Firm size and skill formation processes: an emerging debate

Bishop, Daniel

doi:10.1080/13639080.2012.661848

Cited by 17 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The findings suggest two things. Firstlyand in line with existing research (see Bishop, 2012)while a range of workplace learning affordances was in evidence in all of the firms visited, the nature and configuration of these affordances differed markedly between the large and small practices. So for example, in the larger practices the training function ensured that trainees were systematically exposed to working alongside more senior staff, that their progress in terms of task competence was formally reviewed at regular intervals against the organisational competency framework, and that their development needs were explicitly considered in deliberations concerning work allocation.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Context, agency and professional workplace learning

Bishop

2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To investigate the ways in which organisational context and individual agency interact ('co-participate') to shape the workplace learning of graduate trainee accountants, and to examine the role of firm size in conditioning this interaction.  Design/methodology/approach A qualitative, comparative approach was used, involving interviews with 20 respondents across two large and three small accountancy firms in England.  Findings Differences in individual learner biographies and trajectories generate divergent dispositions with regard to workplace learning. In turn, these dispositions influence the extent to which the generally less formal learning environment of the small firm is interpreted either positively or negatively.  Research limitations/implications Further research is needed on processes of agency / context interaction across a wider range of organisational and professional environments.  Practical implications Individual dispositions play an important role in determining the optimal approach towards professional development in practice.  Originality/value The article offers a novel insight into how variations in both context and agencyand the relationship between themcan generate significant divergences in the professional learning process.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Context, agency and professional workplace learning

Bishop

2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…First, there has been a misunderstanding of the ways in which skills are normally developed within small firms. For example, an expanding corpus of academic research demonstrates the heightened importance of informal, situated learning within small businesses (see Bishop, ). This sits uneasily with policies that regularly equate skills and learning with structured qualifications and formal training.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of course, as Bishop () points out, this is not to say that formal training is irrelevant to small businesses. As noted above, for example, firms in some business sectors are more likely to benefit from formal training than firms in others.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small firms and the failure of national skills policies: adopting an institutional perspective

Bishop

2015

Int J Training Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Both skills and small firms have been increasingly prominent in policy agendas across the world in recent years. Skills are now seen as being crucial to economic prosperity, yet evidence consistently shows much lower levels of training, on average, in small firms than in larger businesses. Policy makers in various countries have sought to address this perceived problem and to stimulate skills development in small firms, but have attempted to do so in different ways and with varying degrees of success. It is this divergence in national skills policies, as well as its causes and implications for skill formation in small firms, that this paper seeks to illuminate. In doing so, it adopts an ‘institutional’ perspective that advances current understanding of how and why skills policies adopted in different countries appear to have varying effects on small firms. Through employing this institutional analysis, the paper promotes an awareness of how historical, social and economic forces in the ‘corporatist’ systems, found for example in Germany and Scandinavia, tend to provide a more supportive context for skills development in small firms than the liberal free market systems found elsewhere in the world, such as in the USA, Canada and the UK – which is highlighted as an illustrative case in this paper.

show abstract

“…It seems that the example of the shipping industry serves to demonstrate that in shifting to recruitment from global labour markets (away from localised labour markets in OECD countries), employers have yet to fully appreciate the extent to which they need to be prepared to shoulder a far greater proportion of the costs associated with both initial training and continuous professional development if they are to maintain the stock of competence within their workforce. Given the differences in training provision that have previously been identified between small firms and large companies (see Bishop 2012), this may seem particularly surprising in a sector where there are many global players of significant size and worth billions of dollars (a single vessel costs very many millions of dollars to purchase and a great deal to operate). It is also counter-intuitive when the costs of accidents have the potential to be so high.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strange things happen at sea: training and new technology in a multi-billion global industry

Sampson

Tang

2015

Journal of Education and Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is not unusual to find that employers operating in low-pay sectors are reluctant to provide vocational training. Frequently they fear benefitting competitors as better-skilled employees command a more competitive position in the labour market and may choose to leave one employer and take their newly acquired skills elsewhere. However, in contrast the expectation might reasonably be that employers in more skilled sectors would be more enthusiastic about such training particularly when the financial, environmental, and human costs, of errors are high. This paper therefore analyses vocational training provision in the more skilled sector of professional seafaring. In this sector, accidents may cause massive environmental damage and loss of life, and may incur substantial fines and financial penalties. Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative data, the paper focuses upon the adequacy of the training that is provided to seafarer officers in relation to the introduction of new technology aboard their vessels.

show abstract

Firm size and skill formation processes: an emerging debate

Cited by 17 publications

References 41 publications

Context, agency and professional workplace learning

Context, agency and professional workplace learning

Small firms and the failure of national skills policies: adopting an institutional perspective

Strange things happen at sea: training and new technology in a multi-billion global industry

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About