Chapter 2 Homework Assignment

How would you expect the training activities of a company that is dominant in its product market to differ from those of a company that emphasizes research and development? I would expect that training for product market would train on ways to catch the buyers attention and sell the product to those buyers. I would expect that training for research and development would train on how to minimize costs and raise productivity and quality.

What do you think is the most important organizational characteristic that influences training? Why? I believe that the Roles of Managers are the most important organizational characteristics, because without motivation, examples of excellence, and sometimes an attitude adjustment the work environment could become hostile or workers could become too laid back.

What is human capital? How is human capital influencing the changing role of training from skill and knowledge acquisition to creating and sharing knowledge? Human capital is the sum of the attributes, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, energy, and enthusiasm that a company's employees invest in their work. Noe says, "Creating and sharing knowledge refers to companies' development of human capital...the greatest value for the business may be created by having employees understand the manufacturing or service process and the interrelationships between departments and divisions as well as motivating them to deliver high-quality products and services. To create and share knowledge, companies have to provide the physical space and technology to encourage employee collaboration and knowledge sharing."

How could SWOT analysis be used to align training activities with business strategies and goals? The SWOT analysis points out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that a company is currently facing. Businesses should assign activities that will allow for a continuation of the strengths, and practice or fix the weaknesses so that in the future they will become strengths. The business should assign activities that train to create their opportunities and protect them from their threats.

What are the training implications of the increased use of teams to manufacture products or provide services? The more people, to an extent, you have on your team should improve the quality and quantity of the products being made, because you can learn from each others mistakes and use each others knowledge.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a centralized training function? Advantages/Disadvantages- I believe that all the characteristics of a centralized training function could be good or bad depending on the organization of the company. Noe says, "Training and development programs, resources, and professionals are primarily housed in one location and that decisions about training investment, programs, and delivery methods are made from that department." Noe says, "A centralized training function helps drive stronger alignment with business strategy, allows development of a common set of metrics or scorecards to measure and report rates of quality and delivery, helps to streamline processes, and gives the company a cost advantage in purchasing training from vendors and consultants because of the number of trainees who will by involved. Finally, a centralized training function helps companies better integrate programs for developing leaders and managing talent with training and learning during times of change."