Evaluating Corporate Training: Models and Issues

Evaluating Corporate Training: Models and Issues

Evaluation in Education and Human Services Editors: George F. Madaus, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Daniel L. Stufflebeam, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A. Other books in the series: Smith,M.: Evaluability Assessment Ayers,1. and Berney, M.: A Practical Guide to Teacher Education Evaluation Hambleton, Rand Zaal, I.: Advances in Educational and Psychological Testing Gifford, B. and O'Connor, M.: Changing Assessments Gifford, B.: Policy Perspectives on Educational Testing Basarab, D. and Root, D.: The Training Evaluation Process Haney, W.M., Madaus, G.F. and Lyons, R.: The Fractured Marketplace for Standardized Testing Wing, L.C. and Gifford, B.: Policy Issues in Employment Testing Gable, RE.: Instrument Development in the Affective Domain (2nd Edition) Kremer-Hayon, L.: Teacher Self-Evaluation Payne, David A.: Designing Educational Project and Program Evaluations Oakland T. and Hambleton, R: International Perspectives on Academic Assessment Nettles, M.T. and Nettles, A.L.: Equity and Excellence in Educational Testing and Assessment Shinkfield, A.I. and Stufflebeam, D.L.: Teacher Evaluation: Guide to Effective Practice Birenbaum, M. and Dochy, Filip 1.R.C.: Alternatives in Assessment of Achievements. Learning Processes and Prior Knowledge Mulder, M., Nijhof, W.I., Brinkerhoff, RO.: Corporate Trainingfor Effective Performance Britton, E.D. and Raizen, S.A.: Examining the Examinations Candoli, c., Cullen, K. and Stufflebeam, D.: Superintendent Performance Evaluation

Evaluating Corporate Training: Models and Issues edited by Stephen M. Brown Sacred Heart University and Constance J. Seidner Digital Equipment Corporation SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Evaluating corporate training / edited by Stephen M. Brown and Constance J. Seidner. p. cm. IncIudes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-94-010-6031-8 ISBN 978-94-011-4850-4 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-4850-4 1. Employees--Training of--evaluation. 2. Personnel management - Research--Methodology. I. Brown, Stephen M. (Stephen Michael), 1950-. 11. Seidner, Constance J. HF5549.5.T7E883 1997 973'.0496073' 0082--dc21 97-36963 CIP Copyright 1998 by Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York in 1998 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1998 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written perm iss ion of the publisher, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Printed on acid-free paper.

Contents Acknowledgments Preface Section I-The Context of Evaluation 1 The Changing Context of Practice vii ix 1 3 Stephen M. Brown 2 Organizational Strategy and Training Evaluation 19 Carol Ann Moore and Constance J. Seidner 3 What Stakeholders Want to Know 41 Oliver W. Cummings 4 The Learning Organization: Implications for Training 63 Barry Sugarman Section II-Models of Evaluation 5 The Four Levels of Evaluation 93 95 Donald L. Kirkpatrick 6 Level 4 and Beyond: An ROI Model 113 Jack J. Phillips 7 Clarifying and Directing Impact Evaluation 141 Robert O. Brinkerhoff 8 Formative Evaluation 167 Wilbur Parrott

vi 9 Assessing Employee Competencies 183 Susan Ennis 10 The Organizational Action Research Model 209 Mort Elfenbein, Stephen M. Brown and Kim Knight Section III-Issues in Evaluation 11 The Ethics of Evaluating Training 235 237 Patricia A. Lawler 12 Cultural Dimensions of Evaluation 257 Sadie Burton-Goss and Michael Kaska 13 Impact of Technology on Training Evaluation 279 Hallie Ephron Touger 14 Design Team Performance: Metrics and the Impact of Technology 297 Larry Leifer 15 Using Quality to Drive Evaluation: A Case Study 321 David J. Basarab 16 Certification: Business and Legal Issues 337 Ernest S. Kahane and William McCook 17 Lessons from Education 359 Jean Moon Subject Index 379

Acknowledgments We would like to express our appreciation and thanks to a number of people who helped make this book possible. First and foremost we thank our authors for sharing their considerable expertise and insights. We appreciate the professionalism, responsiveness, and commitment of time and energy they have demonstrated throughout the process. Zachary Rolnik and Suzanne Rumsey of Kluwer Academic Publishers were helpful and supportive. Laura Gerhard and Susan Griffith from Lesley College, and Dr. Howard H. Brown from Bradford College provided much appreciated assistance. We also thank George F. Madaus and Daniel L. Stufflebeam, editors of the Evaluation in Education and Human Services series for the opportunity to edit this book. Finally, we want to thank our families, Robert, David, and Glen Seidner and Kathy, Jonathan, and Jared Brown for their support, patience, and understanding throughout this endeavor.

Preface We are glad to have the opportunity to work together again in the planning and preparation of this edited volume on the evaluation of corporate training. Our respective professional careers have provided us with experience in this area, both as practitioners and as academicians. It is from both of these perspectives that we approached the preparation of this volume. Our purpose is to provide training professionals in business and industry, and students of human resources development with an overview of current models and issues in educational evaluation. The book is organized around three themes: context, models, and issues. The chapters in the context section are intended to provide the reader with an understanding of the social, organizational, and interpersonal factors that provide background and give meaning to evaluation practice. The models section brings together contributions from some of the most influential thinkers and practitioners in the field. The chapters in this section provide perspective on the dominant themes and emergent trends from individuals who have been, and continue to be, the drivers of those trends. Contributions to the issues section highlight some pervasive themes as well as illuminate new areas of concern and interest that will affect how we assess learning interventions in the organizations of today and tomorrow. We believe that evaluation is a tool to improve the practice of training and institutionalization of learning in business and industry. We hope this book will

x provide students of educational evaluation, practitioners in training functions, their managers, and other HRD professionals with insights that will advance the profession and the clients it serves.