The current global labor market tends to be knowledge based and workers are consistently required to develop new competencies and adapt to changing environments. Bank employees in Nigeria do not have training that sustains future employment in other sectors, largely as a result of regulatory requirements that impede the development of soft skills and life-long learning opportunities. Little attention has been given to the lived experiences of these bank employees who are currently faced with the challenges posed by globalization and technology adoption. Guided by institutional analysis and development theory (IAD), this exploratory study examined the regulatory framework guiding bank employee career advancement in Nigeria. Qualitative data were collected from a total of 57 participants using semi-structured interviews administered on the three population samples drawn from the regulatory institutions, a pool of ex and current bank staff with a minimum of 8 years in the banking sector. Transcribed data were open coded, and then subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. The results offered a correlative effect and social cost of poor employee training to national development. The results indicated that competitive edge of Nigerian bank workers can be enhanced through acquisition of skills and training that will boost post-banking career transition opportunities. The positive social change implications of this study include recommendations to the three critical demographic blocks; the regulators, the banks and the bank employees. Recommendations of this study can improve the lives of many bank employees including those in other sectors, the economy, and the lives of those in the community.

PhD / Thesis (PhD (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Organisations increasingly operate in an environment of continuous change and turbulence which places new demands on the choice of business and supportive strategies relevant not only to the sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) of the particular organisation, but also countries and the global nature in which they operate. A business-level strategy is to a large extent vested in intangible resources, specifically human resources strategy and capital, including the capabilities embodied in a productive and skilled workforce. In Africa, and South Africa in particular, there is a shortage of a workforce of such a nature. This is amongst others the result of past inequalities but also of shortcomings in current training practices in both the private and public sectors. One way to improve workforce output is though appropriate training aimed at increasing job-specific knowledge and the concomitant skills and productive behaviour. Changes and turbulence in the environment, therefore also create different challenges to training strategies and practices, with a shift from all-at-once to ongoing training with verifiable learning. In this regard instructional design (ID) models are deemed intrinsic to training strategy. In this dissertation an ID model within a particular contextualised situation is offered that broadens, deepens and extends existing ID models by positioning it within business-level strategy and by utilising a multidisciplinary approach pertinent to the new demands on training. To serve as a test-bed for the ID model it is implemented in a case organisation. The aim of the research is to evaluate the impact, based upon action standards, of the ID model on job-specific knowledge and productive behaviour and to provide an explanation of the internal construct relationships of the ID model. The purpose of the research is exploratory and interpretive, culminating in the single-case study tactic, wherein both quantitative and qualitative methods are applied. The case organisation is considered to be representative of a certain type of organisation with comparable characteristics. Where the existing literature supports the results (as in this instance), inductive generalisation facilitates the transferability and exportability of the ID model to other organisations. Results reveal a positive reaction to the ID model and a measurable increase in job-specific knowledge and concomitant productive behaviour. It is considered to be preferable over more traditional training practices. The relationships between the internal constructs of the ID model and improved job-specific knowledge and productive behaviour are seen to be facilitated by the combination and interplay of the components of the ID model. The contribution of this research is in providing and evaluating an ID model aimed at addressing the previous shortcomings in training and ID models and the application thereof in practice. Thus, the significance of the study lies in its extension of existing literature on ID models and specifically their contribution to sustainable competitive advantage, i.e. an academic theoretical contribution that extends the current body of knowledge. Particularly in its South African and African context, given the background of shortages in skills and productive behaviour and the need for fast-tracking the development of a competent workforce, the study is significant in that it provides guidelines for the practical development and implementation of a new ID model. The study makes recommendations to enhance both the formulation of the theoretical ID model as well as its practical implementation. It furthermore recommends extended research to explore the possibility of exporting the ID model to a broader range of private sector organisations as well as its possible transferability to public sector organisations.

The thesis deals with the education and development of employees in the company providing logistics services. The company wished to remain anonymous, and therefore for the purposes of the thesis entitled NOVACS. The work is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical section contains basic definitions of concepts, relationships and connections related to the issue of education and staff development. The methodology used in the theoretical part includes an analysis of available literature and supplementary documents. Practical content is an analysis of staff education and development in the department of informational technologies of the company NOVACS. The practical facts are compared with findings in the theoretical part. The system of education and staff development at NOVACS is examined and assessed from the perspective of senior manager of IT department, whose job performance in the field of education and staff training and development is analyzed too. The result of the thesis are identified strengths and weaknesses of the education and development of employees in NOVACS, and the related advices and recommendations to improve the system by the author of the thesis.