Chapter 10 - Case study: Training at Sunrise Inc.
Textbook page 257
Answers to case study questions in textbook, page 257
1. What is meant by the statement that training is extremely "faddish"?
The statement means that training is a phenomenon that has become very
popular in a very short time. In light of the Skills Development Act and the
Skills Development Levy’s Act in South Africa in particular a lot of
companies have been spending more time and money on training. Some
companies do this merely to enable them to claim their levies back but
others are very serious about their training efforts. Training should not be
seen as a fad or craze or trend. Organisations should not fall into the trap
of training employees just for the sake of training. Training is normally very
expensive and it does not make sense to spend a lot of money on training
and developing employees if this will not render positive results for the
organisation.
2. How can Sunrise Inc avoid becoming a victim of the faddishness of
the training business?
Sunrise Inc is driven by sales and profits and for the company to succeed
they need employees that are competent with excellent sales skills.
Environments change, products change and customers needs also
change and it is crucial that Sunrise keep abreast with the latest product
information and also sales techniques to ensure that they capitalise on all
possible opportunities.
Tom Wilson constantly investigates new training programmes and
techniques to ensure that he reaches his goals of improving sales and
profits. Although the implementation of the new system sounds very
expensive it could save the company money in the long run. Tom will have
to investigate this thoroughly before they embark on purchasing such a
system. Tom should be careful not to purchase a training package
because this is the latest trend, he needs to do a thorough needs analysis
and then ensure that the training programme/package he is interested in
will fulfil the needs of the company and that there are no other alternatives
available. Tom also needs to be careful that he does not purchase the
training package/programme because this is the latest training craze, then
they are in danger of falling victim to the latest fad in training.
Tom needs to ensure that their intranet will be able to handle this
package, the system should also be easy to use and navigate, online
coach facilitation through discussion groups and regular personal contact
must be part of the system and on-line tests should be available with
1
Textbook page 257
Answers to case study questions in textbook, page 257
1. What is meant by the statement that training is extremely "faddish"?
The statement means that training is a phenomenon that has become very
popular in a very short time. In light of the Skills Development Act and the
Skills Development Levy’s Act in South Africa in particular a lot of
companies have been spending more time and money on training. Some
companies do this merely to enable them to claim their levies back but
others are very serious about their training efforts. Training should not be
seen as a fad or craze or trend. Organisations should not fall into the trap
of training employees just for the sake of training. Training is normally very
expensive and it does not make sense to spend a lot of money on training
and developing employees if this will not render positive results for the
organisation.
2. How can Sunrise Inc avoid becoming a victim of the faddishness of
the training business?
Sunrise Inc is driven by sales and profits and for the company to succeed
they need employees that are competent with excellent sales skills.
Environments change, products change and customers needs also
change and it is crucial that Sunrise keep abreast with the latest product
information and also sales techniques to ensure that they capitalise on all
possible opportunities.
Tom Wilson constantly investigates new training programmes and
techniques to ensure that he reaches his goals of improving sales and
profits. Although the implementation of the new system sounds very
expensive it could save the company money in the long run. Tom will have
to investigate this thoroughly before they embark on purchasing such a
system. Tom should be careful not to purchase a training package
because this is the latest trend, he needs to do a thorough needs analysis
and then ensure that the training programme/package he is interested in
will fulfil the needs of the company and that there are no other alternatives
available. Tom also needs to be careful that he does not purchase the
training package/programme because this is the latest training craze, then
they are in danger of falling victim to the latest fad in training.
Tom needs to ensure that their intranet will be able to handle this
package, the system should also be easy to use and navigate, online
coach facilitation through discussion groups and regular personal contact
must be part of the system and on-line tests should be available with
1
