dedicated DT framework for municipalities because of their particular context and their role and proximity to citizens. The theoretical framework develops 22 elements, which are divided among 6 categories. Through its application, the framework helps to identify and target the predominant issues hindering the DT of municipalities, specifically “legacy practices” and “data management.”

Limitations include limited experimental conditions and small sample size. Further work is needed to validate the framework. Other approaches are advocated to complement the data collection and analysis to generate more convincing results.

The theoretical framework was validated through two case studies on two large Canadian municipalities.

Municipalities maximize the value they provide to citizens and to be at the forefront of resilience and sustainability concerns. The use of technology, digital processes and initiatives helps cities to improve planning, optimize works and provide better services to citizens.

The framework is original in that it specifically aligns assets management with DT in a municipal context.

This paper aims to show that a simplified surface fitting model can be efficient in determining the energy consumption during milk cooling by an on-farm direct expansion bulk milk cooler (DXBMC). The study reveals that milk volume and the temperature gradient between the room and the final milk temperature can effectively be used for predicting the energy consumption within 95% confidence bounds.

A data acquisition system comprised a Landis and Gyr E650 power meter, TMC6-HE temperature sensors, and HOBO UX120-006M 4-channel analog data logger was designed and built for monitoring of the DXBMC. The room temperature where the DXBMC is housed was measured using a TMC6-HE temperature sensor, connected to a Hobo UX120-006M four-channel analog data logger which was configured to log at one-minute intervals. The electrical energy consumed by the DXBMC was measured using a Landis and Gyr E650 meter while the volume of milk was extracted from on the farm records.

The results showed that the developed model can predict the electrical energy consumption of the DXBMC within an acceptable accuracy since 80% of the variation in the electrical energy consumption by the DXBMC was explained by the mathematical model. Also, milk volume and the temperature gradient between the room and final milk temperature in the BMC are primary and secondary contributors, respectively, to electrical energy consumption by the DXBMC. Based on the system that has been monitored the findings reveal that the DXBMC was operating within the expected efficiency level as evidenced by the optimized electrical energy consumption (EEC) closely mirroring the modelled EEC with a determination coefficient of 0.95.

Only one system was monitored due to unavailability of funding to deploy several data acquisition systems across the country. The milk blending temperatures, effects of the insulation of the DXBMC, were not taken into account in this study.

The developed model is simple to use, cost effective and can be applied in real-time on the dairy farm which will enable the farmer to quickly identify an increase in the cooling energy per unit of milk cooled.

The developed easy to use model can be used by dairy farmers on similar on-farm DXBMC; hence, they can devise ways to manage their energy consumption on the farm during the cooling of milk and foster some energy efficiency initiatives.

The implementation of the developed model can be useful to dairy farmers in South Africa. Through energy optimization, the maintenance of the DXBMC can be determined and scheduled accordingly.

Acknowledging that only examining the main effects of diversity may be limiting, the authors explore integrating van Knippenberg et al.'s (2004) categorization–elaboration model (CEM) of workgroup diversity as a linchpin in the relationship between empowering leadership and performance in age-diverse work groups. While prior research has focused almost exclusively on the impact of transformational leadership in diverse contexts, few studies have found the positive effects of transformational leadership to be diminished in certain age-diverse contexts. Consequently, the authors investigate whether empowering leadership may be a better approach in this context due to its emphasis on accommodating and participative behaviors.

Using survey data gathered from work group members across a wide array of industries (N = 214), the authors test for the moderating effects of empowering leadership on the relationship between age diversity and work group performance and its indirect relationship via information elaboration (while controlling for transformational leadership).

Empowering leadership positively moderated the direct relationship between age diversity and work group performance and the indirect relationship via information elaboration, whereas transformational leadership had the opposite effect. “Coaching” and “showing concern/interacting with the team” drove the positive effects of empowering leadership, and “personal recognition” and “intellectual stimulation” predicted the negative effects of transformational leadership.

This research offers insights into how managers can lead age-diverse work groups more effectively (i.e. by utilizing an empowering as opposed to a transformational leadership approach, with a particular emphasis on “coaching” and “showing concern/interacting with the team” behaviors).

The study identifies an “alternative” moderating contingency to the age diversity–performance relationship (empowering leadership).

Successful knowledge transfer (KT) between younger and older workers (YW and OW, respectively) is critical for organizational success, especially in light of the recent surge in employment volatility among the youngest and oldest segments of the workforce. Yet, practitioners and scholars alike continue to struggle with knowing how best to facilitate these exchanges. The qualitative study offers insight into this phenomenon by exploring how KT unfolds in YW/OW dyads.

The authors performed a reflexive thematic analysis of semistructured interviews with two samples of blue- and white-collar younger/older workers from the USA (N = 40), whereby the authors interpreted the “lived experiences” of these workers when engaged in interdependent tasks.

The analysis, informed by social exchange theory and exchange theories of aging, led to the development of the knowledge transfer process model in younger/older worker dyads (KT-YOD). The model illustrates that, through different combinations of competence and humility, KT success is experienced either directly (by workers weighing the perceived benefits versus costs of KT) and/or indirectly (through different bases of trust/distrust perceived within their dyads). Further, humility in dyads appears to be necessary for KT success, while competence was insufficient for realizing KT success, independently.

In exposing new inner workings of the KT process in YW/OW dyads, the study introduces the importance of humility and brings scholars and organizations a step closer toward realizing the benefits of age diversity in their workplaces.