Course Description:

MGMT 444. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT (3). Training needs analysis at organizational, task, and individual levels. Design, implementation, and evaluation of training and development systems. Evaluation of types of training media. Coordination and integration of employees' development with organizational human resource planning. Broad scale organization development efforts. CRQ: MGMT 433.

Course Purpose and Goals:

The course purpose of MGMT 444 is to provide an overview of the use of training and development strategies, programs, and techniques within the context of comprehensive HR management and organizatonal management. Training and development activities are dependent on the strategic needs of an organization and are subject to numerous influences--environmental, economic, managerial, technological, learning styles, and motivation. Students completing this course should:

1. Understand the relationship between organizational strategy and Training and Development;
   
   
2. Recognize the various methods for conducting needs assessment and know how the results of such assessments are used;
   
   
3. Understand learning theories and their influence in the development and choice of training technologies;
   
   
4. Be aware of "transfer of training" issues--why transfer does not always occur and how to improve transfer rate;
   
   
5. Understand the importnace of evaluating training program impacts and know how to establish an assessment system;
   
   
6. Be familiar with the various training methods and media; and
   
   
7. Understand the need for integration between employee development processes and career management systems.
   
   

Teaching Format:

The primary activities of the course are lectures and discussions. Additionally, each student will participate as a member of a team in preparing a training proposal. A schedule of readings, quizzes, exams, and assignments is available elsewhere on this site. Students are expected to keep up with the assigned readings for lecture and discussion purposes. The class grade will be based on performance on course examinations, papers, participation, quizzes, and the training proposal. The training proposal grade will be based in part on peer assessment. These course components and their maximum point totals are outlined below.

Policies and Procedures:

1. Attendance & Class Participation. Class attendance is required for successful completion of the course. Absences may lead to poor evaluation on class participation as well as poor performance on papers, examinations, and exercises. Participation scores will be based on a combination of the student's record of attendance and the quality of the student's participation in class discussion.
   
   
2. Make-Up Exams. Make-ups will be allowed only in the case of excused absence. It is the student's responsibility to provide evidence that an absence is for demonstrable cause AND TO REQUEST THE MAKEUP AS SOON AS THE NEED IS RECOGNIZED. Delays in making the request may lead to a refusal of makeup privileges.
   
   
3. Late Papers. Any written work turned in after the assigned due date will be subject to a 10% per day penalty based on the maximum score for the work in question. If ANY PART of the paper is late, the per day penalty will apply to the ENTIRE work.
   
   
4. Academic Misconduct. Academic misconduct is a serious breach of trust. Such acts include cheating, plagiarism, and the stealing of exams or other student's work. As a serious offense, it will be dealt with severely, leading to a zero score for the work in question and possibly failure for the course. Such acts may also lead to suspension or expulsion from the University. Additionally, such activities will be reported to the University Judicial Office and may precipitate further action by the University.

Course Materials:

• REQUIRED: Noe, Raymond A. (1999). Employee Training and Development, Boston, MA: Irwin McGraw-Hill, available at either the Holmes Student Center Bookstore or Village Commons Bookstore.
  
  
• REQUIRED: Phillips, Jack J. (1997). Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs, Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing Company, available at either the Holmes Student Center Bookstore or Village Commons Bookstore.
  
  
• OPTIONAL: Slide Pack, available at the Holmes Student Center Bookstore.