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A survey of 393 business/industry managers in Oklahoma found that 60% have a staff training specialist. Only in larger organizations was training the specialists' primary responsibility. Organization size had the most effect on amount and variety of training offered and amount spent. Lack of time, staff, and money were the most common barriers. (SK)

Needs assessment plays an important role in training and human performance improvement efforts, but the literature contains little research on this topic. This study extended previous research on the Performance Analysis for Training (PAT) model of needs assessment by examining its implementation to determine environmental and occupational health and safety training needs in a government agency. Using case study methodology and the lens of responsive evaluation, this study resulted in three perspectives about the actual needs assessment implementation. The three professionals' distinct areas of expertise (evaluation, health and safety, human resource development) informed the case in unique ways. The results can be used to improve the PAT model and also to give human resource development and performance improvement professionals insights about nuances of needs assessment practice. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

This article describes a mixed-methods needs assessment, or developmental evaluation, that was conducted for the providers and stakeholders of Oklahoma's community-based organizations (CBOs). The needs assessment, which was the first phase in developing training on outcome monitoring for their HIV prevention programs, relied on three evaluation approaches: Behavioral-objectives, participatory, and empowerment. This article describes the background for the needs assessment, the needs assessment process, and the lessons learned. When dealing with such a complex issue as HIV prevention where multiple goals must be achieved for success, a mixed-methods approach to needs assessment may better capture real-world needs. Furthermore, it may increase acceptance of the needs assessment findings and conclusions by the diverse groups that have a stake in the evaluation. However, as this study exemplified, implementing and reporting a mixed-methods needs assessment that is based on differing evaluation approaches is complex, challenging, and resource intensive. This study can contribute to theory building for mixed-methods evaluation. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)

The workforce development literature contains little scholarly work on how organizations in a community work together to develop a high-skilled workforce. This exploratory case study examined business and higher education partnerships that were instrumental in creating such an educational infrastructure for information technology in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The findings from this case study provide insight into the chronology of key events and the leaders' characteristics and their interactions. Tulsa's IT workforce-development infrastructure was negotiated one partnership at a time, bridging diverse interests, until a workforce-development system emerged. The infrastructure grew as the result of accident, purposeful activity, serendipity, and negotiated processes and structures. The leaders' differing motivations and energy, their history of collaboration and mutual trust, and their different perspectives influenced the information technology workforce development infrastructure that developed. The insights into inter-organization processes that resulted from the study can contribute to theory building in human performance technology and to our understanding of how to address gaps between desired and actual workforce performance at a community level.

This article focuses on the human performance improvement and human resource development task of providing an organization with a skilled workforce. We begin by describing the U.S. demographic trends and the changing job skill requirements that will lead to a shortage of skilled workers and that highlight the importance of considering the various strategies that are available for developing a skilled workforce. Then, using perspectives found in the literature, we examine four strategies for developing a skilled workforce: (1) hire and then train the workers, (2) transfer individual workers, (3) relocate the work, and (4) create an educational infrastructure within a community to develop a workforce with the needed skills. We conclude by comparing the four strategies and identifying the advantages, disadvantages, and most effective uses of each. (Contains 1 table.)

This case study examines the application of the Performance Analysis for Training (PAT) Model in an organization that was implementing ISO-9000 (International Standards Organization) processes for manufacturing practices. Discusses the interaction of organization characteristics, decision maker characteristics, and analyst characteristics to determine perceived performance improvement opportunities. (Author/LRW)

Examines three views of performance improvement--scientific management, instructional design, and systems thinking--each providing a unique view of performance improvement and specific roles for evaluation. Provides an integrated definition of performance and a synthesis model that encompasses the three views. (AEF)

Focuses on how faculty members in one university department used the problem formulation phase of deliberative inquiry to assess future needs for their human resource development (HRD) specialization. Overviews the research methodology of deliberative inquiry. Describes the systematic approach--subject matter analysis--that was used to structure the problem formulation relative to HRD curricular needs. (AEF)

Defines "measurement" and "evaluation" and applies the definitions to the concepts of performance and performance improvement. Discusses challenges in using measurement in evaluation and performance improvement. Proposes a research agenda for measuring performance and its improvement. (AEF)

Reports a study of how decision makers in 10 different business and educational contexts valued educational technology. Considers how practitioners and scholars can use this information to improve future evaluation efforts. Two tables show interviewees' institutions and job roles and bases that interviewees used in making educational technology decisions. (AEF)

Examines the perspectives of needs assessment described in performance technology and human resource development literature. Perspectives embodied in definitions and conceptualizations of the terms need, needs assessment, needs analysis, front end analysis, and performance analysis are examined, and different views about where the needs assessment process starts and ends and the results produced are presented. (32 references) (BBM)

Abstract Laboratory instruction at a distance using synchronous, remote group settings is the next generation of online learning. Computer-supported, collaborative learning requiring immersive presence (CSCLIP) relies on synchronous web-based instruction [...]

Companies cannot waste their human resources in the face of strong market competition. Managers who want to change the organizational structure depend on information they gather from employees. Culture surveys can aid management in information search and provide them with data which is not easily accessible from various sources. This particular survey addresses employees and focuses on work culture within the firm. Managers must analyze the situation before developing the survey, plan it well to meet specifications, administer it consistently, be careful not to over-react and take corresponding action as prescribed by survey results.

The Training Effectiveness Evaluation system provides three categories of tools for planning evaluation of industrial training programs, gathering the needed information, and reporting it. These categories are (1) satisfaction, (2) learning, and (3) performance. (CH)