The Role of Design Factors in Influencing Training Transfer among Small Businesswomen

Abstract

The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of design factors which consist of training content, training delivery, trainer competency and opportunity to use on small businesswomen’s goal setting activities. The instrument for this research is adapted and modified from the Training Transfer Model and Model for Excellence (American Society of Training and Development Competency Research). Four independent variables: training content, training delivery and trainer’s competency and opportunity to use; and goal setting as dependent variable formed the framework for this research. Multiple regressions were used to investigate the relationship between design factors and goal setting. Findings from a survey of 246 small businesswomen attending training programs organized by government agencies showed that opportunity to use made the strongest contribution towards goal setting followed by training content, trainer’s competency and training delivery. Awareness on the constraints or barriers in the design factors can assist the primary stakeholders (organizer and trainers) and human resource personnel in developing effective training programs. Thus, this alertness can help to create a fair situation for them to accomplish their training objectives. Finally it is also beneficial to the trainees to transfer the knowledge and skills to their own businesses.

A Review of the Linkage between Supervisory Support and Training Transfer

“…Some researchers have been studying the effects of participants' characteristics and training design, however, supervisory support has been overlooked by past studies (Tajudin et al, 2014). This has drawn attention to training transfer research.…”

“…Although supervisory support is important in training transfer, it received limited attention from researchers (Hua et al, 2011;Ng, 2015). This is because most of the researchers focused only on the variables of trainees' characteristics and training design (Bhatti et al, 2010;and Tajudin et al, 2014) (Kasim and Ali, 2011;Abdullah and Suring, 2011;Shi and Liu, 2015). Hence, future researchers need to put more attention on the impact of supervisory support towards training transfer to obtain more comprehensive understanding on this linkage.…”