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Invited reaction: The utilization of training program evaluation in corporate universities
Author(s) -
Torres Rosalie T.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
human resource development quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.756
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1532-1096
pISSN - 1044-8004
DOI - 10.1002/hrdq.1112
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , interpretation (philosophy) , training (meteorology) , empirical research , knowledge management , psychology , management science , computer science , engineering , epistemology , paleontology , philosophy , physics , meteorology , biology , programming language
This reaction piece briefly reviews the findings from the Bober and Bartlett study of training evaluation use in corporate universities. It then focuses on the importance of context in understanding and facilitating evaluation use. The author suggests an alternative interpretation of particular findings based on a deeper consideration of the evaluation context in the settings studied. Additional suggestions for considering context are to identify the role of evaluation in organizational decision‐making processes and identify the how and why of less prevalent uses of evaluation at particular sites. The piece concludes with a discussion of the purposes that the Bober and Bartlett study serve ( their detailed accounts of the evaluation use literature and their methodology, and findings about instrumental uses of training evaluation ) , as well as a call for empirical studies investigating how evaluation use can best facilitate organizational learning.