The Role of Relapse Prevention and Goal Setting in Training Transfer Enhancement

This article reviews the effect of two post-training transfer interventions (relapse prevention [RP] and goal setting [GS]) on trainees’ ability to apply skills gained in a training context to the workplace. Through a review of post-training transfer interventions literature, the article identifies a number of key issues that remain unresolved or underexplored, for example, the inconsistent results on the impact of RP on transfer of training, the lack of agreement on which GS types are more efficient to improve transfer performance, the lack of clarity about the distinction between RP and GS, and the underlying process through which these two post-training transfer interventions influence transfer of training. We offer some recommendations to overcome these problems and also provide guidance for future research on transfer of training

Directive versus empowering leadership: A field experiment comparing impacts on task proficiency and proactivity

Using a field experiment in the United Arab Emirates, we compared the impacts of directive and empowering leadership on customer-rated core task proficiency and proactive behaviors. Results of tests for main effects demonstrated that both directive and empowering leadership increased work unit core task proficiency, but only empowering leadership increased proactive behaviors. Examination of boundary conditions revealed that directive leadership enhanced proactive behaviors for work units that were highly satisfied with their leaders, whereas empowering leadership had stronger effects on both core task proficiency and proactive behaviors for work units that were less satisfied with their leaders. We discuss implications for both theory and practice. © Academy of Management Journal

The Effect of Employee Learning Goals and Goal Commitment on Departmental Performance

The relationship between employee goals at the individual level and firm performance at the department level was examined across a variety of industries. Specifically, three types of employee goals-learning, performance, and do-your-best-were studied with regard to department-level performance. Employee learning goals were related to higher levels of departmentlevel performance than were performance or do-your-best goals. The relationship between the level of employee goal commitment and department level performance was also examined, and found to be positive and significant. The theoretical and practical significance of these findings for leaders in an economically turbulent environment are discussed. © Baker College 2013