Initiatives in VET and Workplace Learning: A Korean Perspective

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

“…However, where institutions essentially devolve skill formation to the marketplace, small businesses become less likely to invest in apprenticeships – or at least in ‘conventional’ apprenticeships that focus on occupational rather than firm‐specific skills (see Fuller & Unwin, ). In a similar vein, as Choi () observes, the sector‐based employer collaborations between small firms and larger corporations frequently observed in Korea (discussed above) are built on endemic cultural values concerning the importance of inter‐organizational collective responsibility and endeavour; values that are characteristically far less prominent within free market systems. Thus, what constitutes a relatively successful policy in one institutional context can have a very different impact in another.…”

“…These appear to have had some success in increasing levels of participation in training within those firms. Choi () further elaborates on the Korean context, highlighting the creation of publicly funded ‘Joint Vocational Training Consortiums’, which allow small firms to coordinate with larger firms, employer associations or universities to utilize their training facilities. Collaborative arrangements of a similar type do exist already in some parts of the UK, for example, in the case of Group Training Associations.…”