“But I Know How to Google”

An up-front analysis is crucial to ensuring a need is learning-related and the resulting intervention actually meets that need for learners. The current case study explores how two instructional designers adopted a systems approach for their performance analysis, with a major focus on learner analysis as a means to understand the underpinnings of the social system within the client organization, which more clearly revealed potential motivations of the learners. As a result, the two designers delivered an eLearning module that 1) combats an actual gap in knowledge and skill, 2) is relevant to the intended audience, and 3) is compatible with the organizational culture and infrastructure.

A Decade's Worth

After witnessing a year-on-year growth of 50% since its inception in 1993, Ziggurat Developers was well on its way to being the next niche, technically sophisticated, and edgy construction company in Mumbai, India. This case takes a deep dive into how winning a prestigious construction contract in the country led to Ziggurat's loss of revenue, cash flow deficits, year-on-year losses, high financing costs, loss of banking, idling of resources, loss of credibility, and high employee turnover rate. Instead of these significant contracts providing a strong foothold in the construction industry, it destroyed Ziggurat and the recovery took a decade. Performance improvement is often the study of how to improve performance when discrepancies are confined to a silo or a subset of functions within an organization. But how do you get back to exemplary performance when you are boxed in and there is no way out?

Insider Effects

Needs assessment generally refers to the identification of some need or problem to be addressed. The authors aim to demonstrate how empathy, when shaped by authentic affinity or involvement with an organization, can serve the needs assessment experience in a positive way. As part of the chapter, the authors describe their approach and highlight pertinent findings from the needs assessment, which focused on proactive opportunities to enhance outcomes in parent efficacy. The authors also detail accounts of participant experiences within the process, including their interactions with the practitioner and overall experience. Finally, the authors share practitioner reflections on the overall process.

Improving Classroom Management and Teacher Retention

This case explores how a needs assessment was conducted at a middle school experiencing high rates of teacher turnover. Pamela Frost, an experienced instructional designer, was assigned to assess the situation and identify opportunities to improve professional development opportunities for the teachers. As a part of a needs assessment, Pamela gathered data to address needs pertaining to classroom management challenges, teacher attrition rates, and establishing relations with the local community. This case explores how Pamela gathered data and triangulated her findings to determine what interventions were needed.

Sales Improvement Initiative Reveals Need for Performance Improvement Interventions

This chapter posits the use of Thomas Gilbert's Behavior Engineering Model to improve human performance in the workplace. The author suggests that it is critical to apply a holistic approach when approaching any human performance improvement initiatives. Sales within an organization is a human performance issue and recurring sales performance problems should be addressed by delving to the root of the human performance issues at hand. It is critical to consider not just the repertoire of human behavior, but also examine the supporting environment, to ensure it provides the necessary impetus to improving performance.

Improving Performance, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation

Suzy Whitman, an experienced instructional designer and program manager, was hired to coordinate a new online graduate program at a large university. It was Suzy's responsibility to identify and implement solutions to the rapidly growing program's needs. Identifying problems, evaluating the need, thinking through a modification and implementation process, and considering the potential impact of change, are all important steps. In this case study, Suzy needed to identify the problems, determine a solution, and then implement that solution. After speaking with her new supervisor, Suzy determined additional instructors needed to be hired to meet the growing program's needs. Although Suzy did briefly analyze the situation and provide a potential solution, the solution Suzy implemented needed further development to ensure it was implemented in an effective manner.

Using Training to Address Excessive Turnover in a Fast Food Organization

The purpose of this case is to present a story about an effort to address a threatening business problem for a company in an industry that relies on low-wage, minimally-skilled employees. The industry is characterized by high turnover that makes training efforts difficult. The designers and developers had to be flexible, creative and innovative in creating their project plan and instructional intervention. The dynamics of the organization were fluid. The team had to consider these dynamics in selecting their approach. They had to be comfortable with using approximations and assumptions in developing the inputs for their design and development decisions. Ambiguity and uncertainty were constants for the team members.

The HPT Model Applied to a University Technology and Learning Center's Resource Allocation

The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) Human Performance Technology model was used as a guideline for this case study and applied to assess and evaluate the resource allocation at the Technology and Learning Center (TLC). This model has proven to be a useful guideline as a process to be followed during the project. A team of instructional systems technology graduate students served in a consulting role on this project to help the TLC allocate resources and redesign processes on how support tickets were handled. The project team conducted performance analysis through extensive stakeholder interviews and extant data review to perform organizational, environmental, gap and cause analysis. Through these analyses, performance issues were isolated, the causes behind them were identified and concluded with the recommendation of interventions to the client.

Leading Edge Training for Leading Edges

Ruben, the learning and development manager for Aerosector, was tasked to help the composite manufacturing team increase their production rate and lower the defect rate for the manufacturing of composite leading edge parts for a newly designed aircraft. Initially, it took approximately 28 days to build one of the parts, and the defect rate for the parts was over 30 percent. Ruben put together a cross-functional team to devise a solution that would decrease the production rate of the parts to 15 days or less and reduce the defect rate to less than 0.5 percent for non-repairable defects and less than 2 percent for repairable defects. After performing a gap analysis, the team came up with the solution to build a training class utilizing experiential learning to quickly increase performance in the shop and meet the build requirements.

Journey to Project Management Program Design

Approaching a project can be considered a journey of discovery. Each person involved has a different background and comes to the table with a diverse perspective. The authors use the analogy of a journey throughout the context of the case study. Providing quality education for university students often includes a journey toward the best approach. This journey entails outlining the appropriate curriculum, finding the appropriate content, establishing dynamic learning objectives and aligning the course with student needs and learning styles. After these criteria are met, the university seeks and selects the most qualitied faculty members to teach the course(s). When specialized credentialing requirements are involved, the University must take further steps to ensure that each course meets the standards of the certifying body. The context of this journey and enhancement of Davenport University's Global Project Management Program will include three parts. Part I will review recognition that course updates were necessary to meet changes in the latest revision of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide 6th ED, 2017). The university faculty, staff and a consultant with project management credentials developed a consistent process for making updates and ensuring that changes were made to meet requirements. Throughout the consulting phase, principles of Human Performance Improvement/Technology were followed to develop this process. Part II will exhibit a case study that illustrates successful student certification pursuit after completing the capstone course in the program. Part III will review future opportunities for application of performance improvement principles to other projects.