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April, 2006
Volume 45 / Number 4
Editor's Notes: Using HPT for Knowledge Management and Capacity Building
by Holly Burkett, CPT, MA, SPHR
Commentary -- Performance Consulting: The Art and the Science
by Dana Gaines Robinson and James C. Robinson
What You Already Know Does Matter: Expertise and
Electronic Performance Support Systems
by Frank Nguyen
One important factor to consider when analyzing a performance problem is the performer's level of expertise. Numerous research studies have found that certain instructional methods and media may enhance learning for novice performers but may actually depress learning as performers become more advanced. This concept, known as the
expertise-reversal effect, can also be applied to another common information intervention: Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS). This article outlines several guidelines that should be considered when implementing EPSS while paying particular attention to the performers' level of expertise.
Measuring Service Industry Performance: Some Basic Concepts
by John R. Schultz
Service organizations can apply measurement, data collection, and analysis to improve planning and decision making. The techniques used are simple and easy to understand. They provide data that reflect system conditions, which can be used to monitor and improve operations so outcomes meet customer expectations. This how-to article discusses things to consider when working with data and selecting performance measures. Practical concepts regarding planning for data collection, data collection, and data interpretation are also described. Examples illustrate practical techniques for collecting and managing data.
The Influence of Organizational and Human Resource Management
Strategies on Performance
by Raduan Che Rose, PhD, and Naresh Kumar, PhD
A data set of 42 Japanese multinational corporations operating in Malaysia shows that there are significant relationships among three major variables: organizational strategies, human resource practices, and firm performance. Significantly, the findings reflect that firms that believe in Human Resource Management (HRM)
values -- whereby they view people as source of competitive advantage and at the same time adopt differentiation
strategies -- are more likely to use high-involvement HRM strategies. Both differentiation and response speed strategies have significant impact on firm performance, even though differentiation strategies tend to have stronger effects. Most importantly, it was proven that firms with high involvement HRM strategies significantly correlate with firm performance.
Waking Up to the World-Multi-mapping as an Instructional Design Approach
by George F. Simons
World maps communicate the values, perspective, priorities, and viewpoint of the mapmakers who create them. The messages that maps send are powerful and often below our conscious awareness. Here is an innovative approach to using physical maps as a tool to communicate cultural embeddedness, bias, and the need to explore the assumptions and to cultivate empathy with others from diverse countries or organizational cultures. The world map is a learning instrument to help managers and employees understand the implications and demands of an increasingly globalized work environment. The maps provided with this article also provide a way to overcome a European- and North American-centric worldview, as we train people to "go global" and come to grips with cultural differences in our extended human enterprises.
Charting the Effects of Improving Instruction -- College Seniors
Learning to Write Lesson Plans
by Susan Pass, EdD
College seniors enrolled in a social studies education program had a statistically significant increase in their ability to write adequate lesson plans when taught by use of a rubric, template, and computer-led instruction. The increase in achievement also resulted in a statistically significant increase in students' perceptions of their own interest and motivation in learning how to teach. Finally, the higher grades on the lesson plan assignment also resulted in statistically significant increases in students' perception of professor and course effectiveness. While this study was conducted with social studies education majors, the results are pertinent to those involved in other disciplines that seek to enhance student and/or employee learning and achievement.
Beyond Mere Competency: Measuring Proficiency with
Outcome Proficiency Indicator Scales
by Sharon L. Gander, CPT, MEd
This article introduces a methodology for driving out work elements that demonstrate complex integration of behaviors across domains and gains in proficiency over time. Using the Taxonomy of Proficiency to create a scale of proficiency indicators specific to work opens the door to tracking behavioral change in relationship to performance interventions. It also allows for customization of work and high-speed change in work and aligns learning with work metrics through work outcomes that describe work and indicator scales that describe increasing proficiency over time. This is the second of two articles on the new Taxonomy of Proficiency and rubrics for measuring proficiency at work.
Book Review -- Simulations and the Future of Learning: An Innovative
(and Perhaps Revolutionary) Approach to e-Learning
by Clark Aldrich
reviewed by James Lane
Executive Summaries
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