Article Critique Grading Rubric Criteria Score Comments Appropriate research article selected (5 pts.) (quantitative and/or qualitative primary source) Summary of article key points (20 pts.) Research topic Literature review Design/methodology Results Discussion Recommendations for future research Critique of the article (30 pts.) (Substantiate statements with examples) Research topic Literature review Design/methodology Results Discussion Clinical/educational implications of findings? Critique of importance/relevance (10 pts.) (The "So what?" question) Personal reflection (15 pts.) How has this article changed your views? Content, clarity, and organization of ideas (Correct APA grammar, citation, etc.) (20 pts.) Final Score: 1. Literature Review Literature review is a text of scholarly papers and in depth evaluation of previous research It is summary of a particular area of research 1. According to Casse and Banahan (2007), the different approaches to training and development need to be explored. It has come to their attention by their own preferred model and through experience with large Organisations. The current traditional training continuously facing the challenges in the selection of the employees, in maintaining the uncertainty related to the purpose and in introducing new tactics for the environment of work and by recognizing this, they advising on all the problems, which reiterates the requirement for flexible approach 2. According to Meister (2001), Some of the Training theories can be effective immediately on the future of the skill and developments. The "content" and the "access" are the actual factors for the process. It is a representation itself by the Access on main aspect what is effective to the adopted practice in training development. As per the recent theories to access the knowledge is changing from substantial in the traditional to deliver the knowledge for the virtual forms to use the new meaning of information with electronic karning use. There is a survey confirmation for using classroom to deliver the training woull drop dramatically, 3. Companies have different approach to training and development. Some companies tent to minimise the training of its employees as they see it as an unnecessary budgeted cost. On the other hand, we have companies, which see training of employees more as a strategic investment and a very important attribute, which may increase employees productivity and reduce human error, such companies can be called a learning organizations R. Wayne Mondy, Robert M. Noe, Shane R. Premeaux (2002). According to Cole (2004), human resources are the most dynamic of all the organizations resources. They need considerable attention from the organizations management. Each employer who invests in the area of Training and Development will reap the benefits of an enriched working environment with higher levels of staff retention as well as increased productivity and performance 5. In the view of Abiodun (1999), training is a systematic development of knowledge, skills and attitudes required by employees to perform adequately on a given task or job. 6. The responsibility of the training facilitators is to encourage the development in the employees and casting out the doubts and anxiety, and build the sense of the responsibility of the employees Rexam (2007). 7. Most of the employees look forward to the training to build their career path. Training is also available for the corporate leaders to recognize the importance of their control and leadership style in managing their organization Portway and Lane (1994). 8. There are many other results which are all advantageous for the organization Also the business leaders or the business managers are not exempted in the area of training, People, as the key for the organization are the main target of the training therefore the training among the business leader help them provide the valid reason in creating the appropriate decision for the entire organization or and have a great impact on their managerial skills and styles Johnson (2001); Farvaque, et al. (2009). Oladele Akin (1991): Evaluation is increasingly being regarded as a powerful tool to enhance the effectiveness of training. Three major approaches to training evaluation quality ascription quality assessment and quality control are highlighted. In order to enhance the effectiveness of training, evaluation should be integrated with organizational life. 10. Phillip C. Wright (1992): Reports on a study of current and past training literature which suggests that, to be effective and to isolate both training needs and those problems having other, non-trainable solutions, training must be preceded by a needs analysis Proposes a needs assessment model to illustrate an optimum needs assessment process, and compares this model with the Ontario Government's 11. Ashton and Felstead (1995: 235) regard the investment by an organization in the skills of employees as a litmus test for a change in the way they are mamaged. HRD carries the prospect of unleashing the potential that lies within and development efforts will ultimately lead to the result that "Training is only a paid perquisite or free time for the employees devoid of daily stressors and distractions of the workplace on the one hand, and a wasteful expenditure for the management on the other 18. Mumford (1988) observes that prior to participating in any training and development experience, participants implicitly ask themselves a variety of questions: Do I believe this training and development will help me or my subordinates? Are there risks for me if I perform poorly? How does this experience relate to my job performance? Not surprisingly, the yield from training and development initiatives will be maximised when employees perceive that desirable outcomes (or avoidance of undesirable outcomes) are attained as a result of their full commitment to a training and development programme 19. Sackett and Mullen, (1993) suggested a broader perspective on a variety of aspects of training process. The purpose of evaluation is to help organisations make decision about future training activities, and provide tools needed to assess the type of evaluation possible in a given situation, to conduct the most informative evaluation possible given the constraints of the situation, and to communicate to organisational decision makers both the strengths and the limitations of whatever evaluation data is obtained 20. Srivastava. et al. (2001) evaluated the effectiveness of various training programmes offered by the in-house training centre of Tata Steel Shavak Nanavati Training Institute (SNTI). India Effectiveness of training was measured in terms of various outcomes such as satisfaction levet reaction and feedback of participants, and change in performance and behaviour as perceived by participants, their immediate supervisors, and departmental heads. The sample consisted of sixty departmental heads, fourteen hundred participants and thirteen hundred immediate supervisors from various departments. The data were collected through structured interview schedule. It was found that the satisfaction levels of participants, their superiors, and divisional heads were above average for all types of programmes. The participants were benefited from the programmes, but transfer of learning was not as expected from their supervisors. There were all people, allowing employees to contribute to and indeed transform the business strategy 12. Human resource development was originally conceived as a composite term specifically incorporating three types of vocational learning activity that would contribute to making individuals more effective at work: (a) training, focusing on immediate changes in job performance; b) education, geared towards intermediate changes in individual capabilities, and (c) development concerned with long-term improvement in the individual worker Nadler (1970). 13. Swanson's (1995: 208) definition of HRD as a process of developing and unleashing human expertise through organisation development and personnel training and development for the purpose of improving performance are perhaps more focused but certainly marrower and more functional in scope. 14. McLagan's (1983: 7) definition of HRD as the integrated use of training and development, career development, and organisation development to improve individual and organisational performance 15. Stewart (1996:1) made the following observation: "Human resource development encompasses activities and processes which are intended to have impact on organisational and individual learning. The term assumes that organisations can be constructively conceived of as learning entities, and that the learning processes of both organisations and individuals are capable of influence and direction through deliberate and planned interventions. Thus, HRD is constituted by planned interventions in organisational and individual leaming processes 16. Warr (1969) defined evaluation as the systematic collection and assessment of information for deciding how best to u se available training resources in order to achieve organisational goals 17. Wexley and Baldwin (1986) criticised the traditional training and development for its lack of accountability. The lack of accountability and rigorous evaluation may be attributable in part to an unfounded belief that "Training and development is good for the employees and the organisation, so let there be training budget and training programmes". This target-based (e.g. a specific number of employees to be trained during a given year) or budget- driven (influenced by the availability of time, energy, and resources) training changes in the post-training performance ranging from 10 to 37 per cent. Training programmes could meet the objectives only to a limited extent. 21. Sisson (1989) The HRD literature to date has not proved to be very helpful in unravelling the nature of corporate training and development evaluation policies and practices in the Indian context. Partly, this reflects the predominant bias in most of the human resource management literature towards idealised, prescriptive models with little hard information about actual practices in real contexts (Sisson, 1989). 22. Yadapadithaya (2001) studied the current practices of evaluating training and development programmes in the Indian corporate sector on the basis of data collected from written questionnaires mailed to 252 respondent companies - 127 private, 99 public, and 26 multinational corporations (MNCs). The major findings of his study include the following: High pressure for increased quality, innovation and productivity acts as a major driving force for the Indian corporate training and development programmes. Most of the key result areas of training and development function are related to the measurement and evaluation of training effectiveness Nearly 86 per cent of the private sector, 81 per cent of the public sector, and all the MNCs evaluate the effectiveness of training in one way or the other. The major purpose of evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of the various components of a training and development programme. Organisations rely mostly on the participants' reactions to monitor the effectiveness of training An overwhelming majority of the organisations use "questionnaires" as an instrument to gather relevant data for evaluation In most of the cases, evaluation was done immediately after the training Majority of the private and public sector organisations use one-shot programme design and more than half of the MNCs also use single group, pre-test and post-test design for evaluating the effectiveness of training and development programmes Absence of transfer of leaming from the place of training to the workplace has been a major perceived deficiency of the corporate training and development system Indian corporate sector is currently facing the challenge of designing and developing more valid, reliable and operational measures to evaluate the effectiveness of training and development 23. Campbell (1998) suggested evaluation can provide a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment to the personnel associated with a course or programme Everyone needs feedback on how they are doing and evidence that training is worthwhile is a source of pride. Apart from this periodic evaluations are necessary to assure optimum training relevance, effectiveness, and cost efficiency. 24. Saxena (1997, b.) undertook a study on the role of evaluation of training in designing training programmes in institutions of government, private, public and banking sectors. A total of 100 training and development programme participants were selected randomly by the investigator. They represented the four clusters: (1) Government training institutions, (2) HRD centers of private sectors, (3) HRD centers of public sectors, and (4) Training institutions of banks. Data were collected by administering the questionnaires. In addition, structured and unstructured interviews were conducted by the investigator with both the top managers of training institutions and the trainees. It was found that: The institutions and HRD centers defined the scope of training evaluation from trainee's development level to the organisational effectiveness levet The training institutions were very clear about the purpose of evaluating the training programmes Lack of adequate evaluation methodology', 'hack of expertise and 'fear of exposure to weaknesses were cited as the constraints for obtaining and collecting evaluation data; Overall impact on the performance of organisations', 'change in skills and attitudes of trainees, and quality of subject matter in courses were cited as the most important indicators of course effectiveness; Training institutions concentrated their evaluation efforts mostly on reaction and leaming levels, and Training institutions and HRD centers were found to have plans to improve the courses by effective evaluation procedures. 25. Mann and Robertson (1996) conducted a study in Europe to answer the question 'What should training evaluations evaluate?' They selected 29 subjects (10 female and 19 male) from a three-day training seminar for European nationals run in Geneva. The results showed that the trainees did learn from the training sessions and, although they did not retain all they learned, they did know more one month after training than they did before training. They recommended that an effective way for practitioners to evaluate training is to measure self-efficacy regarding the trained tasks, immediately after training 26. Grider et. al (1990) Conducted a study to determine which training evaluation method were perceived to be the most effective by training professional, and which methods were most frequently used. For this purpose they selected members of American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). The findings of the study suggested: Integrate T&D into the strategic plan of the firm Provide necessary resources to evaluate the training activity effectiveness. Establish an information network to facilitate access to necessary data for before and after measurement The most important benefit to be gained from successful evaluation will be improvement in organisational performance and increased employee satisfaction 27. Fuchsberg (1993) observed that many organisations base their training and development budgets on annual projections for new initiatives that link, optimistically, with business requirements. Now, the need to rigorously evaluate training and development initiatives in economic terms is becoming more apparent. As the training and development efforts in many organisations continue to expand and grow, many new competing programmes will be proposed, and senior management and board members will continue to ask Article Critique Grading Rubric Criteria Score Comments Appropriate research article selected (5 pts.) (quantitative and/or qualitative primary source) Summary of article key points (20 pts.) Research topic Literature review Design/methodology Results Discussion Recommendations for future research Critique of the article (30 pts.) (Substantiate statements with examples) Research topic Literature review Design/methodology Results Discussion Clinical/educational implications of findings? Critique of importance/relevance (10 pts.) (The "So what?" question) Personal reflection (15 pts.) How has this article changed your views? Content, clarity, and organization of ideas (Correct APA grammar, citation, etc.) (20 pts.) Final Score: 1. Literature Review Literature review is a text of scholarly papers and in depth evaluation of previous research It is summary of a particular area of research 1. According to Casse and Banahan (2007), the different approaches to training and development need to be explored. It has come to their attention by their own preferred model and through experience with large Organisations. The current traditional training continuously facing the challenges in the selection of the employees, in maintaining the uncertainty related to the purpose and in introducing new tactics for the environment of work and by recognizing this, they advising on all the problems, which reiterates the requirement for flexible approach 2. According to Meister (2001), Some of the Training theories can be effective immediately on the future of the skill and developments. The "content" and the "access" are the actual factors for the process. It is a representation itself by the Access on main aspect what is effective to the adopted practice in training development. As per the recent theories to access the knowledge is changing from substantial in the traditional to deliver the knowledge for the virtual forms to use the new meaning of information with electronic karning use. There is a survey confirmation for using classroom to deliver the training woull drop dramatically, 3. Companies have different approach to training and development. Some companies tent to minimise the training of its employees as they see it as an unnecessary budgeted cost. On the other hand, we have companies, which see training of employees more as a strategic investment and a very important attribute, which may increase employees productivity and reduce human error, such companies can be called a learning organizations R. Wayne Mondy, Robert M. Noe, Shane R. Premeaux (2002). According to Cole (2004), human resources are the most dynamic of all the organizations resources. They need considerable attention from the organizations management. Each employer who invests in the area of Training and Development will reap the benefits of an enriched working environment with higher levels of staff retention as well as increased productivity and performance 5. In the view of Abiodun (1999), training is a systematic development of knowledge, skills and attitudes required by employees to perform adequately on a given task or job. 6. The responsibility of the training facilitators is to encourage the development in the employees and casting out the doubts and anxiety, and build the sense of the responsibility of the employees Rexam (2007). 7. Most of the employees look forward to the training to build their career path. Training is also available for the corporate leaders to recognize the importance of their control and leadership style in managing their organization Portway and Lane (1994). 8. There are many other results which are all advantageous for the organization Also the business leaders or the business managers are not exempted in the area of training, People, as the key for the organization are the main target of the training therefore the training among the business leader help them provide the valid reason in creating the appropriate decision for the entire organization or and have a great impact on their managerial skills and styles Johnson (2001); Farvaque, et al. (2009). Oladele Akin (1991): Evaluation is increasingly being regarded as a powerful tool to enhance the effectiveness of training. Three major approaches to training evaluation quality ascription quality assessment and quality control are highlighted. In order to enhance the effectiveness of training, evaluation should be integrated with organizational life. 10. Phillip C. Wright (1992): Reports on a study of current and past training literature which suggests that, to be effective and to isolate both training needs and those problems having other, non-trainable solutions, training must be preceded by a needs analysis Proposes a needs assessment model to illustrate an optimum needs assessment process, and compares this model with the Ontario Government's 11. Ashton and Felstead (1995: 235) regard the investment by an organization in the skills of employees as a litmus test for a change in the way they are mamaged. HRD carries the prospect of unleashing the potential that lies within and development efforts will ultimately lead to the result that "Training is only a paid perquisite or free time for the employees devoid of daily stressors and distractions of the workplace on the one hand, and a wasteful expenditure for the management on the other 18. Mumford (1988) observes that prior to participating in any training and development experience, participants implicitly ask themselves a variety of questions: Do I believe this training and development will help me or my subordinates? Are there risks for me if I perform poorly? How does this experience relate to my job performance? Not surprisingly, the yield from training and development initiatives will be maximised when employees perceive that desirable outcomes (or avoidance of undesirable outcomes) are attained as a result of their full commitment to a training and development programme 19. Sackett and Mullen, (1993) suggested a broader perspective on a variety of aspects of training process. The purpose of evaluation is to help organisations make decision about future training activities, and provide tools needed to assess the type of evaluation possible in a given situation, to conduct the most informative evaluation possible given the constraints of the situation, and to communicate to organisational decision makers both the strengths and the limitations of whatever evaluation data is obtained 20. Srivastava. et al. (2001) evaluated the effectiveness of various training programmes offered by the in-house training centre of Tata Steel Shavak Nanavati Training Institute (SNTI). India Effectiveness of training was measured in terms of various outcomes such as satisfaction levet reaction and feedback of participants, and change in performance and behaviour as perceived by participants, their immediate supervisors, and departmental heads. The sample consisted of sixty departmental heads, fourteen hundred participants and thirteen hundred immediate supervisors from various departments. The data were collected through structured interview schedule. It was found that the satisfaction levels of participants, their superiors, and divisional heads were above average for all types of programmes. The participants were benefited from the programmes, but transfer of learning was not as expected from their supervisors. There were all people, allowing employees to contribute to and indeed transform the business strategy 12. Human resource development was originally conceived as a composite term specifically incorporating three types of vocational learning activity that would contribute to making individuals more effective at work: (a) training, focusing on immediate changes in job performance; b) education, geared towards intermediate changes in individual capabilities, and (c) development concerned with long-term improvement in the individual worker Nadler (1970). 13. Swanson's (1995: 208) definition of HRD as a process of developing and unleashing human expertise through organisation development and personnel training and development for the purpose of improving performance are perhaps more focused but certainly marrower and more functional in scope. 14. McLagan's (1983: 7) definition of HRD as the integrated use of training and development, career development, and organisation development to improve individual and organisational performance 15. Stewart (1996:1) made the following observation: "Human resource development encompasses activities and processes which are intended to have impact on organisational and individual learning. The term assumes that organisations can be constructively conceived of as learning entities, and that the learning processes of both organisations and individuals are capable of influence and direction through deliberate and planned interventions. Thus, HRD is constituted by planned interventions in organisational and individual leaming processes 16. Warr (1969) defined evaluation as the systematic collection and assessment of information for deciding how best to u se available training resources in order to achieve organisational goals 17. Wexley and Baldwin (1986) criticised the traditional training and development for its lack of accountability. The lack of accountability and rigorous evaluation may be attributable in part to an unfounded belief that "Training and development is good for the employees and the organisation, so let there be training budget and training programmes". This target-based (e.g. a specific number of employees to be trained during a given year) or budget- driven (influenced by the availability of time, energy, and resources) training changes in the post-training performance ranging from 10 to 37 per cent. Training programmes could meet the objectives only to a limited extent. 21. Sisson (1989) The HRD literature to date has not proved to be very helpful in unravelling the nature of corporate training and development evaluation policies and practices in the Indian context. Partly, this reflects the predominant bias in most of the human resource management literature towards idealised, prescriptive models with little hard information about actual practices in real contexts (Sisson, 1989). 22. Yadapadithaya (2001) studied the current practices of evaluating training and development programmes in the Indian corporate sector on the basis of data collected from written questionnaires mailed to 252 respondent companies - 127 private, 99 public, and 26 multinational corporations (MNCs). The major findings of his study include the following: High pressure for increased quality, innovation and productivity acts as a major driving force for the Indian corporate training and development programmes. Most of the key result areas of training and development function are related to the measurement and evaluation of training effectiveness Nearly 86 per cent of the private sector, 81 per cent of the public sector, and all the MNCs evaluate the effectiveness of training in one way or the other. The major purpose of evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of the various components of a training and development programme. Organisations rely mostly on the participants' reactions to monitor the effectiveness of training An overwhelming majority of the organisations use "questionnaires" as an instrument to gather relevant data for evaluation In most of the cases, evaluation was done immediately after the training Majority of the private and public sector organisations use one-shot programme design and more than half of the MNCs also use single group, pre-test and post-test design for evaluating the effectiveness of training and development programmes Absence of transfer of leaming from the place of training to the workplace has been a major perceived deficiency of the corporate training and development system Indian corporate sector is currently facing the challenge of designing and developing more valid, reliable and operational measures to evaluate the effectiveness of training and development 23. Campbell (1998) suggested evaluation can provide a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment to the personnel associated with a course or programme Everyone needs feedback on how they are doing and evidence that training is worthwhile is a source of pride. Apart from this periodic evaluations are necessary to assure optimum training relevance, effectiveness, and cost efficiency. 24. Saxena (1997, b.) undertook a study on the role of evaluation of training in designing training programmes in institutions of government, private, public and banking sectors. A total of 100 training and development programme participants were selected randomly by the investigator. They represented the four clusters: (1) Government training institutions, (2) HRD centers of private sectors, (3) HRD centers of public sectors, and (4) Training institutions of banks. Data were collected by administering the questionnaires. In addition, structured and unstructured interviews were conducted by the investigator with both the top managers of training institutions and the trainees. It was found that: The institutions and HRD centers defined the scope of training evaluation from trainee's development level to the organisational effectiveness levet The training institutions were very clear about the purpose of evaluating the training programmes Lack of adequate evaluation methodology', 'hack of expertise and 'fear of exposure to weaknesses were cited as the constraints for obtaining and collecting evaluation data; Overall impact on the performance of organisations', 'change in skills and attitudes of trainees, and quality of subject matter in courses were cited as the most important indicators of course effectiveness; Training institutions concentrated their evaluation efforts mostly on reaction and leaming levels, and Training institutions and HRD centers were found to have plans to improve the courses by effective evaluation procedures. 25. Mann and Robertson (1996) conducted a study in Europe to answer the question 'What should training evaluations evaluate?' They selected 29 subjects (10 female and 19 male) from a three-day training seminar for European nationals run in Geneva. The results showed that the trainees did learn from the training sessions and, although they did not retain all they learned, they did know more one month after training than they did before training. They recommended that an effective way for practitioners to evaluate training is to measure self-efficacy regarding the trained tasks, immediately after training 26. Grider et. al (1990) Conducted a study to determine which training evaluation method were perceived to be the most effective by training professional, and which methods were most frequently used. For this purpose they selected members of American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). The findings of the study suggested: Integrate T&D into the strategic plan of the firm Provide necessary resources to evaluate the training activity effectiveness. Establish an information network to facilitate access to necessary data for before and after measurement The most important benefit to be gained from successful evaluation will be improvement in organisational performance and increased employee satisfaction 27. Fuchsberg (1993) observed that many organisations base their training and development budgets on annual projections for new initiatives that link, optimistically, with business requirements. Now, the need to rigorously evaluate training and development initiatives in economic terms is becoming more apparent. As the training and development efforts in many organisations continue to expand and grow, many new competing programmes will be proposed, and senior management and board members will continue to ask