Achtenhagen Goals

8/12/2019 Achtenhagen Goals

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C H A P T E R I

GOALS FOR FURTHER VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ANDTRAINING: THE VIEW OF EMPLOYEES AND THE VIEW OF

S U P R I O R S

F R A N K A C H T E N H A G E N a n d H A R T M U T -A . O L D E N B I ] R G E R

G e o r g - A u g u s t - U n i v e r s i t y , D - 37 0 7 3 G 6 t t i n g e n , G e r m a n y

A b s t r a c tEmpirical studies have been conducted in four large enterprises : a communication industry, anautomobile firm, a travel agency, and a regional bank. The main research focus was on the views ofemployees and superiors on the goals of corpora te training, both personal goals and strategic manage-rial goals. In addition, principal components of goals and their dependencies on person attributeswere investigated. Copyright O 1997 Elsev ier Science Ltd

In t ro d u c t io nA s a r e su lt o f a r ep o r t o n E u ro p ean r ese a rch o n co rp o ra t e t r a in in g , L o w y c k an d E lcn (1 9 9 4 )s ta ted , "D eci s ion -m akin g on t ra in ing a t the o rgan isa t ion level i s hard ly s tud ied . I f th is is thecase , a s t r a t eg ic r a th e r t h an a p ro fess io n a l p e r sp e c t iv e i s t ak en . I t is i n v es t ig a t ed w h o co n t r ib u testo mak e d ec i s io n s in t r a in in g an d w h ich r esp o n s ib l es o r b o d ies in f lu en ce d ec i s io n -m ak in g , r a th e rth an to an a ly se th e c r i t e r i a , t h e u n d er ly in g th eo r i e s o r mo d e l s t h ey h o ld an d h o w [p o ss ib l esy s t emat i c ] d ec i s io n -mak in g p ro ced u res may b e" (p . 5 ) . T h i s s t a t emen t i s d i r ec t ly r e l a t ed to th ep r imary q u es t io n o f t hi s ch ap te r : w h a t sh o u ld b e ad e q u a te g o a l s fo r d ec i s io n -ma k in g o nv o ca t io n a l ed u ca t io n an d t r a in in g ? E m p lo y ees mu s t b e q u a l i f i ed an d ad ap ted to th e n eed s o f t h ew o rk p lace . C h an g es in th e w o rk s i t e an d p r iv a t e l i f e cau sed b y " meg a t ren d s" su ch as in c reas in gi n te r n a ti o n a li z a ti o n o f e c o n o m y , n e w c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d i n f o rm a t i o n t e c h n o l o g y , d e m o g r a p h i cd ev e lo p men t , an d ch an g ed v a lu e p a t t e rn s h av e co n seq u en ces Io r o rg an iza t io n a l s t ru c tu res(A ch ten h ag en , 1 9 9 4 a; A ch ten h ag en , N i jh o f , & R af fe , 1 99 5) .S u p p o r t in g th i s eco n o m ica l ly d r iv en , s t r a t eg ic p e r sp ec t iv e , i t is n ecessa ry to fo s t e r a p ed ag o g i -ca l o n e ; n amely to d ev e lo p th e p e r so n a l i ty o f t h e in d iv id u a l emp lo y ee w i th r eg a rd n o t o n ly toth e co g n i t iv e , b u t a lso to th e emo t io n a l , mo t iv a t io n a l an d mo ra l d o m ain (B u n d esm in i s t e r iu m f i.irB i ld u n g u n d Wissen sch af t , 1 99 0) . T h i s p ed ag o g ica l a sp ec t o f v o ca t io n a l ed u ca t io n an d t r a in in gi s accep ted b y fu tu re -o r i en ted en te rp r i ses w h ere th e a s su mp t io n th a t t h e p e r so n a l d ev e lo p m en t

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388 E ACHTENHAGEN and H.-A. OLDENBI~,RGERi m p r o v e s a n i n d i v i d u a l ' s q u a l i f ic a t i o n s wi t h r e g a r d t o th e c h a n g i n g n e e d s o f t he w o r k p l a c e i s ap r e r e q u i s i t e . I n t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e , we h a v e a " c o i n c i d e n c e o f e c o n o m i c a n d p e d a g o g i c a l r e a s o n "( s e e De u t s c h e F o r s c h u n g s g e m e i n s c h a f t , 1 99 0, p. v i i) . B u t - - a n d th is r e s tr i c ti o n i s i m p o r t a n t -t h e c o i n c i d e n c e a r g u m e n t s h o u l d n o t b e u s e d t o f o s t e r t h e i n s tr u me n t a l i z a t io n o f v o c a t i o n a le d u c a t i o n t o r s t r a t e g i c p u r p o s e s .

T h e r e i s a n i n c r e a s i n g d i s c u s s i o n a b o u t p r o p e r g o a l s a n d n e c e s s a r y c h a n g e s i n v o c a t i o n a leduca t ion and t r a in ing in a l l h igh ly indus t r i a l i zed s t a te s . (For Europe , see the summar iz ingf e a s i b i l i ty s t u d y b y Ac h t e n h a g e n e t a . , 1 99 5; f o r t h e U . S . A . , s e e B e r r y ma n & B a i l e y , 1 9 92 ;G rub b , 1995a , b ; W ir th , 1992 ; K inche lo e , 1995 ; Res n ick & Wir t 1996.) Wi th rega rd to th i sd i s c u s s i o n t wo m a i n p o i n t s m u s t b e e mp h a s i z e d . F i r s t, v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n a l p o l i c y i s v e r yo f t e n r u n u n d e r t h e h e a d i n g s o f v a l u e - la d e n s l o g a n s . " K e y q u a l i ti c a t io n s " , " c o r e s k i l ls " , a n d" g e n e r i c s k i l l s " a r e t h e o b j e c t i v e s u r g e d n o t o n l y b y t h e g o v e r n me n t s , b u t a l s o b y e mp l o y e r s 'and t r ade un ions ( see , fo r the U .K. , B urke , 1995 ; Levy , 1992 ; fo r the G erm an speak ing coun t r i e s ,Ree tz , 1990 ; D 6r ig , 1994), Bu t the re i s l i tt l e r e sea rch on ho w to e f fec t iv e ly reach such goa l s .Second , the re i s a na r row focus on ins t i tu t iona l and o rgan iza t iona l measures ( e .g . , the in t roduc-t i o n o f n e w " h y b r i d " s c h o o l t y p e s ) , n o c o n s i d e r a t i o n a s t o h o w t o r e a l i z e t h e s e me a s u r e sq u a l i t a t iv e l y . ( S e e a l s o t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g c r i t i q u e b y B e r r y m a n & B a i le y , 1 99 2.)

B o t h p r o b l e ms r e q u i r e t h e s a me s o l u t i o n : t h e d e v e l o p me n t o f n e w a n d e f f e c t i v et e a c h i n g - l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s e s w i t h in v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t io n a n d t r a in i n g . T h e r e i s a l ac k o f n e w e rt h c o r e ti c a ll y d r i v e n a p p r o a c h e s a l t h o u g h s o m e c o n c e p t s d e v e l o p e d w i th in c o g n i t i v e p s y c h o l o g ys h o w - - a t I c a s t b y t h e i r h e a d i n g s - - r e l a t i o n s t o p r o b l e ms o f v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n a n d t r a i n i n g( e . g . , " c o g n i t i v e a p p r e n t i c e s h i p " , " s i t u a t e d l e a r n i n g " ) . T h e r e a r e f e w r e s e a r c h s t u d i e s , h o we v e r ,o n h o w t o a m a l g a t e s u c h p r o p o s a l s s y s t e m a t i c a l l y w i t h t h e g o a l s a n d m e t h o d s o f v o c a t i o n a le d u c a t i o n a n d t r a i n i n g . T h i s m e a n s t h a t t ra d i t io n a l a p p r o a c h e s s ti ll d o mi n a t e t h e a ct u a l p r a c t i c ein scho o l s and en te rp r i ses . (Fo r a l is t o f these p rac t i ces see Ac h tenh agen , 1994b , pp . 31-32 . )

T h i s b r i n g s u s b a c k t o a c e n t ra l p o i n t o f L o w y c k a n d E l e n ( 1 9 9 4 ) ; r e l a t iv e l y l it tl e is k n o w na b o u t w a y s i n w h i c h e m p l o y e e s l e a r n . A " l e a r n i n g e n passant '" mi g h t b e e f f e c t i v e f o r s o mecra f t smansh ip and t echn ica l s t a f f , bu t wi th r ega rd to ambi t ious t a sks to be fu l f i l l ed in thew o r k p l a c e , i t s e e m s i n s u M c i e n t t o me d i a t e k n o w l e d g e , a b i l it i es , a n d at ti t u de s b y b r in g i n g p e o p l ei n t o n a t u r a l s e t t i n g s i n t h e wo r k p l a c e . S y s t e ma t i c v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n mu s t t e a c h t h e t h e o r e t i -c a l b a s i s / ' o r v e r y c o mp l e x p r a c t i c a l k n o wl e d g e a n d t a s k s wh e r e t h e u n d e r l y i n g s t r u c t u r e i sh i d d e n . F o r e x a mp l e , a n a p p r e n t i c e i n a b a n k h a s n o c h a n c e t o v i s u a l i z e t h e a c c o u n t a n c yp r o c e d u r e s wi t h r e g a r d t o t h e c u s t o me r s ' a c c o u n t s . He o r s h e c a n o b s e r v e c u s t o me r s t a k i n gmoney us ing a c red i t ca rd , o r ge t t ing the i r accoun t by p r in t ing i t . Whi le these ac t iv i t i e s a rec o n c r e t e , t h e u n d e r l y i n g a c c o u n t i n g s y s t e m i s h i d d e n i n a d o u b l y a b s t r a c t wa y . T h e r e i s t h eaccoun t ing sys tem which mode l s the ac t iv i t i e s , a f i r s t l eve l o f abs t rac t ion , and the re i s thec o mp u t e r p r o g r a m b y wh i c h t h e a c c o u n t i n g p r o c e d u r e s a r e r u n , t h e s e c o n d l e v e l .

T h i s i s o n l y o n e e x a m p l e o f th e g e n e r a l p r o b l e m s o f in i ti al v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n a n d t r ai n in g .It" a d e q u a t e t e a c h i n g - l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s e s a r e n o t p r o v i d e d , f u r t h e r v o c a t io n a l e d u c a t i o n a n d t r ai n -i n g i s n e e d e d . As t h e me g a t r e n d s a n d t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l me a s u r e s c o n t i n u o u s l yc h a n g e t h e wo r k i n g c o n d i t i o n s , t h e p r o b l e m i s o n e o f a d e q u a t e l y p r e p a r i n g w o r k e r s t o r th ec h a n g e d wo r k s i t e . W o r k e r s a n d c l e r k s mu s t a s s i mi l a t e t h e m s e l v e s t o t he c h a n g e d c o n d i t i o n s , b u tt h e c h a n c e o f a c c o m m o d a t i o n mu s t e x is t t h r o u g h t h e i r p a r t i c ip a t i o n in t he ma n a g e m e n t o f t h e i rwo r k i n g c o n d i t i o n s . M o r e g e n e r a l l y , t h e c o n c e p t o f " r e f le c t i v e p r a ct i ti o n e r " s h o u l d l e a d t hed e v e l o p m e n t o f h u m a n r e s o u r c e s (S ch i~ n, 1 98 7) .

The main p rob lem in th i s con tex t i s the iden t i l i ca t ion o f the needs and the goa l s fo r fu r the rv o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n a n d tr a i ni n g . R e p o r t s o n th e e f f e c t iv e n e s s o f t e a c h i n g - l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s e s


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Training in Organizations 389in adult education and vocational education from multiple European countries form a jigsaw.While there seem to be many needs for further education and training in the enterprises, theeffectiveness of programs and courses is not sufficiently under control. Enterprises officially donot report on the effects of their efforts in the field of corporate training, even though in Germanyin 1992 an estimated sum of 40 billion DM was spent on it. According to a survey by theGerman Bundesinstitut fiir Berufsbildung in 1994, 10 billion DM were paid by the participantsof courses in further vocational education and training.

Either the instruments used in cost accounting do not work in the right direction or theenterprises do not use them adequately with regard to the structure of costs, the goals to bereached, and the mid-term and long-term effects of the programs. In many cases, this is due tothe profit center system by which departments of a corporation are handled as separate costcenters. Therefore, overhead costs for apprenticeship or further education which are imposedby the central department of personnel (or the board of managers) emerge tor the profit center asa cost factor which diminishes its profits (see Wittke, 1995). The paradox is that no real instru-ment of business theory exists to judge the benefits, the assets of the education, and the train-ing campaigns.Strategies to define the programs of further vocational education and training, therefore arcmainly concerned with financial aspects rather than their effectiveness tor human resourcedevelopment. Initial cuts within further vocational education and training have been observed.But more importantly, there is a real danger that the enterprises try to cut all expenses forcorporate training, including the money for initial vocational education and training, using anapprenticeship model or comparable measures. This is true for many industrialized countrieswhich are considering changing their concepts of beginning vocational education (Achtenhagenet al., 1995), but it is also true for those countries which already have introduced an apprentice-ship system. In doing so the enterprises make a very serious mistake, for a further educationwhich merits its name depends on a well-organized initial voca tional education. Vocational educa-tion should not mainly be a repair system.

Employees perceive the changes and understand that they must learn new knowledge, skills.and attitudes in order to avoid possible unemployment. They normally have a feeling for theirneeds for further vocational educat ion and training. The superiors and manage rs who areresponsible for running the enterprise see the necessity of qualifying the personnel for the newtask structure. However, as shown by nearly all relevant investigations, there is a relativelyunorganized structure of the corresponding goal system. That is, employees and superiors knowthere must be further voca tional education and training, but they have severe problems in identify-ing an optimal goal structure. This dilemma was the starting point for our studies: How dopersons who are involved into the system of further vocational education and training perceiveand judge its goals and effects'?

Research Context and Results of Four StudiesStudy I: An En terpr i se fo r Communicat ion Equipment

The research reported in this section started casually. One of our students, Stephanic Pudenzwas working as probationer in a large industrial enterprise in the field of communication. It hasabout 8,000 employees and is expanding. One strategic managerial goal was to handle further


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3 90 F. A C H T E N H A G E N nd H - A . O L D E N B U R G E Rv o ca t io n a l ed u ca t io n an d t r a in in g as an imp o r t an t p a r t o f i n v es tmen t , b u t t h e re w as a l so g rea td i s sa t i s f ac t io n w i th th e r e su l t s o f t h e ex ten s iv e co rp o ra t e t r a in in g . P u d en z w as ask ed to g iv esu g g es t io n s fo r imp ro v in g th e p ro g ram . S h e h ad th e id ea o f w r i t in g h e r d ip lo m a th es i s o n th isto p ic an d , t h e re fo re , r ece iv e d o u r a s s i s t an ce . A s th e w h o le f i e ld o f fu r th e r v o ca t io n a l ed u ca t io nan d t r a in in g w as to o l a rg e to b e in v es t ig a t ed b y a s in g le d ip lo ma th es i s , an d as th e p l ace o fb u s in ess o f t h i s en te rp r i se w as to o d i s t an t t o ru n a l a rg e r p ro jec t w i th o u t ad d i t io n a l m o n ey , afo cu s h ad to b e d ec id ed u p o n .

B e c a u s e o f o u r p r e v i o u s re s e a r c h o n p e r s o n p e r c e p t i o n t h e o r y a n d i m p l i ci t t e a c h i n g - l e a r n i n gs t r a t eg ies (A ch ten h ag e n , S em b i l l , & S te in h o f f , 1 9 7 9 ; A ch ten h ag en , 1 9 8 4; O ld en b i irg e r , 1 9 8 6 ;O ld en b t i rg e r , F r6 v e l , K u rza w a , & W ey m ar , 1 9 9 2 ) a d ec i s io n w as mad e to in v es t ig a t e th e ex p ec ta -t io n s a n d ju d g m e n t s t h a t p e o p l e b r o u g h t t o f u r t h e r v o c a t io n a l e d u c a t i o n p r o b l e m s . B y e x a m i n -in g th e d i f f e ren t p e r sp ec t iv es , a f i rs t i n s ig h t i n to th e so c ia l f i e ld o f co rp o ra t e t r a in in g w as b e l i ev edto be poss ib le .

T h e f o c u s o f t he P u d e n z ( 1 9 9 1 ) s t u d y w a s o n e m p l o y e e s ' g o al p r e f e r e n c e s ' a n d s t ru c t u re s w i t hresp ec t t o fu r th e r ed u ca t io n an d th e i r r e l a t io n sh ip s w i th p e r so n a l a t t r i b u tes . O p in io n s o f su p er io r so f t he e m p l o y e e s w h o h a v e t o d e c i d e w h e t h e r a c o - w o r k e r i s a l l o w e d t o a t te n d , e n c o u r a g e d t oa t t en d , o r h in d ered f ro m a t t en d in g su ch co u r ses w ere a l so so l i c i t ed . T h ese o p in io n s p ro v id edin fo rma t io n o n h o w s tr a t eg ic p l an n in g i s me d ia t ed b y th e d ec i s io n s o f t h e su p er io r s w h o a re a lsoc o n t r o l l e d b y t h ei r h e a d s o f t h e d e p a r t m e n t a n d o t he r s . B y a s k i n g t h e e m p l o y e e s a n d t h e i rsu p er io r s fo r th e i r p e rcep t io n s , ex p ec ta t io n s , an d ju d g m en t s w i th r eg a rd to th e n eed s an d e f f e c t so f fu r th e r v o ca t io n a l ed u ca t io n an d t r a in in g tw o main p e r sp ec t iv es w e re p u r su ed :* to mak e th e g o a l s t ru c tu re mo re ex p l i c i t . W o rk a t t h is s t ag e w as p l an n ed as ex p lo ra to ry ,

w h e r e b y d i f f e r e n t p a t te r n s o f g o a l s f o r e m p l o y e e s a n d s u p e r i o rs w e r e e x p e c t e d b e c a u s e o fth e i r d i f f e ren ces in p e r sp ec t iv es ; an d ,

t o p ro v id e in fo rmat io n fo r t h e d ep a r tme n t o f p e r so n n e l w h ich is r e sp o n s ib l e fo r co rp o ra t et r a in i n g p r o g r a m s a n d u s u a ll y d o e s n o t ta k e i n t o a c c o u n t th e e x p e c t a t i o n s o f th e e m p l o y e e s .

T h e h y p o t h e s i s fo r P u d e n z ( 1 9 9 1 ) w a s t h a t d i v e r g i n g p a t te r n s o f j u d g m e n t s w o u l d b e f o u n d ,w i th su p er io r s mak in g in t e rp re t a t io n s in t e rms o f man a g er i a l s t r a t eg y g o a l s an d emp lo y ee sin t e rp re t in g g o a l s in r e l a t io n to p e r so n a l n eed s .

T o in v es t ig a t e th i s h y p o th es i s , tw o q u es t io n n a i r es w ere d ev e lo p ed , o n e fo r t h e su p er io r s , t h eo t h e r f o r th e e m p l o y e e s . T h e i te m s w e r e d e v e l o p e d b y l o o k i n g a t t he c o r r e s p o n d i n g l i t e ra t u rean d o f f i c i a l d o cu men t s o f t h e man ag er i a l g o a l s o f t h e f i rm , an d b y ex ten s iv e in t e rv i ew s w i thse l ec t ed su p er io r s, emp lo y ees , t h e t r ad e u n io n ' s b o a rd , an d o f f i ce r s o f t h e d ep ar tm en t o f p e r so n -n e l . T h e q u es t io n n a i r es w ere fo rmu la t ed in a w ay th a t co n ta in ed i t ems r e l a t in g to b o th p e r so n a lan d m an ag er i a l g o a ls .

A f i rs t v e r s io n o f b o th q u es t io n n a i r es w as t e s t ed w i th smal l g ro u p s se l ec t ed r an d o mly . B efo reth e q u es t io n n a i r es w ere g iv en to th e samp les , t h e h ead s o f th e d ep ar tm en t s an d th e m em b ers o fth e w o rk co u n c i l ap p ro v ed th em. T h e f in a l v e r s io n co n s i s t ed o f 2 7 i t ems fo r t h e emp lo y ees an d2 5 i t ems fo r t h e su p er io r s (S tu d y I ) .* T h ere w as sp ace fo r ad d i t io n a l r emark s w i th r eg a rd toad v an tag e s an d p ro b lems o f t h e sp ec i f i c co rp o ra t e t ra in in g . S o me b io g rap h ica l i n fo rm at io n w asreq u es t ed ; sp ec i f i ca l ly a t t r i b u tes o n w h ich g o a l s co u ld d ep en d ( ag e , g en d er , s ch o o l ed u ca t io n ,jo b p o s i t i o n , an d f r eq u en cy an d ev a lu a t io n o f co rp o ra t e t r ain ing ) . T h e q u es t io n n a i r es w ere

* T h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s a r e a v a i l a b l e al o u r i n s t i tu l e . F o r r e a s o n s o f s p a c e w e o n l y r e p o r t o n s p e c i f i c i t e m s .


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Training in OrganizationsQ u e s t i o n n a i r e s

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Figure I.I. Information on study I sample.

d i s t r i b u te d r a n d o m l y ( w i t h th e h e l p o f t h e d e p a r t m e n t o f p e r s o n n e l ) t o a s a m p l e o f 1 0 % o f a llp e r s o n n e l . E a c h p a r t ic i p a n t r e c e i v e d a q u e s t i o n n a i r e a n d a s ta m p e d e n v e l o p e a n d r e t u r n e d t h eq u e s t i o n n a i r e a n o n y m o u s l y t o t h e r e s e a r c he r . T h e b r a n c h o f t h e e n te r p r i s e i n c l u d e d in th e s t u d yh a d a b o u t 3 0 0 0 e m p l o y e e s a n d 3 0 0 s u p e r io r s . F i g u r e 1.1 s h o w s t h e d i s t r i b u t io n .

T a b l e s 1.1 a n d 1 .2 r e p o r t t h e m e a n s f o r th e d i f f e r e n t i t e m s o n a f o u r - p o i n t - s c a l e f r o m " l e s si m p o r t a n t " ( 1 ) t o " i m p o r t a n t " ( 4) .

S i n c e t h is st u d y w a s e x p l o r a t o r y , t h e r e s u l ts a r e s i m p l y d e s c r i b e d . T w o t e n d e n c i e s w e r e s u p -p o r t i v e o f t h e h y p o t h e s i s .

F i rs t , e m p l o y e e s a n d s u p e r i o r s a g r e e d i n t h e i r p r e f e r e n c e s f o r g o a l s w h i c h e m p h a s i z e d i m p r o v -i n g a b i li t i e s , q u a l i f ic a t i o n s a n d f u n c t i o n a l c o m p e t e n c e . S e c o n d , t h e re w e r e d i f f e r e n c e s in o t h e rp r e f e r e n c e s . T h e e m p l o y e e s m a i n l y f o c u s e d o n p e r s o n a l g o a l s w h e r e a s t h e su p e r i o r s a d d i t i o n -a l ly i n c l u d e d s t r a t e g i c g o a l s f o r c o r p o r a t e t r a i n in g . T h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e r e s u l t s s h o w n in T a b l e s

.1 a n d 1 .2 is h i g h l i g h t e d b y t h e f a c t th a t a l l c o n f i d e n c e i n t e r v a l s f o r t h e i t e m m e a n s a r e v e r ys m a l l. F o r e x a m p l e , t h e 9 5 % c o n f i d e n c e i n t e rv a l f o r i t e m I ( e m p l o y e e s ) i s g i v e n b y ( 3 .6 5 > M =

Table I. iStudy 1: Ranks of Goals of Corporate T raining - - Em ploye es (n = 117)

Rank 1 attend corporate training in order to . . . Item Mean S D S E M1234526

27

... improve my abilit ies within the firm 1 3.54 .64 .059... overtake more demanding tasks 7 3.47 .73 .067... deepen the understanding of my ow n 4 3.32 .84 .078tasks... adjust the individual qualification to 22 3.31 .72 .067the needs of the working place.. . get better chances on the labor market 12 3.20 .91 .084... win more social recognition ou tside the 21 1.95 .97 .090f i rm... follow the taking-part request of the sup erio r 16 1.61 .79 .073

(SD: = Standard Deviation; S E M : = Standard Error of Mean).


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3 9 2 F. A C H T E N H A G E N a n d H - A . O L D E N B U R G E R

T a b l e 1 . 2S t u d y 1: R a n k s o f G o a l s o f C o r p o r a t e T r a i n i n g - - S u p e r i o r s (n = 1 8 )

R a n k T h e c o r p o r a te t r a i n in g o f t h e s t a f f m e m b e r s I t e m M e a n SD SEMs h o u l d . . .

2225

2 42 5

. .. p e r m a n e n t l y a d a p t t h e i r q u a l i f i c a t i o n t o t h e 2 5 3 . 7 2 . 4 6 . I 1 5c h a n g e s o f t h e l a b o r t a s k s. .. e n a b l e t h e s t a f f m e m b e r s t o c o p e w i t h f u t u r e 2 3 3 . 6 7 . 4 9 . 1 21l a b o r t a s k s. .. s e c u r e t h e n e c e s s a r y n u m b e r o f q u a l i f i e d I 3 . 67 . 5 9 . 1 4 8s t a ff m e m b e r s a n d s u p e r i o r s. .. i n c r e a s e t h e c a p a b i l i t y o f t h e s t a f f m e m b e r s 1 0 3 . 6 7 . 5 9 . 1 4 8. .. a l l o w r e c r u i t m e n t o f s u p e r i o r s o u t o f t h e s t a f f 1 2 3 . 5 6 . 6 2 . 1 5 4m e m b e r s. .. p r o m o t e a r e a l i s t i c s e l f - e v a l u a t i o n w i t h r e g a r d 2 4 2 . 3 3 . 5 9 . 1 4 9t o t h e q u a l i f i c a t i o n f o r t h e a c t u a l w o r k i n g p l a c e. + d i m i n i s h t h e r a t e o f a b s e n c e o f t h e s t a f f 4 1 .6 1 . 7 8 . 1 9 4m e m b e r s

3 . 5 4 > 3 . 4 3 ) , f o r i t em 7 ( 3 . 6 0 > M = 3 . 4 7 > 3 . 3 4 ) , an d f o r i t em 4 b y ( 3 . 4 7 > M = 3 . 3 2 > 3 . 1 7 ) .T h e r e f o r e , t h e d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e it e m m e a n s a r e s u b s t a n t i a l. T h e r e s u l ts a n d t h e ir i n t e rp r e t a -t i o n s a s p r e s e n t e d i n a l a r g e r r e p o r t , w e r e a c c e p t e d . A s a r e s u l t e m p l o y e e s b e c a m e i n v o l v e d i nt h e p l a n n i n g o f t h e n e x t p r o g r a m s o f f u r t h e r v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n a n d t r a in i n g i n t h is b r a n c h .

S t ud ) , : A n A u t o m o b i l e F i r mS t u d y I I t o o k p l a c e i n a la r g e b r a n c h o f an a u t o m o b i l e f ir m w i t h a b o u t 6 0 , 0 0 0 e m p l o y e e s . F o r

p r a c t i c a l r e a s o n s , t h e w h o l e f ie l d o f c o r p o r a t e t r a i n i n g w a s r e d u c e d t o t h a t p a r t o f th e p r o g r a mw h i c h f o c u s e d o n c o m m u n i c a t i v e b e h a v i o r ( S c h u l z , 1 9 9 3 ) .

E m p l o y e e s

S u p e r i o r s

o t a l

Q u e s t i o n n a i r e s

e f l [ U t

3 176

8 5 3 6

3 8 5 2 2

S e n t b a c k R e t u r n r a ti o(%)

.59

4 2

5 5

F i g u r e 1 .2 . I n f o r m a t i o n o n s t u d y I I s a m p l e .


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T r a i n i n g in O r g a n i z a t i o n s 3 9

Because this study was conducted in the context of a larger research program, the samequestionnaires were used as far as possible with adaptations made to the special needs of thefirm in question. A pilot study was also conducted. From 648 participants of seminars on com-munication and 80 superiors o f these employees, we selected by random sampling 80 employeesand 30 superiors for open questioning on the main goals of further education. Using the answcr,~of 25 employees and 10 superiors, a content analysis led to a classification of goals with regardto corpora te training in this lield. The structure of these answers led to retaining 12 items tor theemployees and 10 items for the superiors from the questionnaires used in Study I. Additionalitems were written, producing a total o f 28 items lor the employees and 27 items for the superiors.The response format was changed to a five-point scale on the dimension importance .

Samples of the population of former attendants of the communication courses and theirsuperiors were selected with the number of employees equal to 300 (comparable to sample II.The number of superiors depended on their relation to the employees who were drawn for thesample (Figure 1.2).

Tables 1.3 and 1.4 show the means for selected items. The items are displayed in descendingorder based on the mean scores.

A pattern of results similar to those in Study I was found. The employees emphasized thepersonal goal perspective; the superiors again emphasized the strategic goal dimension. As mStudy I, the small conlidence intervals for the means demonstrate that the rank order of the itemis reliable. The common goal preferences pertained to communicative competence, the contentof the training.

S t ud ~ ' I 11 : A T r a v e l A g e n c yStudy III (Schenk, 1993) was an investigation of the corporate training of the travel agency of

a large storehouse chain. The chain employs 42,000 staff members; the travel agency about 400.The salary system consists of a normal wage rate, additional payment of the firm, a bonus for

T a b l e 1 . 3S t u d y I t: R a n k s o f G o a l s o f C o r p o r a t e T r a i n i n g - - E m p l o y e e s ( n = 1 7 6~

R a n k I a t te n d t h e c o m m u n i c a t i o n c o u r s e s a s I t e m M e a n SD SEMp a r t o f t h e c o r p o r a t e t r a i n i n g i n o r d e r t o . . .

1 . .. i m p r o v e t h e c o m m u n i c a t i o n a t t h e 9 4 . 5 6 . 6 9 . 0 5 2w o r k p l a c e

2 . .. i m p r o v e m y o w n c o m m u n i c a t i v e 1 6 4 . 5 3 , 73 0 5 5b e h a v i o r

2 . . . i m p r o v e t h e e f f i c i e n c y o f t a l k i n g 5 4 . 5 3 . 7 5 . 0 5 64 . . . i m p r o v e t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f w o r k i n g 8 4 . 5 1 . 7 2 . 0 5 4

r e s u l t s5 . .. i m p r o v e m y p e r f o r m a n c e i n l a rg e 1 8 4 4 9 . 73 0 5 5

d i s c u s s io n g r o u p s2 7 . .. s e c u r e m y a c t u a l s a l a r y 2 3 2 . 5 0 1 . 2 9 .0 t~ 72 8 . .. r e li e ve t h e d a i l y m o n o t o n y 2 2 2 4 4 1 .3 6 . 1 0 2


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394 F. ACH TEN HAG EN and H.-A. OLDE NBIJRG ERTable 1.4Study 1: Ranks of Goals of Corporate Train ing - - Superiors (n = 36)

Rank The comm unication courses as part of the Item Mean SD SEMcorporate training should ...I . . . imp rove the team wo rk of the staff 10 4.64 .54 .091

members2 .. . prov ide strategies of effective 25 4.47 .77 .097conversation for the staff members3 ... en ab le the staff mem bers to solve 4 4.44 .91 .151conflicts without the help of superiors4 . . . improve the presentation of working 5 4.42 .84 .140results5 . . . improve teamwork and cooperative 20 4.39 .60 .100beha vior of the s taff members26 ... relie ve the daily mon otony 27 1.61 1.08 .17927 ... entertain my staff mem bers for som e 16 1.25 .77 .128days

e a c h h o l i d a y s o l d , a n d a n i n c e n t i v e s y s t e m f o r a w h o l e l o c a l g r o u p . T h i s c o r r e s p o n d s t o t h ep u b l i s h e d m a n a g e r i a l g o a l s : t h e w o r k h a s t o b e c l i e n t - c e n t e r e d ; t h e s t a f f i s t h e " h e a r t o f s u c -c e s s " ; a n d p e r m a n e n t s e l f - e n h a n c e m e n t o f th e s ta f f i s n e e d e d .

A s i n S t u d y I I , a p i l o t s t u d y w i t h a n o p e n q u e s t i o n o n t h e m a i n g o a l s o f f u r t h e r e d u c a t i o n w a sc o n d u c t e d ( 3 4 e m p l o y e e s , s e v e n s u p e r io r s ) . A s a r e su l t o f t h e c o n te n t a n a l y s is , 1 2 i t e m s o f t h es a m p l e I q u e s t i o n n a i r e f o r t he e m p l o y e e s a n d e i g h t i t e m s f o r t he s u p e r i o rs w e r e r e t a i n e d . T h er e v i s e d q u e s t i o n n a i r e s c o n t a i n e d 2 4 i t e m s f o r e m p l o y e e s a n d 2 3 fo r s u p e r i o rs , u s i n g a f i v e - p o i n ts c a le . T h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s w e r e g i v e n t o a ll e m p l o y e e s w h o a t t e n d e d c o r p o r a t e t r a in i n g a n d t o a llc o r r e s p o n d i n g s u p e r io r s . A l l s t a ff m e m b e r s r e t u rn e d c o m p l e t e d q u e s t i o n n a i r e s . T h e r e s u l ts a r es u m m a r i z e d i n T a b l e s 1 .5 a n d 1 .6 .

T h e i t e m s s h o w a d i f f e r e n t p ic t u re f r o m t h at o f th e f ir st t w o s t ud i es . F o r e m p l o y e e s a s w e l l a ss u p e r i o r s , p e r s o n a l a n d e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l g o a l s to g e t h e r a r e m o s t i m p o r t a n t f o r c o r p o r a t e t r a i n i n g .O n e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h is f i n d i n g is t h a t t h e c l i e n t - c e n t e r e d a c t i v i t i e s in a t r a v e l a g e n c y f a v o r t h i sv i e w o f f u r th e r v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t io n . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e m a n a g e r i a l s t a ff e x p l i c i t l y u s e d c o r p o r a t ei d e n t i t y a s a s t r a t e g i c g o a l . T h e d a t a s u p p o r t t h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n .

Table 1.5Study I11: Ranks of Goals of Corporate Train ing - - Employees (n = 97)Rank I attend corporate training in order to . . . Item Mean SD SEM

. . . improve my professional knowledge I0 4.84 .37 .0381 .. . improve my personal knowledge 3 4.84 .40 .0403 .. . gua]antee the standards of adv ice to 5 4.81 .46 .047cl ients4 . . . improve my knowledge of travel targets 8 4.80 .55 .0565 ... get informed about change s in the 22 4,72 .55 .056working tasks23 ... relieve the daily mo notony 9 3.24 1.32 .13424 ... follow the taking-part request of the 17 2.85 1.33 .135superior


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Tra in ing in Organ iza t ionsTable 1.6Study I I1 : Ranks o f G oals o f Co rpora te Tra in ing - - Super io rs (n = 1 I )

395

Rank 1 recomm ended my s ta f f mem bers to a t t end I t em Mean S D S E Mthe courses of corporate t raining for . . .I improv ing their professional know ledge 5 5 .00 0 c)I . .. improv ing their know ledge of t ravel 9 5 .00 0 0targets3 . . increasing the turnover with the work 6 4 .91 .30 .091of qua l i f i ed s ta f f members4 . . improv ing the com petenc e of 14 4 .91 .30 091communica t ing wi th c l i en t s5 ... mo tivating 13 4.82 .40 12222 . improving teamwork and coope rat ive 7 3 '91 83 251b e h a v i o r22 improving in ternal com mu nica t ion 15 3 '91 83 25122 . .. improv ing the loya lty o f the s ta f f 20 3 t~ l 70 2 t lmembers with regard to the enterprise

S t u d y IV ." A R e g i o n a l B a n kS t u d y I V w a s a n i n v e s t i g a t i o n w i t h i n a l a r ge r e g i o n a l b a n k w i t h 1 0 9 b r a n c h e s , a b o u t 1 , 5 5 0

s t a f f m e m b e r s ( a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 50 a p p r e n t i c e s ; 3 0 % s u p e r i o r s ) ( M e s e n b r i n k , 1 9 94 ) . B a s e d o n ap i lo t s tu d y 15 n e w i t e m s w e r e a d d e d t o th e e m p l o y e e q u e s t i o n n a i r e ( w i t h n i n e o r ig i n a l i t e m sr e t a i n e d ) . F o r t he s u p e r i o r q u e s t i o n n a i r e , t h e r e s u l t s o f th e p r e - s t u d y s h o w e d t h e s a m e r e l a t i o n .T h e r e s p o n s e f o r m a l w a s a l i v e -p o i n t s c a le . A r a n d o m s a m p l e o f 1 0 % o f t he e m p l o y e e s a n d t h es u p e r i o r s w h o a t t e n d e d c o r p o r a t e t r a i n i n g w a s s e le c t e d . F i g u r e 1 .3 s h o w s t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n .

T a b l e s 1 .7 an d 1 .8 d e m o n s t r a t e t he e x t r e m e r a n k s o f g o a l s o f c o r p o r a t e t r a in i n g . T h e r e s p o n s ep a t t e r n f o r t h e b a n k i s s i m i l a r t o t h a t o f th e t r a v e l a g e n c y ; n a m e l y t h e r e is a m i x t u r e o f p e r s o n a la n d m a n a g e r i a l g o a l s . O n e p o s s i b l e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n i s t h a t t h e c l i e n t - c e n t e r e d t a s k s w h i c h a r e

E m p l o y e e s

uperiors

Total

Q u e s t i o n n a i r e s

e n t o u t e n t b a c k

97 36

3 0 2 5

1 2 7 6 6

e t u r n r a t i o(%)

37

83

52

Figure 1 .3 . Informa tion on s tudy IV sam ple


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396 F . A CH T E N H A G E N an d H . -A . O L D E N B O RG E RTable 1.7Study IV: Ranks of Go als of Corporate Training - - Employees (n = 36)

Rank I attend corporate training in order to . . . Item Mean SD SEM. . . improve my professional kno wle dge I 4.83 .51 .1212 ... improv e m y professional and personal 13 4.61 .69 .167competence3 .. . deve lop my personality 9 4.58 .73 .1784 ... use the results for m y workp lace 12 4.58 .55 .1345 .. . bring my knowledge up to date 10 4.56 .56 .13523 ... run successful brokerage 22 2.94 1.31 .31724 ... improv e social contact 21 2.89 1.09 .264

Table 1.8Study IV: Ranks of Goals of Corporate Training -- Superiors (n = 25)Rank The corporate training of the staff Item Mean SD SEMmembers should . . .

1 . . . improve the independence of staff 3members2 .. . cause positive effects for the turnov er 6of the department/branch3 ... improv e interactions with clie nts 54 .. . improve the professional com pete nce 8of the staff members5 .. . improve the qualification of the staff 14members23 .. . improve the taking ove r of responsibility 1824 ... provide actual information 19

4.80 .41 .0814.70 .54 .1074.60 .67 .1354.60 .60 .1214.57 .63 .1253.63 1.03 20 73.33 1.15 .230

t y p i c a l f o r t h e t r a v e l a g e n c y a n d t h e b a n k f a v o r t h e in c l u s i o n o f p e r s o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t a s ap r e r e q u i s i te t o f u l fi l l i n g t h e m a n a g e r i a l g o a l s . A g a i n , t h e i m p r o v e m e n t o f p r o f e s s i o n a lc o m p e t e n c e is t h e m o s t c o m m o n g o a l in b o t h g r o u p s .

Comparisons Across StudiesT h e c o m p a r i s o n o f e m p l o y e e s ' g o a l p r e f e r e n c e s a c r o s s s t u d i e s y i e l d e d v e ry s t ro n g r e su l ts .

A l m o s t a ll g o a l s e s t a b l i s h e d a s n e w i t e m s b y t he r e s p e c t i v e p i l o t s tu d i e s w e r e p r e f e r r e d t o t h ec o m m o n g o a l s f r o m S t u d y I . T h e r e f o r e , p i l o t s t u d i e s a r e i n d i s p e n s a b l e f o r id e n t if y i n g c o n te n tv a l i d g o a l s ( e .g . , i te m s ) , o f fu r t h e r v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n .

T h e o v e r a l l s t r u c tu r e o f t h e e m p l o y e e s ' g o a l s w a s i n v e s t i g a t e d u s i n g f a c t o r a na l y ti c t e c h n i q u c s ,n e t w o r k i n g , a n d c o p h e n e t i c c o r r e l a t i o n p r o c e d u r e s . F o r s p a c e r e a s o n s , o n l y th e r e s u lt s o f t h ef a c t o r a n a l y s e s a r e r e p o r t e d a n d f o r s t a b i li t y r e a s o n s o n l y f o r e m p l o y e e s i n t h e fi rs t t h r ee s t u d ie s .T a b l e 1 .9 s u m m a r i z e s t h e r e s u l t s o f th e f a c t o r a n a l y s i s f o r S t u d y I.

T h e r e s u l ts o f t h e f a c t o r a n a l y s i s s u g g e s t t h e b a s i c s e m a n t i c d i m e n s i o n s o f t h e s p e c i f i c g o a l s( i te m s ) o n t h e b a s i s o f in d i v i d u a l d i f f e r e n c e s . T h r e e p r i m a r y f a c to r s e m e r g e : a d v a n c c m e n t ,d e v e l o p m e n t o f p e r s o n a l i t y , a n d s e c u r it y .


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Tra in ing in O rgan iza t ionsTable 1 .9Study 1: Fac to r Analys i s o f E mployee I tems

3q7

Factor 1: Advant ement l,x~ading3 . . . to improve my poss ib i l i t i es o f advancem en t .792I I . . . to have more poss ib i l i t i es fo r dec i s ion mak ing 77 92 . .. to take on larger respo nsibi l i t ies 77 27 . . . to take on more am bit iou s tasks .76510 . . . to improv e my salary 641

Factor 2: Development of personality27 . .. to improv e social con tact .74418 . .. to improve my com mu nica t ion behav io r .67425 . .. to improv e coo pera t ion with others .66920 . .. to improve the poss ib i l i t i es o f persona l deve lopm en t 61 626 . .. to rel ieve the dai ly mo noto ny .555Factor 3 Securtt~23 . .. to secure my salary .8479 . . to secu re my work ing p lace .79515 . . to secu re my ac tua l job pos i t ion .76024 . .. to d imin i sh the r i sks o f the in t roduct ion o f new techno log ies .619

Note: T he fac to r ana lys i s o f 27 i t ems inc luded a p r inc ipa l com ponen t ana lys i s wi th a vanm ax r o ta t ion The th ree-factor solut ion accounted for 45% of the variance.

T a b l e 1 . 10 p r e s e n t s t h e r e s u l t s o f t h e s a m e a n a l y s i s f o r S t u d y l I. T h i s f a c t o r a n a l y s i s g e n e r a l l yc o n f i r m s t h a t o f S t u d y I . A s al l p a r t i c i p a n t s o f th i s s t u d y a t t e n d e d c o m m u n i c a t i o n t r a i n in g , t hea d d i t i o n a l f a c t o r r e p r e s e n t s t h e c o n t e n t s o f th e t r a in i n g , w h i c h s e r v e d a s t he b a s i s f o r s a m p l i n g .

T a b l e 1 .1 1 c o n t a i n s t h e r e s u l t s f o r S t u d y I I I. In t h e s e r e s u l t s , t h e r e i s a m i x t u r e o f p e r s o n a l a n de n t r e p r e n e u r i a l a s p e c t s . T h e i n t e r i n d i v i d u a l d i f f e r e n c e s o f t he e m p l o y e e s ' v i e w s s e e m t o d e p e n dv e r y s t r o n g l y o n t h e i r c o n t a c t s t o t h e c l i e n t s ' s y s t e m . O b t a i n i n g i n f l ~ r m a t io n n e e d e d t o m e e tc o n s u m e r s ' n e e d s a n d c o n c e r n s f o r r e m u n e r a t i o n s e e m t o b e d e c i s i v e e l e m e n t s d e f i n in g" ' c o r p o r a t e i d e n t i t y " ( F a c t o r I ) .

T h e d a t a f r o m S t u d y I V s h o w e d a s i m i l a r pa t t e r n . H o w e v e r , b e c a u s e t h e s a m p l e w a s t o os m a l l , f a c t o r a n a l y s i s w a s n o t p e r f o r m e d . T h e m a t r i x o f c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c ie n t s w a s u s e d toc o n s t r u c t a n e t s t r u c t u r e w h i c h l e d t o s i m i l a r c o n c l u s i o n s a s t h o s e f r o m S t u d y I l i. I n s u m m a r y ,t h e f a c t o rs d e f i n i n g e m p l o y e e s ' g o a l s a r e g e n e r a l l y r e l a t e d t o t he w o r k p l a c e ( s e c u r it y a d v a n c e -m e n t ) a n d t o p e r s o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t . M o r e s p e c i f ic a l l y , th e y a r c re l a t e d to t h e c o n t e n t s o f t r a i n i n ga n d i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h t he c o r p o r a t io n . E v e n m o r e s p e c if i c a re s t r u c t u re s o f c o m p a r a b l e i t e m s( g o a l s ) a c r o s s s a m p l e s a s e v a l u a t e d b y t h e c a lc u l a t i o n o f c o p h e n e t i c c o r r e l a t io n c o e f f i c i e n t sb e t w e e n i t e m c o r r e l a t i o n m a t r i c e s ( w i t h r e g a r d t o t h e v a r i e t y o f c a l c u l a t i o n s : s e e H u b e r t &B a k e r , 1 9 7 7) . T h e c o e f f i c i e n t s w e r e v e r y l o w : r a n g i n g f r o m . 17 to .3 2 . T h e r e l b r e , t h e p re f e r -e n c e s o f e m p l o y e e s ' g o a ls o f f u r th e r e d u c a t i o n and t h e i r s t r u c t u r e d e p e n d v e r y s t r o n g l y o n th er e s p e c t i v e e n t e r p r i s e .

T h e i t e m s t r u c t u r e ( v i a f a c t o r s c o r e s ) w a s c o r r e l a t e d w i t h b i o g r a p h i c a l d a t a s u c h as a g e , g e n de r ,t y p c o f s c h o o l a t t e n d e d , a c t u a l j o b p o s i t io n , f r e q u e n c y o f c o r p o r a t e t r a in i n g , a n d a s s e s s m c n t o fc o r p o r a t e t r a in i n g . N o s t r o n g c o r r e l a t i o n s w c r c f o u n d .


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398 F. A C H T E N H A G E N a n d H . -A . O L D E N B U R G E RTable 1 .10

S a m p l e I1: F a c to r A n a l y s i s o f E m p l o y e e I t e m sF ,~'t or 1: So'ial c'ompetence in ~'ooperation IJ~ading20 . . . t o impro ve c oope r a t ion w i th c o l l e a gu e s .79312 . . . t o d im in i sh c on f l i c t s w i th c o l l e a g ue s .77415 . . . t o impro ve the a b i l i t y o f t e a mw ork .6939 . . . t o i m p r o v e c o m m u n i c a t i o n i n t h e w o r k p l a c e . 6 4 21 6 . . . t o i m p r o v e m y o w n c o m m u n i c a t i v e b e h a v i o r . 5 7 71 0 . . . t o i m p r o v e m y j u d g m e n t o f c o l l e a g u e s . 5 5 5F a , ' t o r 2." D ev e lo p m en t q f p er so n a l iO "21 . . . t o impro ve the c ha n c e o f se l f - r e a l i z a t ion .70522 . . . t o r e l i e ve the da i ly mo no to ny .69625 . . . t o imp rove the sa t i s f a c t ion w i th my w ork .6491 9 . . . t o m o t i v a t e m y s e l f . 5 7 424 . . . t o de ve lop se l f - c o n f ide n c e .56623 . . . t o se c u re m y a c tua l sa l a ry .55514 . . . t o de ve lop se l f - e s t e e m .5292 8 . .. t o g e t s u g g e s t i o n s f o r t h e j o b . 5 1 0I:~j~'tor 3." Advon ~'emen t

3 . . . t o t a ke on mo re de m a nd ing t a sks .7717 . . . t o t a ke on mo re r e spons ib i l i t y .7614 . . . t o ha ve mo re poss ib i l i t i e s fo r de c i s ion una k ing .735I I . . . t o imp rove my sa l a ry .631I . . . t o i m p r o v e m y p o s s i b i li t i es o f a d v a n c e m e n t . 5 3 0

23 . . . t o se c u re my a c tua l sa l a ry .508F , ~ ' t o r 4 . So(iu l ~ 'ompelen~e in sel lZpresen la t ion

6 . . . t o impro ve the a b i l i t y t o ne go t i a t e .6881 8 . .. t o i m p r o v e m y p e r f o r m a n c e i n l a rg e d i s c u s s i o n g r o u p s . 6 3 02 6 . . . t o i m p r o v e g a i n i n g a c c e p t a n c e f o r m y o p i n i o n . 58 1

2 . . . t o impr ove the p re se n ta t ion o f w ork in g re su l t s .5612 7 . . . t o i m p r o v e t a s k p e r f o r m a n c e b y c o m m u n i c a t i o n 5 2 1

N o t e : T h e f a c to r a n a l y s i s o f 2 8 i t e m s i n c l u d e d a p r i n c ip a l c o m p o n e n t a n a l y s i s w i t h a v a r i m a x r o t a t io n . T h e f o u r -f a c t o r s o l u t i o n a c c o u n t e d f o r 5 5 % o f t h e v a ri a n c e.

C o n c l u s i o n s

T h i s s e r i e s o f i n v e s t i g a t i o n s w a s e x p l o r a t o r y i n n a t u r e . W i t h r e g a r d t o th e in i ti a l h y p o t h e s i sa n d t h e a d d i t i o n a l f i n d i n g s t h e r e s u l t s c a n b e s u m m a r i z e d a s f o l l o w s .1 . T h e r e a r e d i f f e r e n t v i e w s o n t h e n e e d s a n d g o a l s o f c o r p o r a t e t r a i n i n g o n t h e pa r t o f th e

e m p l o y e e s a n d t h e pa r t o f t h e s u p e r i o r s . I f s u p e r i o r s " g o a l s d o n o t r e l l e c t t h e n e e d s a n dp r o b l e m s o f t h e i r e m p l o y e e s a p p r o p r i a t e l y , i t m i g h t c a u s e m o t i v a t i o n a l p r o b l e m s a n d ,s u b s e q u e n t l y , a s u b o p t i m a l u s e o f t h e r e s o u r c e s o f c o r p o r a t e t r a i n i n g . T h e g o a l s t r u c t u r e o ft h e s u p e r i o r s h a s to b e i n v e s t i g a t e d i n m o r e d e t a i l . O n e s p e c u l a t i v e e x p l a n a t i o n m i g h t b ct h a t t h e s u p e r i o r s w a n t t o h o l d t he e m p l o y e e s a t a d i s t a n c e f o r r e a s o n s o f th e s e c u r i t y o ft h e i r o w n j o b s . S t r a t e g i e s o f l e an m a n a g e m e n t , a s a n a n s w e r t o t h e v a r i o u s m e g a t r e n d s , c a n


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Training in OrganizationsTable I.I IStudy III: Factor Analysis of Employee Items

399

Factor I .162019181317211214t"uctt~r 2:

Corporate identi ty... to make new social contactsto receive internal information

to have more possibilities for decision makingto improve my knowledgeto satisfy my professional interestto follow the taking-part request of the superiorto improve my salaryto have better chances on the labor marketto diminish the risks of the introduction of new technologiesSecuri ty by pr~[essiona l kn owledge

l ~ m d m g.738.713.701.692.646.614.595.527.5 O0

8 ... to improve my knowledge of travel targets .820II . to improve my communication behavior with regard to the clients 7586 ... to secure my actual job position .61410 . . to improve my professional knowledge .513I-~actor Improvement f pn qessional an d persona l knowledge

5 . . to guarantee the standards of advice of the clients .7523 ... to improve my personal knowledge 7247 . . to work more independently .56422 to be informed about changes in working tasks 53410 . to improve my professional knowledge 515b~wtor 4 Per s . na l and pr ~q es s i o na l d eveh , pm ent

I . . to improve my possibilities of advancement 7582 . . to improve cooperation with colleagues 6634 ... to acquire knowledge which goes beyond the working tasks .496Note: The factor analysis of 27 items included a principal component analysis with a varimax rotation. TheIbur-factor solution accounted for 53% of the variance.

have consequences for the super iors ' posi t ions, e i ther be ing promoted up one h ie rarchica llevel or descending a level.

2. The goal system also seems to depe nd on whethe r the produc tion and servi ces of an enterpris eare product oriented (as in Studies I and II) or client oriented (as in Studies III and IV). Aclient orientation seems to foster a greater awareness of human att i tudes and interactivebehavior.

3. The goal syste ms also differ across different enterprises. Thes e differ ences arc understan d-able wi th in the perspec t ive of emplo ymen t and vocat ional careers .

Diffe rences be tween the v iews of super iors and emplo yees may para lyze the e ffor ts of corpora tetraining and increase the cost structure. B ecause o f the rcsuhs o f these studies, which wcrcdiscussed in detail with the managers and the work councils, a l l four cntcrpriscs tr ied to developnew forms of commun ica tio n about the goals of corporate training. This is a small but notunimportant result of this series of investigations.


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4 0 0 F . A C H T E N H A G E N a n d H . -A . O L D E N B I J R G E Re f e r e n c e s

Ach t enhage n , F . 1984). D i d a k t i k d e s W i r t s c h a l t s l e h r e u n t e r r i c h t s [Di dac t i cs o f econom i c and bus i ness s t ud i es] . Op l aden :Leske .Ach t enhage n , E (1994a). Ho w shou l d r esearch on voca t i ona l and p ro fess i ona l educa t i on r eac t to new cha l l enges in l if eand i n t he w orkp l ace . In W. J. N i j ho f & J . N . S t r eum er (Eds . ) , F l e x i b d i t y i n t r a i n i n g a n d v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n ( p p2 0 1 - 2 4 7 ) . U t r ec h t : L e m m a .Ach t enhage n , E (1994b). V oca t i ona l educa t i on and t r a i n i ng . E d u c a t i o n , 4 9 / 5 0 . 19-39.

Ac hten bag en, F. . Ni jhof . W. . & Raffe, D. (1995) . F e a s i b i l i t y s t u d y : R e s e a r c h s c o p e f i~ r vo c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n i n t h el r a m e w o r k q l C O S T s o c i a l s c i e n c e s . E u r o p e a n C o m m i s s i o n . D i r e c t o ra t e - G e n e r a l. S c i e n c e . R e s e a r c h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t .Soc i a l Sc i ences . V o l . 3 . B russe l s , Luxembourg : ECSC-EC-EAEC.Ach t enhage n , E . Sembi l l . D . , & S t e i nhofL E. (1979) . D i e Lehrerpe r sbn l i chke i t i m Ur t e i l von .Sc hu l e rn Ei n Bei t rag zu rA u l k l ~ u n g " n a i v e ( ' d i d a k t i s c h e r T h e o r ie n [ S t u d e n ts ' j u d g m e n t s o n t h e p e r so n a l it y o f t e a c h e rs - - d e s c r ip t io n a n dexp l ana t i on o f "na i ve" d i dac t i c t heo r i es ] . Z e i t s c h r ~ / t / ~ r P i i d a g o g i k , 2 5 . 191-208.Ach t enhagen . F . . Tramm, T . . P re i s s , P . , Seemann-Weymar , H . , John , E . G , & Schunck , A . (1992) . L e r n h a n d e l n mk o m p l e x e n S i t ua t i o n e n [Learn -ac t i ng i n com pl ex s i t ua t i ons] . Wi esb aden : Gab l er .Berryman, S. E. . & Bai ley . T. R. (1992) . T h e d o u b l e h el i x q [ e d u c a t i o n a n d t h e e c o n o m y . New York: The Inst i tu te onEducat i on and t he Economy, Teacher s Co l l ege , Co l umbi a Un i ver s i t y .

Bundesmi n i s t e r i um fo r B i l dung and Wi ssenschaf t (1990) . B e t r ie b l i ch e W e i t e rb i l du n g - - F o r s c h u n g s s t a n d u n dF o r s c h u n g s p e r s p e k t i v e n [Corpora t e t r a i n ing - - S t a t e -o f - t he-a~ and per sp ec t i ves o f r esearch ] . Bad Honn ef : Book .

Burke. J. (Ed.) (1995). O u t c o m e s . l e a r n in g a n d t h e c u rr i cu l u m - - h n p l i c a t t o n s J o r N V Q s , G N V Q s a n d o t h e r q u a li p ca -t i o n s . London : Fa l mer .D e u t s c h e F o r s c h u n g s g e m e i n s c h a f t ( 1 99 0 ). B e ru ]: ~ bi ld u n g, ~l or s ch u n g a n d e n H o c h s c h u l e n d e r B u n d e s r e p u b l i kD e u t s c h h m d [ R e s e a r c h o n v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n i n G e r m a n U n i v e r s it i es ] . W e i n h e i m : V C H

Dorig, R. (1994). D a s K o n z e p t d e r S c h l ii s s e / qu a l i fi l u lt i o n e n [The co ncep t o f key -qual i f i ca t ions ] . Hal l s tad t : Rosch .Grubb , W. N . (Ed) (1995a) . E d u c a t i o n t h n ~ u g h o t ' t 'u p a t i o n s i n A m e r i c a n h i g h s c h o o l s , V o l I . A p p r o a c h e s t o i n t e g ra t i n g

a c a d e m i c a n d v o c a t io n a l e d u c a t i on . New York : Teacher s Co l l ege Press .Grubb. W. N. (Ed.) (1995b) . E d u c a t i o n t h r o u g h o c c u p a t i o n s i n A m e r i c a n h i g h s c h o o l s . V ol 2 . T h e c h a l l e n g e s O li m p l e m e n t i n g c u r r i c u l u m i n t e g r a t i o n . New York . Teacher s Co l l ege Press .Huber t , L . J .. & Baker, E B . (1977). T he com par i son and f i tt i ng o f g i ven c l ass i fi ca t i on schem es . J o u r n a l ~ l M a t h e m a t i c a lP s y c h o l o g y . 1 6 . 2 3 3 - 2 5 3 .

Kin che loe. J . L. (1995). T o i l a n d t r o u b l e - - G o o d w o r k , .* m a rt w o r k e r s a n d t h e i n t e g r a t i o n ~ u t ' a d e m l c u t t d v o t 'a t l o n a le d u c a t i o n . New York: Pe t e r Lang .Levy, M. (1992). W o r k b u s e d l e a r n i n g : T o o l s J o r t r a n s i t u m . Br i s to l : S t a f f Co l l ege ,Low yck , J . , & E l en , J. ( 1994) . E u r o p e a n r e s e a r c h o n c o r p o r a t e t r a i n i n g . Paper p resen t ed a t t he AE RA Annual M eet i ng ,

New Or l eans .Mesenbr i nk , M. (1994) . E m p i r i s c h e U n t e r s u c h u n g ; ' u m i t a r b e i t e r - u n d u n t e r n e h m e n s o r i e n - t t e r t e n Z i e l e n d e rb e t r i e b l i c h e n W e l t e r b i l d u n g d a r g e s t e l l t a m B e i s p i e l [Empir ical invest igat ion on corporate t rain ing in a large regionalbank] . Go t t i ngen : Semi nar f i i r Wi nsshaf l sp t i dagog i k der Georg -Augus t -Un i ver s i t a t .

O l denburger , H- A, (1986) . Sub j ek t i ve Theo r i en i n Leh r -Lern -Proz essen - - Mi t t e l f r i s t ige Lbsung sansa t ze fo r e i n i geUberb r i i ckungsp rob l eme [Sub j ec t i ve t heo r i es i n t each i ng - l earn i ng p rocesses ] . I n H . Grosche l & G. Mi i l l e r -Gd t l e r(Eds. ) . S c h u l e r p e r s p e k t i v e i m S p o r t u n t e r r i c h t - - S t u d e n t e n p e r s p e k t i v e i m S p o r t l e h r e r s t u d i u m [Pupi l s ' perspect ives inspo r t s i n s t ruc t i on - - s t ude n t s ' per spec t i ves i n spo r t s i n s t ruc t o r t r a i n ing ] (pp . 3 -- -49 ). C l aus t haI -Zel le r f e l d : Deu t scheV ere i n i gung fo r Spor t wi ssenschaf l .

O l denburger H-A. , F rove l , W. . Kurzawa, B . , & Weymar , B . (1992) . Un t er r i ch t aus Schu l er s i ch t - - S t ruk t u re l l eInha l t sana l ysen , Net zwe rkerheb ung und -mode l l i e rung [S t uden t s ' v i ew o f i n s t ruc ti on - - S t ruc tu ra l con t en t an ', dysi sand ne t work i ng ] . In E Ach t enhagen & E. G . John (Eds . ) , M e h r d i m e n s i o n a l e L e h r - L e r n - A r r a n g e m e n t s[Mul t i d i mens i ona l t each i ng - l earn i ng a r r angemen t s ] (pp . 612 -621 ) . Wi esbaden : Gab l er .Pudenz, S. (1991). E m p i r i s c h e U n t e r s u c h u n g z u m i t a r b e it e r - u n d u n t e r n e h m e n s o r i e n t i e r t e n Z i e l e n d e r b e t r t e b l i ch e nW e i t e r b i l d u n g - - d a r g e s t e l l t a m B e i s p i e l [Empi r i ca l i nves t i ga t i on on per sona l and s t r a t eg i c goa l s o f co rpo ra t e t r a in i ngi n a l a rge i ndus t ri a l en t e rp r i se ] . G o t t i ngen : S em i nar f iJ r W i nschaf t sp f i dagog i k der Georg -Augus t -Un i ver si t ~ it .

Ree t z . L . (1990). Zu r Bede u t ung der Sch l i i s se l qua l f i ka ti onen in der Be ru f sausb i l dung [The i mpor t ance o f key -qual i l i ca t i ons fo r voca t i ona l educa t i on ] . In L . Ree t z & T. Rei t mann (Eds . ) . S c h l u s s e l q u a l i J i k a t u m e n[Key-qual i f i ca ti ons ] (pp . 16 -35 ) . H amburg : Fe l dhaus .Resn ick, L. B. , & W ir t. J . G. (Ed s. ) (1996). L i n k i n g s c h o o l a n d w o r k- ro l es ] ? J r s t a n d a r d s a n d a s s e s s m e n t . San Franc i sco :J o s s e y - B a s s .Schenk, S. (1993) . E m p i r i s c h e U n t e r ~ u c h u n g z u Z ie l e n d e r b e t r i e b l i c h e n W e i t e r b i l d u n g /i i r R e i s e v e r k e h rs k a u f l e u t e - -& J r g e s t e l l t a m B e i , w i e l [Empi r i ca l i nves t i ga t i on on goa l s o f co rpo ra t e t r a i n i ng o f empl oyees i n a t r ave l agency l .Go t t i ngen : Sem i nar fo r Wi r t schaft sp~i dagog i k der G eorg -Au gus t -Un i ve r s i t a t ,

Schon, I) . A. (1987). E d u c a t i n g t h e r e f l e c t i v e p r , , , ' t i t i o n e r . San Franc i sco : Jossey -Bass .


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Trainin g in Org anizations 4(11Schulz, H c1993). E tn p ir z. s ' ch e U n t e r s u c h u n g z u Z te l e n d e r b e t rt e b l ic ' h e n W e t t e r b i l d u n g - - & t r g e s t e ll t a m B e t s p i c l[Emp irical investigation on goals o f corporate training in an autom obile facto ry ] G 6n ing en : Seminar furWirtschaftsp~idagogikder G eorg-Aug ust-Universitlit.Wirth, A. G . (1992 ). E d u ~ ' a t i o n a n d ~,t'ork to r t h e y e a r 2 0 0 0 - - C h o i c e s w e .t o~ 'e . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.,Wittke, V. (1995). Wandel des deutschen P roduktionsmo dells: Beschleunlgungenoder Urnsteuem [Change of the Germanproduction mod el: Accelerating or Switching overl, In SOF I (Ed.), h n Z e ta ' h en d e s U m b r l , ' h s - - B e t t r a g e : u e tn t , t

a n d e r e n S t a n d o r t d e b a t t e [T im e of up heaval - - Contributions to a debate on industrial location] Ipp. 109-1241Opladen: Leske & Budrich

B i o g r a p h i e sF r a n k A c h t e n h a g e n is P r o f es s o r f l) r E c o n o m i c s a n d B u s i n e s s E d u c a t i o n a n d M a n a g e m e n tT r a i n in g a t th e G e o r g - A u g u s t - U n i v e r s i t y , G 6 t t i n g e n , G e r m a n y . H e is m e m b e r o f s e v e ra l r c se a rc hc o m m i t t e e s , e s p e c i a l l y f o r R e s e a r c h o n V o c a t i o n a l E d u c a t i o n in G e r m a n y . H i s r e s e a r c h i n te r e s tsa r c: te a c h i n g a n d [ e a r n i n g i n t h e f ie l d o f e c o n o m i c s a n d b u s i n e s s e d u c a t i o n a n d m a n a g e m e n tt r a in i n g i n s c h o o l s an d e n t e r p r i s e s , l o n g - t e r m s t u d i e s o n t e a c h i n g - l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s c s , c u r r ic u l u md e v e l o p m e n t w i t h th e g o a l o f d e v e l o p i n g e c o n o m i c c o m p e t e n c e , d e v e l o p m e n t o f m c a s u r c s a ndp r o c e d u r e s o f p e r f o r m a n c e a s s e s s m e n t : d e v e l o p m e n t o f v ir tu a l e n v i r o n m e n t s a n d m u l t im e d i ae q u i p m e n t .H a r t m u t - A . O l d e n b i J r g e r is S e n i o r L e c t u r e r a n d R e s e a r c h e r . I n s ti t u te f o r E c o n o m i c s a n d B u s i n e s sE d u c a t i o n , U n i v e r s i t y o f G 6 t t i n g e n , G e r m a n y . H i s r e s e a rc h i n t e r e s ts ar e e d u c a t i o n a l p s y c h o l -o g y , e m p i r i c a l r e s e a r c h m e t h o d o l o g y , e . g . , i n v e s t i g a t io n o f c o g n i t i v e s t r u ct u r e s b y m u l t i -r e l a t io n a l s y s t e m s ; c o n s t r u c t i o n a n d e v a l u a t i o n o f r e s a m p l i n g p r o c e d u r e s { r a n d o m i z a ti o n - t e s ts ,b o o t s t r a p p i n g ) f o r c o m p l e x s t a t is t i c a l i n d i c e s, s tr u c t u r e s a n d h y p o t h e s e s : d e v e l o p m e n t a n d e v a l u -a t i o n o f h y p e r m e d i a l l e a rn i n g e n v i r o n m e n t s .

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