Organizational Training Climate and Employees' Perception and Acceptance of Competency-based E-learning at the Workplace

Bo Cheng, Minhong Wang

Faculty of Education

The University of Hong Kong

ICELW 2010, New York

Background

Workplace E-learning Competency-Based Approach to E-learning Adoption of E-learning Technology Training theory and workplace learning

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Workplace E-learning: Research & Practices

Understanding the definition of “E-learning” a training “medium” an “instructional strategy” a learning “environment”

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Workplace E-learning: Research & Practices (cont’)

Research on Workplace E-learning Theoretical foundations

• theories of organizational learning• socio-cultural theories of learning• cognitive theories of learning

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Workplace E-learning: Research & Practices (cont’)

Research on Workplace E-learning (cont’) Evaluation of E-learning

outcome assessment return on investment (ROI) completion rate

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Workplace E-learning: Research & Practices (cont’)

Practices in Workplace E-learning why are organizations using E-learning how are organizations using E-learning what are the key success factors and solutions of

best practices

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Competency-Based Approach to E-learning

Competency A knowledge, skill, ability, or characteristics

associated with high performance on a job (Mirabile,1997)

Competency Movement competency-based approach to training and

education in professional backgrounds such as management education and medical education

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Competency-Based Approach to E-learning (cont’)

Current work Aligning competency-driven learning process to

business process contexts via E-learning technology (Leyking, Chikova, & Loos,2007)

Competency modeling approach to context-aware workplace learning support (Schmidt & Winterhalter, 2003 )

Competency-based E-learning System

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Adoption of E-learning Technology

Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989)

Meta-Analysis of the Technology Acceptance Model (King & He, 2006)

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Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

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Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (cont’)

Categories of modifications Prior factors— situational involvement prior usage or

experience and personal computer self-efficacy Factors from other theories — subjective norm,

expectation, task-technology fit, risk, and trust Contextual factors — gender, culture, and technology

characteristics Consequence factors — attitude, perceptual usage, and

actual usageKing, W. R. and J. He (2006) "A meta-analysis of the technology acceptance model,"

Information & Management (43pp.740-755.

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Adoption of E-learning Technology (cont’)

TAM applied in E-learning acceptance Students’ intention and continuance to use E-

learning systems Adoption of E-learning technology in

workplace contexts are relatively rare

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Training Theory and Workplace Learning

A continuous process relevant to training, socialization, and employee development within an organizational context (Ford et al, 1997

Individual and organizational factors are usually identified as antecedents of training outcome

Noe, Wilk, Mullen, & Wanek’s (1997) conceptual model

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Purpose of the Study Investigating the influences of organizational contexts on

employees’ perception on competency-based workplace E-learning and their intention to adopt this new learning approach in work environment. 1) whether organizational context factors will impact

employees’ perception of competency-oriented workplace E-learning;

2) whether employee’s perceptions have influences on their intention to use competency-oriented workplace E-learning.

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Hypothesized Model

Managerial Support

Job Support

Organizational Support

Learning outcome expectation

Social outcome expectation

Intention to use

Training Climate

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Methodology Instrument

Organizational training climate Tracey, & Tews’s (2005) General Training Climate Scale

(GTCS) Learning outcome expectation Kirkpatrick et al. (2006), Arbaugh (2000), Davis (1989),

and Thurmond, Wambach & Connors (2002) Social outcome expectation Nahapiet, & Ghoshal (1998) Intention to use Venkatesh, & Davis’s (2000) and Kirkpatrick et al. (2006)

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Methodology (cont’) Sample

GenderMale 98 56.98%Female 74 43.02%

Age18-25 30 17.44%26-35 90 52.33%36-45 36 20.93%46-55 15 8.72%>55 1 0.58%

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Methodology (cont’) Sample (cont’)

EducationHigh school 10 5.85%College (3 years) 34 19.88%University (4years) 80 46.78%Graduate school 47 27.49%

Work experience0-3 years 39 22.67%3-6 years 42 24.42%6-9years 16 9.30%9-12 years 28 16.28%over 12 years 47 27.33%

Experience in using online training courseYes 115 66.86%No 57 33.14%

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Methodology (cont’)

Manipulation A competency-based workplace E-learning system

was demonstrated at a website The system was introduced in a ppt file

• Background, main functions, interfaces, workflow

A questionnaire website was developed

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Results

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Findings

Managerial Support

Job Support

Organizational Support

Learning outcome expectation

Social outcome expectation

Intention to use

Training Climate

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Findings (cont’)

Significant relations Management support Learning outcome

expectation Management support Social ties Organizational support Social ties Learning outcome expectation Intention to use Social ties Intention to use

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Implications

Managers’ encouragement of on-the-job learning, innovation, and skill acquisition, and their support of these activities, have significant positive influences on employees’ outcome expectation towards competency based workplace E-learning in terms of individual learning and assessment.

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Implications (cont’)

Managers’ encouragement of on-the-job learning, innovation, and skill acquisition, and their support of these activities, have significant positive influences on employees’ outcome expectation towards competency based workplace E-learning in terms of closing social ties among colleagues.

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Implications (cont’)

Organizational policies, procedures, and practices that demonstrate the importance of training and development efforts have significant positive influences on employees’ outcome expectation towards competency based workplace E-learning in terms of closing social ties among colleagues.

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Implications (cont’)

Employees’ perception and outcome expectation towards competency based workplace E-learning on individual and social outcomes have significant positive influences on their intention of use.

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