Strategic Study for Managing the Portfolio of IT Courses Offered by a Corporate Training Company: An Approach in the Light of the ELECTRE-MOr Multicriteria Hybrid Method

The globalization of business and the consequent exposure to global competition, besides the economic and social changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic made the Training & Development (T&D) sector increasingly important for professionals in the corporate environment. In this sense, managing stakeholders and a portfolio of clients, as well as analyzing the relationship between customer and service, are necessary and strategic for the success of professional training organizations. This paper aims to support the strategic process of portfolio formation of T&D courses offered by a company in the Information Technology (IT) training sector in Brazil, through the application of the ELECTRE-MOr multicriteria sorting method. We have obtained a categorization of several courses, aiming to define which ones should be prioritized, maintained, or discarded by the company’s management. The results showed that, among the analyzed courses, only 17% should be prioritized, 61% maintained, and 22% discarded by the company.

Business Strategy Formulation for Training Company in Captive Market

This study aims to formulate a business strategy at a training company (PT PTC) as a lead training provider in facing competition in the Pertamina Group market (captive) and in the non-captive market. The internal business environment was identified using VRIO analysis and evaluated using the IFE Matrix, while the external business environment was identified using Porter's Five Forces and evaluated using the EFE Matrix. The formulation of alternative business strategies in the PTC training business unit is carried out using the SWOT Matrix which is then outlined in the business strategy implementation roadmap. The results showed that PT PTC's training business unit was in a position to grow and develop with good internal capabilities in using strengths and minimizing weaknesses (score 2,570), and in a strong position to respond to opportunities and threats (score 3,042). The results of the VRIO analysis obtained 4 future competencies for strategy formulation on the SWOT Matrix and obtained 9 alternative intensive strategies in the form of market penetration strategies, market and product development as well as 1 horizontal integration strategy, then ranked using QSPM for a roadmap of PTC training business strategy implementation in 5 years front.

The collaboration between Swiss initial vocational education and training partners: perceptions of apprentices, teachers, and in-company trainers

This study aims to investigate the Swiss initial vocational education and training (IVET) partnership from the perspective of several stakeholders on the ground. Collaboration between stakeholders is essential in dual IVET to connect school- and workplace-based learning and to ensure the quality of the entire system. However, such collaboration can be challenging, given the different epistemic natures of the school and the training company. Apprentices, that regularly cross the boundaries of vocational school and training company, often struggle to connect the learnings that they have acquired from both places. Adopting a boundary crossing perspective, we explore perceptions of IVET partnership in terms of challenges and learning opportunities for the stakeholders on the ground. We realized focus groups with apprentices, vocational teachers, and in-company trainers (N = 64) from several professional fields. The data were analyzed in an inductive and deductive manner, using a thematic analysis. The main results highlight that the participants consider the collaboration between stakeholders to be weak: the links between schools and training companies appear to be scarce and not supported by explicit or formal strategies. Further, the apprentices act as brokers, but they are often not supported in connecting school- and workplace-based learning. These results can provide new insights into how the IVET partnership could be designed.

Training Company Self-Organization

Autopoiesis is identified in the chapter with the concept of self-organization, understood as an attribute of autopoiesis. The purpose of the chapter is to present the idea of self-organization in business on the example of a training company. The case study method was used to present ways of restructuring a company under the influence of the pandemic crisis in 2020. The case study has a theoretical character and is a contribution to knowledge in the form of a description of the phenomenon studied. The choice of the company was determined by its good financial situation despite the economic slowdown in the country, innovative business culture, and the culture of risks management. The conclusions of the study allowed to explain phenomena that may be valuable to another organization, as an example of recommendations or comparative actions leading to a state of self-sufficiency.

Motivating styles in dual, initial vocational education and training

In Switzerland, individuals who follow the typical dual form of an initial vocational education and training (VET) programme to learn a trade do so at two main learning sites: a training company and a vocational school. In this context, apprentices’ motivations differ noticeably between the school and the training company. Based on the self-determination theory constructs of motivating styles, basic psychological needs, and autonomous versus controlled motivations, this study aims to understand how apprentices perceive their teachers’ and trainers’ motivating styles, control and autonomy support at the two learning sites. Three hundred and twenty apprentices provided written answers to open-ended questions. We coded the data using thematic analysis. While the exercise of control appeared to be rather similar at the two learning sites, autonomy support varied greatly. At the vocational school, autonomy support was expressed through teachers’ listening skills and availability; at the training company, it was related to independence and equal recognition of apprentices and employees. The apprentices perceived teachers as having a more controlled motivating style and in-company trainers as having a more autonomy-supportive style. At the school, control was described primarily as organisational pressure and teachers’ demands, whereas, at the training company, it was reflected in a lack of recognition and thankless tasks. We discuss the relationship between motivating styles and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs in the context of dual VET.

Expansive Learning Process of Exercise Organizers: The Case of Major Fire Incident Exercises in Underground Mines

A major fire incident in a Swedish underground mine made the personnel from the mining company and the rescue service realize their limited preparedness. It was the beginning of a collaboration project that included the development of a new exercise model for a more effective joint rescue operation practice. The aim of this study was to explore the collaborative learning process of exercise organizers from the rescue service, mining companies, the emergency medical service, a training company, and academia. The analysis was performed through the application of the theory cycle of expansive learning to the material consisting of documents from 16 collaboration meetings and 11 full-scale exercises. The learning process started by the participants questioning the present practice of the rescue operation and analyzing it by creating a flow chart. An essential part of the process was to model new tools in order to increase the potential for collaboration. The tools were examined and tested during collaboration meetings and implemented during full-scale exercises. The exercise organizers reflected that the process led to organizational development and a better understanding of the other organizations’ perspectives. Consequently, a tentative model for developing the learning process of exercise organizers was developed.

Best Practices in Skills Implementation

The future world will see a radical shift in the nature and availability of jobs. Such a shift would entail youth to be equipped with new-age skills. For nations with a competitive advantage of diverse talent bases, the threat of unemployment looms large with serious consequences. India is no exception. As one of the youngest populations globally, 365 million Indians would be eligible to join the workforce in the next decade. Such a demographic dividend would contribute positively only if there are matching economic opportunities to absorb it. Transforming India's demographic surplus to demographic dividend requires policymakers to timely harness the power of skill development. This chapter explores how the skill mismatch is being addressed in India by following certain best practices that are purpose-oriented and ensure quality. Based on the case study of a leading vocational and employability training company, IL&FS Skills, the best practices in skill development for long-term sustainable impact are explored in this chapter.

The Level of Confidence, Readiness and its Associated Factors Among Medical Graduates Prior to House Officer (HO) Training

Introduction: House officers are reported to feel less confident in working, especially in the initial part of their training. Among the factors that make them feel unprepared are in terms of adequate knowledge, clinical skills and dealing with workload. The impact of less confident house officers (HO) can lead to detrimental effects.Objectives: This study aims to look into the confidence and readiness levels of medical graduates prior to starting a HO preparatory course and factors associate.Methods: This is a cross sectional questionnaire study done among medical graduates between April – September 2018. This is part of a bigger study looking into the effectiveness of this course, which was initially organised under the Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia (IMAM) and later privatized to Medicorp (a medical training company for junior doctors). 238 participants who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria, completed the adapted IMU Competency survey pre and post the course. Their level of confidence and readiness to work was scored out of a Likert scale of 1 to 5. The higher the score, the higher the confidence or readiness to work.Results: We found significant association of confidence levels pre-course with ethnic it y (p=0.038). The scores were 2.0 (IQR=2.0), 2.0 (IQR=2.0), 3.0 (IQR=1.0), 2.5 (IQR=1.25) for Malay, Chinese, Indian and others respectively. We report significant associations with level of confidence (p=0.03) and readiness (p=0.08) not only prior, but levels of confidence (p<0.001) and readiness (p<0.001) after the course in association with place of study. Significant association was found for levels of confidence (p=0.048) and readiness (p=0.07) according to gender for scores post-course which were both 3.0 (IQR=1.0) and 4.0 (IQR=1.0) for females and males respectively.Conclusion: Confidence level to start work were higher for the Indian ethnicity before the HOpreparatory- course. Confidence and readiness levels were higher in male after the course, and locally graduated participants pre and post course.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Supplementary Issue: 2019 Page: 41