The competitive factor: training and development as a strategic management task

Abstract

The political and economic changes in eastern European countries and the increasing attraction of cheap labour countries as production locations for western European companies give rise to the notion that western European employment can only be secured by a constant increase in production coupled with better quality in goods and services. This requires a highly skilled workforce; indeed the human potential within an organization is a major competitive factor. In global competitiveness, where shorter life cycles, benchmarking and faster information transfer are the keys to success, human resources provide a mid‐ to long‐term advantage for companies. They play a strategic role: today’s investment in the workforce secures the innovation and competitiveness of tomorrow. Therefore, company training and development should be viewed as an important management task. Discusses the management tasks for company training: analysing training requirements, preparation and implementation, know‐how transfer within a company and controlling training and development, while highlighting the importance of training and development within the overall strategic planning process.

Citation

Mühlemeyer, P. and Clarke, M. (1997), "The competitive factor: training and development as a strategic management task", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 4-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/13665629710160395