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If you'd like a look at the short-term direction of the training industry, consider these 12 trends described by Gartner. The trends fall into two categories--technology and management--and cover everything from knowledge management to bigger budgets.

Professors at Chicago-area business schools were interviewed about new-economy education and identified four key trends

Professor Henry Mintzberg is one of the world's most influential teachers of business strategy. Now he's developing a new lesson plan: to change the very essence of business education itself.

E-learning systems may not be easy to implement, but many companies see the potential for a broad business impact.

Many companies are feeling the pressure to employ technology-based training solutions instead of continuing their reliance on traditional classroom training. Some have even taken the plunge with pilot projects, producing both favorable and unfavorable results. But before you go wading into the pricey waters of technology-based training, take the time to look at why many professionals feel it will vastly improve and enhance your training efforts. Instructional multimedia, the kind of training delivered over the computer, has some major differences and some powerful benefits over classroom training. The two current front-runners, CD-ROM and Web-based training (WBT) have many similarities, but some vastly different capabilities that may require some trade-offs on your part.

So you've made the decision to use multimedia as part of your overall training strategy. You can take the low cost route and purchase generic off-the-shelf products, or you can expend more of your training budget on your own development. But do you know how to tell the difference between high quality multimedia and multimedia that is substandard (it may do the job but not as well)?

Most organizations use their training investments about as strategically as they deploy their office supplies spending. And the impact on customer satisfaction, cost containment or quality improvement is just as useless.

Note: Older EBF articles are not currently online. I'm not sure if this is temporary or permanent. If you click you will be taken to the Archive.org site to find an archived copy.

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"Our line-up of essayists is, we believe, as distinguished as ever. It starts with two eminent deans - John Quelch (formerly of London Business School, now back at Harvard) and Xavier Gilbert and Peter Lorange of IMD. Both naturally promote the virtues of management education - Quelch praising the achievements of the MBA, notably in the United States, Lorange and Gilbert explaining how to make the ‘learning' experience as relevant and effective as possible. Transatlantic differences surface in the Quelch thesis but it is Peter Hagström from the Stockholm School of Economics (CEMS) who sets out to distinguish the Anglo-Saxon model from its European (notably Scandinavian) variants. Then comes an interesting debate on the pros, cons and possibilities of measuring the impact of executive education - a highly sceptical view from Adrian Furnham,a Psychology Professor at University College, London, coupled with an analysis by Cranfield's Liz Bridge and Andrew Myers of attempts so far. Kelvin Hard of PricewaterhouseCoopers argues that personal and inter-personal skills can be improved by training - with a clear impact on performance - followed by IBM's Manfred Schnabel putting the case for corporate universities. Two business executives responsible for learning and development in their companies - Knut Asebo of Norsk Hydro and Tony Russell of L'Oréal - describe how they seek to maintain relevance and commercial focus while Insead Professor Gareth Jones' mix of sceptisim and exuberant enthusiasm will provoke boardroom thought. In addition, Tim Dickson, EBF executive Editor has written an acerbic critique on business school rankings. Finally, EBF conducted an online poll and held an executive workshop. Go to 'Have your say' section in the website to view comments."

Editor's Note: A follow-up to this debate has been published at:
http://www.ebfonline.com/at_forum/at_forum.asp?id=285

In an economy filled with surprise and uncertainty, being an effective leader means being a good teacher. But how do you lead and teach at the same time? Who are your most important students? And what about recess?

To help your facilitators do a better job - and better ensure the overall success of your conferences - consider passing along these basic, but vitally important, recommendations.

Editor's Note: some of these recommendations are useful for any kind of instruction or presentation

Demonstrating the business benefits of spending on human performance has been challenging for executives and researchers alike. The Accenture Learning Return on Investment methodology breaks new ground by showing it is possible to measure the value of learning. This paper describes the methodology - and the dramatic business ROI from Accenture's own employee learning programs.

Sometimes instruction needs to be serious, sometimes experiential, sometimes individual, and sometimes social. Sometimes content is the issue, sometimes it's motivation, and sometimes learner preference. It all depends. Understand the primary goals of each instructional strategy, and get to know them well.

Tom Kelly is using the Web to reinvent training inside the world's most Internet-centric big company. Here's what he's learned about e-learning -- and how it's changing the style and the substance of training at Cisco Systems.

Judy Rosenblum has dealt with all of the obstacles that keep companies from getting smarter. Here is her 10-point curriculum for getting smart about learning.

Often, it's not clear what it means for some practice to be "best." Best at what? And by what standard?

What works well for one of your competitors or another company doesn't necessarily mean it will work well for your organization. Following in the footsteps of other companies is called mimicry, and while it might be flattering, it is often very dangerous.

Note: TWM articles ARE still available BUT: (1) you must be a member (free for existing members, not free for new members)   (2) you must be logged-in for the link to work. If you get an error page, visit the homepage, login and then try the link again.

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While the notion that people learn differently is hardly new, it has been David A. Kolb, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Weatherhead School of Management, who has encapsulated the idea in recent years. Initially on his own and then working with Roger Fry, Kolb put forward a cycle of learning. This article, which serves as an introduction to theworkingmanager.com website offers a nice overview of Kolb's work and the connections between personality types and learning styles.

The successful transfer of new technologies from the research laboratory to the commercial sector has many benefits: the creation of wealth, new jobs and new solutions to society's problems. For nearly three decades, Stanford University has been a leader in technology transfer, fostering the growth of northern California's Silicon Valley and the biotechnology industry and providing a model for other research and educational institutions across the country and the globe.

Management theorist and critic Henry Mintzberg has a few choice words for all you newly minted MBAs: The way you were taught management is all wrong.

Leadership programs offer everything from white-water rafting to encounter groups. But do they really train leaders? Yes, if they take a multi-tiered approach and recognize that it takes skill and time to succeed.

Editor's Note: this is an excellent article - a bit long, but well worth the read...

A survey of 100-plus executives in more than 20 countries identifies the knowledge, skills, and attributes young leaders need to succeed.

Training new supervisors has a positive effect on all of the supervisor's staff and produces more results than the supervisor was able to accomplish as an individual performer. While many companies offer some sort of management training, often it's ineffective. But by adjusting when the training is conducted, what is included and who conducts it, you can make big differences in the effectiveness of your managers.

While the full story of the next economy and beyond has yet to be written, it is clear that the winners in the future economic environment will be those companies and individuals best able to learn quickly the skills required to thrive in the emerging business climate. This report focuses on two competency areas that are believed to be critical: leadership and management competencies, and customer-relationship competencies.

With literally billions of dollars spent on training, why is it not more effective in changing organizations' practices? Why are training departments becoming today's "usual suspects?"

The notion of different types of learners and learning styles usually refer to "auditory," "visual" and "verbal." While these distinctions are valid, there is a different way to think about this: in terms of how people think about their goals.

In the haste to "get it out there," organizations are ignoring some basic realities about technology and learning, as well as about today's learners. This results in e-learning programs that are time-consuming to create, expensive to produce and deploy and don't change behaviors in a way that "moves the needle" for business results.

So how effective are your e-learning efforts? It's time to find out. Think of a project your organization has just finished or is working on, then see how it meets these 12 unavoidable truths about e-learning.

Managers want the status of professionals, but not all managers want the constraints that go along with professions. Why? For more than 100 years, business education at the top universities has been searching for its soul. HBS professor Rakesh Khurana, author of a new book, says business school education is at a turning point.

What is the point of research carried out in business schools?