Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the amount of training received by employees; the extent to which individuals are dissatisfied with the training they receive; and employee perceptions of the extent to which the skill levels they possess are higher than/lower than those required to do their jobs. Design/methodology/approach: A…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the benefits of pre-employment education and training and its impact on the students' choice of career paths. It focuses on a programme delivered in partnership between Teesside University and a North East Police Force, and provides a model for future pre-employment education and training.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss whether the availability of qualifications through work-based traineeships in Australia assists social inclusion. Design/methodology/approach: Industry case studies, of the finance and cleaning industries, were undertaken as part of a national research project on quality in traineeships. The two…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to discuss conditions in support of a Competent Self in the broader process of the school-work transition, particularly regarding early school-leavers. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 233 early school-leavers were followed in innovative and successful vocational training courses. Using a…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to examine the ways in which Australian companies can achieve high quality apprenticeship and traineeship systems in a time of labour shortage through close attention to the recruitment and development of apprentices and trainees. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on six qualitative case studies…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a prospective entrepreneurship training model based on experiential learning which will enable the "production" of small business owners or entrepreneurs which is not being achieved by the current methods. Design/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual paper. It analyses the current…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present empirical evidence outlining the ways in which small businesses orientate themselves towards the training market. The primary aim is to illuminate the factors influencing small firms' (non-) participation in formal, externally-provided training. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected via…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the contradictions in the current maritime education and training system (MET), which is based on competency-based education, training and assessment, and to theorize the failure to make the training useful. Design/methodology/approach: A case study of education and training in the international…

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the influence of a range of contingent factors that moderate the approaches to training in manufacturing SMEs. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on a regression analysis of data from a survey of 198 manufacturing SMEs. Findings: The findings suggest that there will be times when formal training…

This paper assesses the contribution of management training and development programmes (MTPs) to the development of managerial skills in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Different sets of variables were used to explore the managers' skills development by dividing the managerial skills into three main categories: self, people, and task-related…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the debate surrounding quality of training as it has unfolded in Australia and how concerns about high non-completion rates have entered the debate. Design/methodology/approach: This paper bases its discussion of quality in VET training on analysis of qualitative data collected from focus groups and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the statistical evidence for the extent of employer training in Australia and analyse this information in the light of three major qualitative projects that have been undertaken into employer training since the mid-1990s. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reports an analysis of the major…

Details a pilot customer service training scheme at Paramount Hotels, which leads to a National Vocational Qualification level 3 in customer services. Describes how the training was designed and delivered, and furnishes the views of Paramount Hotels and some of the participants.

This paper presents various approaches to studying cultures of different countries. The starting point is Hofstede's dimensions of cultural values as well as Hall's approach to high- and low-context cultures. After that the interaction between culture and organizational behavior is discussed. A special attention to the impact of culture on…

Purpose: The paper alerts small business employers to new dictates of the Disability Discrimination Act (2005) as it applies to learning disabilities. Then the "Learning to Work" project featured in the paper offers small business employers a set of approaches and methods for the identification of a learning-disabled young adult…