Bo Cheng, Minhong Wang Faculty of Education The University of Hong Kong

1. 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

2. Background • Workplace E-learning • Competency-Based Approach to E-learning • Adoption of E-learning Technology • Training theory and workplace learning

3. Workplace E-learning: Research & Practices • Understanding the definition of “E-learning” • a training “medium” • an “instructional strategy” • a learning “environment”

4. 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

5. Workplace E-learning: Research & Practices (cont’) • Research on Workplace E-learning (cont’) • Evaluation of E-learning • outcome assessment • return on investment (ROI) • completion rate

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. Adoption of E-learning Technology • Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) • Meta-Analysis of the Technology Acceptance Model (King & He, 2006)

10. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

11. 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 usage King, W. R. and J. He (2006) "A meta-analysis of the technology acceptance model," Information & Management (43pp.740-755.

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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.

15. Hypothesized Model Training Climate Learning outcome expectation Managerial Support Intention to use Job Support Social outcome expectation Organizational Support

16. 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)

17. Methodology (cont’) • Sample • Gender Male 98 56.98% Female 74 43.02% • Age 18-25 30 17.44% 26-35 90 52.33% 36-45 36 20.93% 46-55 15 8.72% >55 1 0.58%

18. Methodology (cont’) • Sample (cont’) • Education High school 10 5.85% College (3 years) 34 19.88% University (4years) 80 46.78% Graduate school 47 27.49% • Work experience 0-3 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 course Yes 115 66.86% No 57 33.14%

19. 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

20. Results

21. Findings Training Climate Learning outcome expectation + + Managerial Support Intention to use + Job Support Social outcome expectation + Organizational Support +

22. 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

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.