Given the proliferation of training transfer studies in various disciplines, we provide an integrative and analytical review of factors impacting transfer of training. Relevant empirical research for transfer across the management, human resource development (HRD), training, adult learning, performance improvement, and psychology literatures is integrated into the review. We synthesize the developing knowledge regarding the primary factors influencing transfer—learner characteristics, intervention design and delivery, and work environment influences—to identify variables with substantive support and to discern the most pressing gaps. Ultimately, a critique of the state of the transfer literature is provided and targeted suggestions are outlined to guide future empirical and theoretical work in a meaningful direction.

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Training Transfer: An Integrative Literature Review:

Although organizational learning theory and practice have been clarified by practitioners and scholars over the past several years, there is much to be explored regarding interactions between organizational learning culture and employee learning and performance outcomes. This study examined the relationship of organizational learning culture, job satisfaction, and organizational outcome variables with a sample of information technology (IT) employees in the United States. It found that learning organizational culture is associated with IT employee job satisfaction and motivation to transfer learning. Turnover intention was found to be negatively influenced by organizational learning culture and job satisfaction. Suggestions for future study of learning organizational culture in association with job satisfaction and performance-related outcomes are discussed. With the current expansion of the global economy and the fast-changing evolution of technology and innovation, organizations are facing an ongoing need for employee learning and development. As knowledge increasingly becomes a key factor for productivity, it has also become a currency for competitive success. Understanding factors that contribute to organizational learning and the transfer of knowledge to the workplace environment are essential to

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The effects of organizational learning culture and job satisfaction on motivation to transfer learning and turnover intention

This study expands on the concept of the learning transfer system and reports on the validation of an instrument to measure factors in the system affecting transfer of learning. The Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI) was developed and administered to 1,616 training participants from a wide range of organizations. Exploratory common factor analysis revealed a clean interpretable factor structure of sixteen transfer system constructs. Second-order factor analysis suggested a three-factor higher order structure of climate, job utility, and rewards. The instrument development process, factor structure, and use of the LTSI as a diagnostic tool in organizations are discussed.&copy 2000 Jossey-Bass, A Publishing Unit of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Development of a generalized learning transfer system inventory

A critical analysis of evaluation practice: the Kirkpatrick model and the principle of beneficence

Abstract : A study is reported of the variations in organizational commitment and job satisfaction, as related to subsequent turnover in a sample of recently-employed psychiatric technician trainees. A longitudinal study was made across a 10 1/2 month period, with attitude measures collected at four points in time. For this sample, job satisfaction measures appeared better able to differentiate future stayers from leavers in the earliest phase of the study. With the passage of time, organizational commitment measures proved to be a better predictor of turnover, and job satisfaction failed to predict turnover. The findings are discussed in the light of other related studies, and possible explanations are examined. (Modified author abstract)

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Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Turnover Among Psychiatric Technicians. Technical Report No. 16.

Despite general acknowledgment of the difficulty in transferring learning, no validated and generally accepted instrument exists to measure factors believed to affect its transfer. Rouiller and Goldstein (1993) developed an eight-factor structure for a transfer climate instrument but could not validate the structure because their sample size was inadequate. This study attempted to validate their hypothesized constructs using factor analysis and found a substantially different factor structure, suggesting a different direction for future transfer climate instrument research. The results suggest that trainees perceive climate according to referents in the organization rather than according to psychological cues, as Rouiller and Goldstein proposed. Consequently, a transfer climate instrument incorporating additional constructs was analyzed. The resulting nine-factor solution suggested additional constructs and indicated that transfer climate was perceived according to organizational referents.

Toward construct validation of a transfer climate instrument

This study examines the relationship of motivation to transfer skills and knowledge learned in a computer-based training programme with five groups of variables: individual or general attitudes, situational specific attitudes, reactions, learning, and work environment factors. Hierarchical regression analysis produced a model which explained 60.5% of the variance in motivation to transfer. Individual attitudes and environmental variables explained most of the variance in motivation. A number of mediated relationships were suggested.

Factors Affecting Motivation to Transfer Training.

This study measures the impact of training content validity, opportunity to use learning, and four interpersonal support factors on supervisory ratings of workplace application of standard operating procedures learned from computer-based training. After controlling for learning and motivation to transfer, a hierarchical regression analysis showed that content validity, supervisor support variables (supervisor sanctions, supervisor support) and coworker support variables (peer support, change resistance) produced significant increments in explained variance in performance ratings. In the full regression model, content validity, peer support, change resistance and supervisor sanctions emerged as significant predictors of performance ratings (R2 = .43). The findings underscore the value of establishing valid training content and cultivating supervisor and co-worker support for the transfer of workplace learning.

The role of interpersonal factors in the application of computer-based training in an industrial setting

The stress of balancing work and family demands has increased as more wives and mothers have entered the workforce. One way to alleviate that stress is through employer-supported, family-related benefits and policies. The purpose of this research is to determine what family-oriented benefits and policy options are being offered by businesses in one state, as well as the circumstances or conditions under which such benefits are offered. The human resources directors of a stratified random sample of businesses were mailed a questionnaire and asked to report the types of benefits they offered. Demographic data on the companies and employees also were collected. Generally, companies offered few benefits, but the number of benefits offered is found to be related significantly to company size and the percentage of women in the company workforce. These findings are consistent with the rational-choice interpretation underlying the authors' model.

Balancing Work and Family: The Role of Employer-Supported Child Care Benefits

The increasing use of computer-based instruction in performance improvement/HRD is accompanied by a growing need for guidelines directing its effective design and use. Current CBI research has limitations that have not been addressed. Research deficiencies include a limited number of studies in many areas, contradictory findings, and questionable generalizability to adults in the workplace due to an almost exclusive use of college age and younger students as research subjects. This article examines principles of CBI design found in the performance improvement/HRD literature and their applicability to adults in the workplace. Five major areas are discussed: learner control, feedback, screen design, use of group methods, and computer anxiety. CBI designers are urged to be cautious in adopting current research guidelines. Further research on CBI for adults in the workplace is urged.

Dian L. Seyler

Papers

Toward construct validation of a transfer climate instrument

Factors Affecting Motivation to Transfer Training.

The role of interpersonal factors in the application of computer-based training in an industrial setting

Balancing Work and Family: The Role of Employer-Supported Child Care Benefits

Principles of CBI Design and the Adult Learners The Need for Further Research