Activity Theory has often been used in workplace settings to gain new theoretical understandings about work and the humans who engage in work, but rarely has there been sufficient detail in the literature to allow HPT practitioners to do their own activity analysis. The detail presented in this case is sufficient for HPT practitioners to begin to use Activity Theory as an analytical framework. The case described here tells in detail of an activity analysis done with the global sales and marketing training department of a U.S.‐based Fortune 500 multinational corporation. With a facilitator coaching them in its use, the team was able to use Activity Theory both as a debriefing tool and proactively to plan a training intervention in Japan. As a result of the team's work, potential cultural conflicts were avoided, improvements for later training interventions were identified, and knowledge and experience were mutually shared.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the often touted but rarely quantified claims of where performance problems actually occur in organizations. Starting in the mid–20th century, organizational development and performance consultants have followed the belief that the vast majority of organizational problems (85%) are tied to variables controlled by the organization and only a small percentage (15%) of performance problems are attributed to the worker. This study is a meta‐analysis that examined 327 performance technology (PT) analysis projects and coded the recommendations according to PT models to quantify the ratio between organizational and individual performance recommendations and corresponding problems. We find broad support for the conventional wisdom regarding the ratio of organizational issues to individual workers.

While the concept of objectives is widely used in many applied fields of instruction, the systematic derivation and application of objectives for learning and instruction is a key feature of systematic instructional design. However, the treatment of objectives and the terminology surrounding them is sometimes nebulously employed. This article takes a historical look at the terminology around objectives used in the research literature to track changes over time. Data base searchers were conducted using Academic Search Complete, Education Research Complete, and ERIC to identify various terms using nine different objective related terms. Searches were limited to peer-reviewed sources, and restricted by date to include only the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s respectively. Results show that terms with more concrete definitions, such as behavioral objectives, have fallen off markedly, while terms with more operational definitions, such as educational objectives or learning objectives, have gained in currency. Implications for the field of instructional design are discussed.

Knowledge Management (KM) on its surface may appear to be a dichotomous dis-synchronization with Community of Practice (CoP) development. KM is systematic and intentional, and presumes the defined body of facts. CoP, on the other hand, is based, as its name intends, on skill-based practice. It is the above oversimplified definition, though, that prompted the case study referred to herein. CoP based on and drawing from KM principles can be a strong foundation for CoP community development. This article uses findings from previous case study research to apply findings to the library professional / paraprofessional negotiated CoP.