This research investigates the role of corporate governance as a moderator between firms' performance and their Training and Development Policy (TDP). Research data were taken from the US, Brazil, Russia, India, China and Indonesia from 2007 to 2013. This research found that the TDP is important for enhancing firm performance. Also, the role of the training and development policy impacted each firm's performance differently, according to the level of corporate governance of that firm. The moderating effect of corporate governance reveals that better governance of a firm may have an influence on its TDP policy, which would lead to better firm performance. Overall, the results are consistent with the conjecture that corporate governance influences the firm's performance and training and development policy, suggesting that the training and development policy's success depends on the corporate governance level of the firm. Hence, this research contributes to two big theories: the knowledge transfer theory and the human capital theory, where the research findings show a confirmation of the two theories application in this research context.

Purpose – This paper proposes a conceptual framework that would be able to explain the importance of workplace familism on business performance through an organizational learning capability as a mediator. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual approach is taken whereby this paper is based on an extensive literature review of workplace familism and organizational learning capability. Four prepositions were proposed to highlight the focus of this study which is how workplace familism can be capitalized through organizational learning capability to enhance SMEs business performance. Findings – This paper provides a theoretical discussion on the importance of organizational learning capability in ensuring the survival of the family business. The concept of workplace familism are relatively new, hence, it offers an interesting avenue for further research especially in the Malaysian context. Practical implications – The paper draws attention to the importance of workplace familism and learning organization in fostering entrepreneurial survival and performance among SMEs. Originality/value – This paper shed some insight on the subject on workplace familism and organizational learning capability in small and medium enterprise (SMEs) which hopefully would attract scholars and researchers to pursue more research on this area.

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