reviewed by Laurie Hoover BOOK REVIEW M aintenance is everything, especially to preserve the things we value. Recently some friends ruefully discovered that even with modern engines and motor oils, a new car can still be ruined by failing to maintain vital fluid levels. The same need for maintenance applies to physical health and the health of relationships and organizations. Tim Hatcher's book, Ethics and HRD, discusses a crucial maintenance issue for organizations: the need to maintain ethical awareness and practices.Recent corporate ethical scandals have shown that a lack of vigilance and maintenance regarding ethical issues can lead to the collapse of organizations valued by employees, customers, and shareholders. The number of corporate ethical scandals has led to discussions about the need for ethics and integrity. Some companies hoist good ethical intentions up their corporate flagpoles in the form of mission and value statements, but declarations alone are no better than a well-intentioned but ignored maintenance schedule. For the person who wonders how to translate commitments into practice, what's to be done? Hatcher's book offers prescriptive suggestions about actions to ensure an organization's ethical health, in addition to presenting a compelling case regarding the need for ethical maintenance. The Social Responsibility Performance Outcomes ModelThe cornerstone of the book is the Social Responsibility Performance Outcomes Model, illustrated in Figure 1. Hatcher previously introduced this model in an article discussing the use of performance outcomes to build socially responsible companies (Hatcher, 2000). With few exceptions, most notably in the work of Roger Kaufman, the majority of performance improvement models address needs, interventions, and evaluation in terms of individuals, processes, and organizations (Kaufman, 2003;Rummler & Brache, 1995;Van Tiem, Moseley & Dessinger, 2000). The Social Responsibility Performance Outcomes Model extends the focus to include analysis of the outcomes resulting from interventions. The model also incorporates assessment of the effects of intervention outcomes on communities, society, and the environment, in addition to the traditional domains of individuals, processes, and organizations. Organizational interventions intentionally or unintentionally affect all these areas, and this model promotes consideration and accountability for all possible outcomes.

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PurposeThe study presents preliminary findings from research begun at the 2005 Academy of Human Resource Development International Research Conference held in Estes Park, CO, USA. The qualitative case study captures what new learning occurred as a result of the conference and how the new learning at the conference occurred.Design/methodology/approachThe qualitative case study used conceptual foundations grounded within critical theory and focused on learning organizations, communities of practice (CoP), and knowledge generation.FindingsParticipant reactions documented on approximately 1,000 data forms were categorized for this preliminary study as critical perspectives on HRD where typically underrepresented voices critiqued the conference, CoP as relationships between theory and practice where participants reported that theory to practice was a rich research topic, and learning organizations where results indicated that the academy benefits through conferences in terms of creating a learning organization.Research limitations/implicationsPreliminary results were based on preliminary analysis of data forms only. Future reports will include in‐depth analyses of data forms, and results of interviews and other collected data such as journals and observations.Practical implicationsFindings are important to conference planning and evaluation that seeks to create and sustain new learning.Originality/valueThe study is the first of its kind addressing the way conferences can influence the creation of new learning and how learning occurs.

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to highlight the results of the online Delphi research project; in particular the procedures used to establish an online and innovative process of content validation and obtaining “rich” and descriptive information using the internet and current e‐learning technologies. The online Delphi was proven to be an excellent tool in establishing content validity for an HRD‐related construct, e.g. adult learning principles. A review of related literature revealed no existing research that used a web‐based Delphi technique to validate measurements used in training and development (T&D) or HRD.Design/methodology/approachResearch methods included: a thorough review of the literature to construct an item pool of adult learning principles and instructional methods, and a Delphi expert panel consensus. The mean, mode, standard deviation, interquartile range, and skewness of the data were calculated from the voting procedures for determination of consensus. Evidence of reliability was indicated by the interrater reliability coefficient from a field test. In addition, the Gunning FOG Index for readability was calculated to improve the readability of the instrument.FindingsTo address the first research question the authors suggest that a valid instrument can be developed by a diverse Delphi expert panel that measures the application of adult learning principles to fully‐mediated world wide web‐based training. The second research question was answered by illustrating that the internet can assist a group of diverse and geographically dispersed subject‐matter experts in establishing a content valid measurement of instructional methods and techniques that demonstrate the application of adult learning principles to fully‐mediated web‐based training. And, finally, the paper concludes that a Delphi process can be established as a web‐based method to validate research measures.Practical implicationsThis research helps to address the critical issue of how research is used in practice. Reasons why this research lends itself more to practice than other HRD research using more common qualitative or quantitative methods include: it is a relatively simple procedure requiring less than expert‐level skills; the Delphi uses expert opinion that is commonly used in training and development practice; and results are easy to interpret and practical.Originality/valueThis research is unique in its approach to developing a content valid instrument using state‐of‐the‐art technology coupled with a updated Delphi method. It is valuable to HRD and other professionals and researchers interested in developing valid measures across cultures and where experts are geographically dispersed.