The process of economic innovation in Vietnam since the late 1980s presented its human resources in the private sector with constant challenges in terms of continuous improvement for operating effectiveness and efficiency. The challenges have been met by substantial investment of resources in business and management training. Returns from this training, however, have not received due attention. The study sets out to examine the reality of acquiring and utilising business and management training in local private businesses in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s economic centre. In doing so, the study is expected to provide a better understanding of the characteristics of business and management training in Vietnam, and how this human resources development activity assists private businesses in a transitional economy. Based on Kirkpatrick’s evaluation framework, findings of the study revealed not only different approaches to business and management training but also the limited effects of the training on the trainees and private companies. Knowledgemania, or training for the sake of pursuing knowledge, was still very prevalent among the group of ‘Oriental’ companies whilst a more practical approach towards training aimed at meeting explicit business objectives was adopted by companies exposed to Western management practices. The research revealed that among the factors facilitating or hindering learning transfer within the case study companies, the ability to manage the training process and cultural values were the most influential. The research study also introduced two refined frameworks for training evaluation, aimed at small family and larger private businesses respectively. These refined frameworks incorporate not only the spirit of simplicity and practicality of Kirkpatrick’s framework but also relevant contextual factors. These frameworks are, therefore, able to serve as evaluation tools to reveal both training outcomes and spot the opportunities to further improve management of training. The experience and process of developing the frameworks gained in this research may assist future researchers when undertaking training evaluation in other business contexts.

This study examined Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2006) by assessing a sales training program conducted at an organization in the hospitality industry. The study assessed the employees’ training outcomes of knowledge and skills, job performance, and the impact of the training upon the organization. By assessing these training outcomes and their relationships, the study demonstrated whether Kirkpatrick’s theories are supported and the lower evaluation levels can be used to predict organizational impact. The population for this study was a group of reservations sales agents from a leading luxury hotel chain’s reservations center. During the study period from January 2005 to May 2007, there were 335 reservations sales agents employed in this Global Reservations Center (GRC). The number of reservations sales agents who had completed a sales training program/intervention during this period and had data available for at least two months pre and post training composed the sample for this study. The number of agents was 69 (N = 69). Four hypotheses were tested through paired-samples t tests, correlation, and hierarchical regression analytic procedures. Results from the analyses supported the hypotheses in this study. The significant improvement in the call score supported hypothesis one that the reservations sales agents who completed the training improved their knowledge of content and required skills in handling calls (Level 2). Hypothesis two was accepted in part as there was significant improvement in call conversion, but there was no significant improvement of time usage. The significant improvement in the sales per call supported hypothesis three that the reservations agents who completed the training contributed to increased organizational impact (Level 4), i.e., made significantly more sales. Last, findings supported hypothesis four that Level 2 and Level 3 variables can be used for predicting Level 4 organizational impact. The findings supported the theory of Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model that in order to expect organizational results, a positive change in behavior (job performance) and learning must occur. The examinations of Levels 2 and 3 helped to partially explain and predict Level 4 results.

Kursutvärderingar kan ge svar på många frågor, och leda till ett väl motiverat förbättrings- och utvecklingsarbete. De kan även vara mycket svåra att genomföra. Forskning visar att utvärderingar ofta saknar tydliga mål, vilket leder till att resultaten blir svåra att använda. I detta examensarbete diskuteras kursutvärderingarna på företaget Kärnkraftsäkerhet och Utbildning. Målet är att arbetet ska leda till elevenkäter och undersökningsresultat som kan bidra till utvecklingen av kurserna vid Kärnkraftsäkerhet och Utbildning i Barsebäck. Arbetet med att skapa elevenkäterna beskrivs, och syftet bakom den nya utvärderingsmodell som enkäten är en del av undersöks.Genom intervjuer har information om avdelningens kurser, samt önskemål kring innehållet i enkäterna, samlats in. Informationen har sedan använts för att skapa relevanta enkätfrågor. Företagets utvärderingsansvariga har gett en inblick i bakgrunden till, och målen med utvärderingen. Arbetet resulterade i enkäter som ska användas för kvalitetsutveckling av kurserna vid Barsebäck. Slutsatser kunde även dras kring företagets syfte med den nya utvärderingen, samt hur synen på enkäten skiljer sig mellan de ansvariga på huvudkontoret och de kursansvariga i Barsebäck. / Course evaluations can provide answers to many different questions, and lead to informed decisions regarding the development and improvement of education. They can also be very difficult to perform. Research shows that evaluations often lack clear goals, and therefore lead to inapplicable results. In this thesis we discuss the course evaluations at Kärnkraftsäkerhet och Utbildning. We aim to produce questionnaires and findings that can be used to improve the courses at Kärnkraftsäkerhet och Utbildning in Barsebäck, Sweden. We describe the process of creating the questionnaires, and examine the purpose of the company’s new evaluation model, of which the questionnaires are an important part.Information about the courses at Barsebäck, and requests about the content of the questionnaires have been acquired through interviews. The information has been used to create relevant questions for the questionnaires. The people responsible for the evaluation have given us an understanding of its background and purpose. Questionnaires were created, that will be used to improve the quality of the courses at Barsebäck. Conclusions were made concerning the purpose of the new evaluation process, and how the view of the questionnaires differ between the people responsible and the course administrators at Barsebäck.Keywords: Course

Text in English / The aim of the current study was to explore the impact of the Educhange and Research Foundation (ERF) self-awareness programme on the participants’ reactions, experiences, and changes in opinion regarding their knowledge of concepts of self-awareness. This study constitutes an evaluation of a workshop presented by the ERF which is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) aimed at generating solutions toward a better education for all learners through the application of Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluating education and training programmes. Kirkpatrick’s model follows the goal-based evaluation approach and is based on four levels of evaluation. These four levels are widely known as reaction, learning, behaviour, and results. Due to the feasibility of the research, only the reaction and learning evaluation levels were researched. The population identified for the study comprised 15 grade 9 to 11 secondary school learners from Soweto in South Africa which were encouraged to volunteer to take part in the study at their convenience. The sample consisted of all the learners who attended the self-awareness workshop, in effect making this a purposive, convenience sampling. The ERF Board were responsible for the sample selection for their scholarship programme. One of the minimum criteria of selection to take part in the programme was that the learner must have obtained 70% and stem from poor backgrounds. The relatively small sample size possesses the potential to limit the generalisation of the findings. A mixed method approach was employed for this research. Positivist paradigm is the epistemological stance adopted due to the social reality investigated. The sources of data consisted of pre- and post-evaluation questionnaires on self-awareness. The results were thematically and statistically analysed. Thematic analysis included familiarisation with the data and first finding meaning, and then identifying patterns of recurring meaning by generating initial codes and lastly generating themes that run through these meanings.Statistical analysis was conducted through comparison of the data before and after the workshop using chi-square. Objective self-awareness theory and the self-regulation theory were the theoretical framework that informed the current research study. The main finding from this study was that the programme was perceived to have raised positive subjective opinions and feelings of most of the participants, although one participant raised negative subjective opinions about the programme and made suggestions for improvement. After the workshop, the participants felt that they had gained a better understanding of the key concepts of self-awareness, although most items were found to be statistically insignificant. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The aim of the current study was to explore the impact of the Educhange and Research Foundation (ERF) self-awareness programme on the participants’ reactions, experiences, and changes in opinion regarding their knowledge of concepts of self-awareness. This study constitutes an evaluation of a workshop presented by the ERF which is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) aimed at generating solutions toward a better education for all learners through the application of Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluating education and training programmes. Kirkpatrick’s model follows the goal-based evaluation approach and is based on four levels of evaluation. These four levels are widely known as reaction, learning, behaviour, and results. Due to the feasibility of the research, only the reaction and learning evaluation levels were researched. The population identified for the study comprised 15 grade 9 to 11 secondary school learners from Soweto in South Africa which were encouraged to volunteer to take part in the study at their convenience. The sample consisted of all the learners who attended the self-awareness workshop, in effect making this a purposive, convenience sampling. The ERF Board were responsible for the sample selection for their scholarship programme. One of the minimum criteria of selection to take part in the programme was that the learner must have obtained 70% and stem from poor backgrounds. The relatively small sample size possesses the potential to limit the generalisation of the findings. A mixed method approach was employed for this research. Positivist paradigm is the epistemological stance adopted due to the social reality investigated. The sources of data consisted of pre- and post-evaluation questionnaires on self-awareness. The results were thematically and statistically analysed. Thematic analysis included familiarisation with the data and first finding meaning, and then identifying patterns of recurring meaning by generating initial codes and lastly generating themes that run through these meanings.Statistical analysis was conducted through comparison of the data before and after the workshop using chi-square. Objective self-awareness theory and the self-regulation theory were the theoretical framework that informed the current research study. The main finding from this study was that the programme was perceived to have raised positive subjective opinions and feelings of most of the participants, although one participant raised negative subjective opinions about the programme and made suggestions for improvement. After the workshop, the participants felt that they had gained a better understanding of the key concepts of self-awareness, although most items were found to be statistically insignificant. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)