An Application of Activity Theory

Abstract

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.

Best Laid Plans: How Community College Student Success Courses Work

“…We used questions (see Table 3) that Mwanza (2002) and Marken (2006) developed for this particular approach to craft our observation template and interview protocols. The questions are of two types: elemental and synthetic.…”

2: Envisioning Creative Collaboration Between Faculty and Technologists

“…Warmington enumerates the LIW project's concerns, which are similar to ours: Our last example has particular applicability for faculty development professionals. james Marken (2006) used Mwanza's (2001) eight-step model to guide the design and implementation of sales training for a japanese sales force employed by a US Fortune 500 multinational company. In this case, cultural differences would be certain to emerge.…”

“…Faculty developers can take advantage of their roles as professional developers and scholarly practitioners to teach the basic activity theory concepts to their technologist and faculty colleagues, much as Marken (2006) did. He taught activity theory to the global sales and marketing team of a US multinational company as part of the development of a sales training retreat for the Japanese affiliate.…”

“…As part of the process of development, team members interviewed Japanese managers and analyzed these interviews and their own considerable knowledge of Japanese culture using activity theory. Potential cultural conflicts were uncovered that changed the design of the training and shaped the expectations of the trainers (Marken, 2006). In a similar fashion, the faculty developer might bring together representatives of the technologist and faculty cultures to learn activity theory together and jointly analyze their shared workplace.…”

2: Envisioning Creative Collaboration between Faculty and Technologists

“…Our last example has particular applicability for faculty development professionals. james Marken (2006) used Mwanza's (2001) eight-step model to guide the design and implementation of sales training for a japanese sales force employed by a US Fortune 500 multinational company. In this case, cultural differences would be certain to emerge.…”