bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A unifying definition for the human resource development profession
Authors: Chalofsky Neal 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe human resource development field has long been struggling to develop an identity as a profession, especially in terms of its applied and interdisciplinary nature. One of the more debated issues in the field has been the need for a unifying definition that would not only provide a focus for the development of the profession but would also set limits on the boundaries of the field. This article presents a justification for a unifying definition, a history of the existing definitions of HRD, and several common themes or patterns found in these definitions and other literature in the field. The author proposes a unifying definition that would provide a vision for the profession and identifies several “next steps” that the field should consider in its quest for professional recognition and growth.
Development and selection of multinational expatriates
Authors: Haslberger Arno , Stroh Linda K. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis study examined issues surrounding the development and selection of managers for overseas assignment by surveying twenty‐four multinational publicly held corporations. Findings from the study showed that 54 percent of the companies studied failed to have a program that actively developed potential expatriates. Despite these companies' reliance on international transfer of managers, 50 percent did not assess a person's suitability for a foreign assignment as part of the hiring process. Study findings also note that human resource specialists are often untrained in the global selection process. Recommendations from the study included (1) having a human resource professional trained in international issues supervise the selection process from the start, (2) including the family in the selection process and (3) using psychological tests to measure ability to deal with alienation and isolation, tolerance for ambiguity, and open‐mindedness.
An examination of leadership development in the great outdoors
Authors: Stoltz Paul G. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis study examined the efficacy of one particular approach to leadership development: outdoor experience‐based training and development (EBTD). Two sections of Voyageur Outward Bound School's Professional Development Program were selected for analysis. To overcome the methodological shortcomings of previous research in this area, several methods of data gathering were employed. Qualitative data revealed a substantial number of leadership skills that the programs intended their participants to develop. Differences between the two sections in energy level, quality of facilitation, and depth of processing were observed. Quantitatively, neither group demonstrated significant change on the Leadership Profile questionnaire at the .05 level. The two groups, statistically combined, demonstrated a significant negative change in two of the six dimensions of the questionnaire. They did not demonstrate positive change in the areas that Outward Bound suggested they would.
Employee decisions to enroll in microcomputer training
Authors: Martocchio Joseph J. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis study examined (1) factors related to employee decisions to enroll in microcomputer training courses and valence, or anticipated satisfaction, with training, and (2) possible age differences in individual decisions and valence. Thirty‐seven university support staff employees participated. Participants made hypothetical decisions about enrolling in microcomputer training based on course announcements that varied in six factors: cost of training, learning, career advancement potential, job performance impact, personal growth, and course level. Participants were asked to rate their valence for the training based on each description. Substantial individual differences were found in valence and individual decisions to take training. Younger employees were more likely to take microcomputer training and indicated higher valence than older employees.
Invited reaction: Employer training—Is a mandated tax the only solution?
Authors: Lynch Lisa M. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractA variety of federal options could be pursued to stimulate employer‐provided training. However, relying exclusively on a mandated training tax to meet all of the training needs of new entrants, currently employed workers, displaced workers, and the unemployed seems unrealistic. A broader menu of options and initiatives will need to be created to address the training needs of these groups of workers and of the diverse firms where they work.
Cost‐effectiveness evaluation of decentralized international technical training
Authors: Johnson David A. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractA cost‐effective approach to upgrading the technical skills of part of its international work force was successfully applied by a major manufacturer of engine‐driven power production equipment. Decentralized training was used by the midwestern U.S. corporation to bring needed product support information to its Latin American distributor service personnel. Postcourse assessment revealed a significant improvement in student knowledge and skill level as a result of the decentralized training. This application primarily involved service technicians, but the decentralized training concept could also be applied to marketing and sales personnel. Other international corporations may benefit from this practical, cost‐effective approach.
Effects of organizational, training system, and individual characteristics on training director scanning practices
Authors: Ford J. Kevin , Major Debra A. , Seaton Felicia W. , Felber Helene Krifcher 
Published: July 2007

AbstractA training plan identifies which work groups and individuals need training and what types of training are required. The usefulness of a training plan is, in part, a function of the scanning process used by training personnel to acquire information relevant for identifying training needs. For the present study, survey data were obtained from the CEOs and the training directors of 193 manufacturing companies to investigate the scanning process and the factors that might affect that process. Results indicated that training directors differed in terms of the proactiveness of information searched, the sources of information used, and the types (or content) of information considered to identify training needs. Regression analyses indicated that the centrality of training to the top decision‐making body of the firm was a critical factor in obtaining training‐needs information from a variety of sources and content areas. Practical implications of the results are provided and future research needs specified.
Final word: Scanning construct and its relationship to continuous learning
Authors: Major Debra A. , Ford J. Kevin , Felber Helene Krifcher 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis response has three objectives. The first is to reiterate our conceptualization of the scanning construct and to distinguish it from the potential determinants of scanning. The second is to reinforce Torraco's recommendation regarding the investigation of the antecedents of training centrality. Finally, we present an expanded view of the training function, drawing a link between centrality and movement toward a continuous‐learning philosophy in organizations.
Employer satisfaction ratings of recent business graduates
Authors: Davison Leslie J. , Brown James M. , Davison Mark L. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis study examined employer opinions of strengths and weaknesses of business graduates hired during the previous three years. A total of 176 personnel officers from a national sample responded to the survey. In contrast to the literature, the respondents expressed a high degree of overall satisfaction with recent business hires. Employers were satisfied in thirty‐five areas. The eleven areas of greatest satisfaction were (1) punctuality, (2) honesty, (3) professional grooming, (4) ethical behavior, (5) dependability, (6) willingness to work hard, (7) commitment to lifelong learning, (8) pride in work quality, (9) ability to get along well with others, (10) sound academic training, and (11) good work habits. The five areas in which the greatest dissatisfaction existed were rank‐ordered as follows: (1) desktop publishing background, (2) realistic expectations about advancement, (3) realistic expectations about starting salary, (4) a computer graphics background, and (5) writing effectiveness.
Management development programs: The effects of management level and corporate strategy
Authors: Blakely Gerald L , Martinec Cindy Lee , Lane Michael S. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractIn this study of 155 organizations, the relationship between management development programs, managerial level, and organizational strategy was examined. Limited support was established for Katz's theory about skill requirements for managers (1974). Greater emphasis was placed on technical skills at lower management levels and on entrepreneurial skills at senior management levels. A relationship between corporate strategy and the focus of management development programs also was found. Although organizations with growth strategies focused on many management development areas to a greater extent than did organizations with stability or retrenchment strategies, there were no differences in the focus on ethical decision making or technical‐skills training between the three strategies. Implications for management and for future research are also discussed.
Management training: An impact theory
Authors: Berardinelli Paula K. , Burrow James L. , Dillon Jones Linda S. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractA theory of the impact of management training on organizational performance has been constructed according to Dubin's theory‐building process (1978). To develop and validate the theory, a review of the literature on the transfer of training and its impact, a case‐study methodology including focus group interviews with managers in a Fortune 500 company, and structured evaluations by panels of management and training experts were used. The proposed theory expands upon previous conceptualizations of impact by exploring the relationships between learning experience, individual characteristics, and work environment. The theory‐building process details the transformation and combination of these variables into testable hypotheses to predict the impact of training variables on organizational performance.
Partnerships for training transfer: Lessons from a corporate study
Authors: Brinkerhoff Robert O. , Montesino Max U. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis study explores the impact of two management interventions, a pre‐training expectations discussion and an after‐training follow‐up discussion, on the transfer of skills from training programs to the work situation. Ninety‐one trainees in five skill development courses in a Fortune 200 company in Michigan participated in this study. For each course, the trainees were randomly assigned to two groups: (1) those whose managers provided the specified pre‐ and postsession interventions and (2) those whose managers did not provide them. Comparisons were made to see which group reported more instances of training transfer and selected transfer‐related factors. The results showed significantly higher training usage and a more positive perception regarding the forces that encourage transfer of training within the work environment among the trainees who received the management support interventions. On the other hand, the trainees who did not receive management support reported lower training usage and perceived more forces mitigating against transfer. The findings provide further evidence that support provided by managers before and after training leads to greater transfer of training. The study recommends building strong trainer‐manager‐trainee partnerships in the phases before, during, and after training.
Outcome comparisons of formal outplacement services and informal support
Authors: Davy Jeanette A. , Anderson Joe S. , Dimarco Nicholas 
Published: July 2007

AbstractWhite‐collar workers were surveyed approximately three months and six months following layoffs. Approximately half of the respondents received extensive outplacement assistance while the remaining respondents, not having formal outplacement available, participated in an informal social support group sponsored by the community. Results indicate that individuals receiving formal outplacement training had higher job search self‐efficacy and were more optimistic regarding recovery from job loss than were those going to the informal social support group. While no differences were observed between the two groups on the number of job offers received after three months, members of the social support group appear to have the advantage in finding jobs comparable to their previous jobs. These findings and their implications are discussed.
The impact of ideology on development in the third world
Authors: Tordoff William 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis article discusses the meaning of ‘ideology’ and ‘development’ and the relationship betwen them. It examines external constraints on development, including dependence on the industrialized West and the crippling burden of debt servicing, and the issue of privatization, which is seen as cutting across the ideological boundaries separating capitalist and socialist states. It also reviews internal constraints on development, such as the shortage of essential skills and the adoption of policies favouring the urban areas, and argues that they are largely independent of ideological considerations. It maintains that the apparent strength of the movement towards de‐ideologization in Africa may not prove permanent.
Environmental economics and international aid
Authors: Highton Nick 
Published: July 2007

AbstractIn recent years concern over environmental issues have moved high up the political agenda. This has accelerated particularly in the run up to the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development. Two sets of concerns have dominated attention: the problem of degrading environments within developing countries and global issues such as climate change and ozone depletion. The prime focus of attention in the developing countries has traditionally been on the former. Concerns over the latter originated primarily in the industrialised world but the issue is now recognised to have important implications also for the developing countries. New aid mechanisms are being formed to assist these countries address global environmental issues. This paper discusses economic approaches to assessing environmental impacts and attempts to examine the trade‐offs which developing countries face in addressing national as compared international environmental problems.
Should aid be used for debt buy‐backs?
Authors: Faber Mike 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThere is disagreement between different aid agencies and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) and amongst academics about the efficacy of using foreign aid to enable Third World governments to buy back portions of their own external debt. This article describes four hypothetical transactions and uses them to examine the main issues and arguments. The many different motives which may give rise to a buy‐back make it difficult to use any one technique to appraise their development effectiveness. The article then considers the use of buy‐backs to assist the private sector in LDCs and to reduce the claims of a donor government's own agencies. An interpretation is offered of the UK government's policies towards the use of aid for debt reduction supplemented by reference to the strategy designed for dealing with part of Zambia's debt and the description of the deficits of the Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) as ‘unintended past aid’. In the light of these interpretations the original question is reconsidered.
Should aid donors support economic and social research?
Authors: Gregory N. F. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractAid donors devote substantial sums to economic and social research. This is justified by its contribution to development. Aid agencies should act as agents for the intended beneficiaries of research, principally LDC policy‐makers. The research agenda should reflect the perspectives of both researchers and beneficiaries. Due to market failure, donors need to support research capacity. They can do this through their funding policy towards individual research projects, support for broader programmes of research, or by lump‐sum financing of research institutions. The location of research affects its contribution to development: there may be a trade‐off between quality of research and other objectives.
The prebisch‐singer terms of trade controversy revisited
Authors: Sapsford D. , Sarkar P. , Singer H. W. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe controversy surrounding the long‐run trend in the terms of trade between primary products and manufactured goods is a topic which continues to attract considerable research attention. This paper provides a detailed review of the controversy and offers a re‐examination of the statistical evidence. The results reported in this paper raise serious doubts regarding Cuddington and Urzua's (1989) conclusion that, apart from an abrupt drop after 1920, the net barter terms of trade have been trendless over the twentieth century.
Assessing the impact of NGO rural poverty alleviation programmes: Evidence from South India
Authors: Robinson Mark A. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractNGO poverty alleviation programmes are often compared favourably with those of governments in terms of their ability to reach and benefit the rural poor. This paper draws on the evidence of four detailed evaluations of NGO credit and income‐generation programmes in south India to examine the basis for such comparisons. From these assessments it concludes that the NGOs were able to raise the economic status of the poor, but that it proved difficult to reach the very poorest sections of rural communities through such interventions. The implications of these findings are that other types of intervention may be more appropriate for the poorest, and that NGOs need to strengthen their research and appraisal capacity to enhance their effectiveness in alleviating poverty.
Generalization in rural development: Eleven villages in South Gujarat, India
Authors: George Shanti 
Published: July 2007

AbstractSweeping generalizations are often heard about ‘the rural impact’ of some developmental intervention: one notable case is that of dairy cooperatives in India. This paper examines the dairy cooperatives in 11 villages of one sub‐district in western India, and finds such great variations between them that it could be argued that the cooperative was 11 different institutions in these villages. Generalizations can, however, be put forward about the relation of dairy cooperatives in these villages to hierarchies of caste, agrarian class and gender, but through a focus on the latter variables rather than on dairy co‐operatives as prime movers of change.
Technical change, productivity, and sustainability in irrigated cropping systems of South Asia: Emerging issues in the post‐green revolution Era
Authors: Byerlee Derek 
Published: July 2007

AbstractRecent trends in the productivity of South Asia's irrigated cropping systems are reviewed with emphasis on the large, densely populated Indo‐Gangetic plains of Pakistan and India and parts of Bangladesh, where wheat is an important crop. Technical and institutional problems emerging in these areas may seriously impinge on the ability to maintain the gains in food‐grain productivity and sustain the resource base in the next two decades. Future productivity increases in South Asian cropping systems depend on a new strategy that implies profound changes in agricultural research priorities and in the institutions that foster technical change in agriculture.
Monitoring and evaluation in agricultural and rural development projects: Lessons and learning
Authors: Coleman Gilroy 
Published: July 2007

AbstractProject M&E systems are a requirement of most major funding agencies and result from a concern that many projects fail because they are badly managed. However, M&E systems themselves have a poor record. This paper argues (a) that project design is a significant factor in project failure and (b) that the over‐ambitious terms of reference for M&E systems contribute to their failure. Technical issues may permit managers to ignore M&E information, but these issues may not be as important as the potential threat which information may represent. Progress is being made in addressing these issues but M&E has been slow to learn from its own experience.
Macroeconomic adjustments, economic growth and the balance of payments in Ghana, 1983‐88
Authors: Kusi Newman Kwadwo 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis paper seeks to investigate the manner in which, and the extent to which, Ghana adjusted to its economic imbalances in the 1983–88 period. The analysis involves a decomposition of the adjustment process into absorption reduction, switching and growth of traded goods output. The results show that successful adjustment to the external imbalance was achieved not so much by absorption reduction but by the expansion of traded goods output and switch of domestic expenditure in favour of non‐tradeable goods and services. The expansion of traded goods output was also the major source of increased domestic output and income during the period. Despite the considerable progress made, the growth of the economy is yet to become self‐sustaining based on the strength of domestic savings and private investment.
The appropriate role of agricultural insurance in developing countries
Authors: Hazell Peter B. R. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractMultiple‐risk crop insurance programmes have proven expensive to governments but have not lived up to their expectations. Many agricultural risks cannot be insured on a financially sound basis, but there is scope for increased insurance of farm assets, of the life and health of rural people, and of some specific perils that affect crop and livestock yields. Such insurance could be efficiently provided by the private sector if governments were to remove some of the important constraints impinging on commercial insurers. The greatest challenge is to find ways of insuring low‐income rural households against natural hazards on a financially sound basis. Simple lottery schemes that provide insurance against catastrophic weather events (e.g. drought or flood) recorded at regional weather stations might prove effective.