Chapter 4

Simply put by Toracco, a theory explains what a phenomenon is and how it works. There may be many theories out there, however, for it to have any credibility there has to be some work done to back it up. Someone, like Kurt Lewin, would argue that theory is practical if it is done well & properly. A theory is good if it has been thoroughly tested and examined in practice & intellectually. If this is done right it can direct professionals to models & techniques that are effective and efficient. Theories can be practical if there is some testing and proof to back it up.

The theory reference that interests me the most is the “Development and Validation of a Model of Responsible Leadership & Performance.” This looks at leadership in context of purpose rather than the limited lens of the leaders’ traits and behaviors. Leadership is something that has always interested me, especially the motivation behind leaders, and that is what I think the purpose component of this deals with. Why is it that leaders take on the leadership roles? What is there purpose? I’ve been in many leadership roles and I know why I’ve chosen to take on those responsibilities, however, there have been many times that I have questioned others reasoning for doing so. Also, traits & behaviors of leaders are looked at fairly frequently, and not to discredit those studies, I just think it would be interesting to dig deeper.

Unsure of if this metaphor makes the most sense to me because it just does or if its because it’s the one I agree with most, but that metaphor would be the human resource developer. Using human capital theory and human resource accounting seems the most logical to me because it is simply seeing humans as resources of the company and investing in them as resources. Pairing with this metaphor is the human resource accounting approach, which also seems to make good sense to me. With Likert & Bowers having had successful results in their studies, it solidifies my opinion that the work atmosphere & climate has an affect on satisfaction & productivity.

The metaphor that would most likely make the most sense to high-tech business organizations would be the organizational change agent or helper. The main reason behind this assumption of mine is because it could be represented mathematically. Any time that things can be represented using mathematics and figures, computers can do most of the work & it is the most time efficient to understand analysis. I feel as though high-tech businesses look for these types of solutions.

Chapter 3 Reflection

The very beginning of times, the primary drive to develop humans was to survive. Learning was based around creating tools and objects to assist one with staying alive. In the Middle Ages (300-1300A.D.), developing humans and training was influenced by Christianity. Even though much of the formal learning took place in the monasteries, most of the learning seemed to come from apprenticeship and merchant and craft guilds. Apprenticeship followed similar traditions pre-medieval times, but the creation of guilds was the new thing of the era. These guilds resemble current situations like engineers, who self-teach and critique. In the Renaissance times (1400-1800 A.D.), the big change for learning was that religion and the church did not dominate education anymore like it had in the medieval era. Lock introduced that education should include the development of logical thinking and preparation for practical life, which leads us closer to current HRD practices. Other HRD implications included experiential learning and manual training, which saw education as a whole.

The three that interested me are the ones I listed above for the reasons I listed, which is why I picked them. The renaissance times appealed to me most, especially because of Rousseau & Pestalozzi. I am a firm believer in learning through experience is one of the best ways. It may not always be the most efficient, but especially when it comes to learning skills, this is one of the best practices. I also really like Pestalozzi’s contributions, particularly that factor that stated, “ … school should be closely connected with, and prepare once for life in the home, rather than leading one away from it.” I agree that education should prepare you for life, however, in today’s society I don’t agree that it should keep you in the home. Education should help provide you with skills & knowledge to go explore, but now that we are a global society that fits. Back then, Pestalozzi’s point was valid.

World War II was important to HRD because that was when Training within Industry was established. TWI was created to help contractors produce efficiently with lower costs and higher quality. It was a simple way to train a lot of people. It taught supervisors to break down jobs and delegate and instruct those parts. Also, it was during this time that safety became a concern and started to be addressed, which was when the Job Safety Program was implemented.

AHRD gave birth to the first HRD research journal, the Human Resource Development Quarterly. This association began the focus on research in this field that took it beyond practical techniques and reactive thinking. It wanted to lead the profession through research.

One reoccurring theme is that most times there is something new introduced, society was also in the midst of change or reform. This was especially in the earlier times, but continued during things like WWII and the later 20^th century. Another reoccurring theme is that once someone proposed a new theory or wrote a new book, it would snowball until the next new theory came about. This has continued to reoccur to present day as theories are countered and supported.

Chapter 2 Reflection

The relationship between improvement, problem orientation, and systems thinking is the way they all lead to each other. Improvement, which can be seen based on learning or performance depending on whether you agree with Krempl and Pace (2001) or Bierema (1996), helps fix the problem (opportunity) or close the gap from the current state to the desirable state. HRD tools are provided through systems thinking for identifying improvement problems and taking action, therefore connecting back to improvement.

The open system part of system thinking isn’t exactly new to me, but is much more understood now after reading this chapter. I’ve been thinking it is much more complicated than it is, and basically its just a system that can be changed or influenced by the outside forces (environment).

The only connection that I can see is that each one is part of a system that ultimately makes up framework for the HRD profession. Vague, but that’s the only connection I can see.

My world view is that for majority of people, the population is made up of good people that want to be good people and be able to provide for themselves and others. This deals or relates to HRD because I think that people in their occupations want to perform well for both personal satisfaction and for others, however somewhere along the way that becomes clouded and interrupted. Whether the distraction is from environmental or organizational factors is the job of the HRD professional to identify as they try to reconnect them to themselves and their job.

Integrity and ethics aren’t only important to the HRD profession, but should be in all professions and life-styles. Specifically though, in HRD, they are important because if we as professionals don’t guide other human beings with integrity and ethical practices, then we could potentially help to create unethical & integrity lacking people.

Chapter 1 Reflection

The definition that made most sense to me was Chalofsky’s from 1992. I personally believe that the underlying theory and philosophy should be related to human performance just as mentioned in that definition. I can understand and believe that a byproduct of structuring development around human performance results in performance improvement. The definition also specifically states that it is “the study and practice”, which ultimately is analysis/evaluation and implementation. Lastly, it makes perfect sense to me that the purpose is to optimize human and organizational growth, not just one or the other.

The definition that made least sense to me was the next one in 1993 from Marquardt and Engel. The entire definition is about the skills that are included in HRD. So, these are the skills that make up HRD, but what are the outcomes of those skills? What’s the point of having those skills? Also, this definition does not say anything about developing an individual, and I do not understand that because that is what HRD is about… developing humans… developing individuals to develop an organization.

I think most people could agree that training, development, assessment, learning, increasing performance, improving efficiency, sometimes employee selection, and helping to create relationships are all part of HRD. However, I think that the debate becomes more about the level that each is implemented, to what audience, and the role that the HRD professional has in the process. Do HRD professionals train the leadership so they can implement their own development? Or does the HRD Pro do the implementation within the organization and individuals? HRD pros are said to be wearing many different hats and have played many different roles. But as one of our textbooks in another class suggested, HRD pros, after initial assessment and program development, should train and educate the leadership of the organization. This will offer more time for the HRD pro to be more visionary and will also help improve, change, and sustain the culture of the organization because it will begin with the leadership. With one of the main complaints being lack of management support, this could help solve this problem. So, I think the real question is what does HRD do, because I think most people would agree on what are the parts of it.

I think the core belief that is closest to my beliefs is that organizations are human-made entities that rely on human expertise to establish and achieve their goals. Organizations are made up by the people that work them. You can have the best equipment, technology, and facility, however, without the "man-power" and "man-knowledge", those tangible, material things have no worth. And without training and continually developing the human resources that are available, that of which HRD pros do or assist in doing, the organization can crumble and most likely will. Especially with most organizations now moving towards service rather than product, it is especially important that the staff optimize their skills, including people skills, to maximize the output to people as people, not just consumers.

What interests me the most and gets me most excited to explore this field is that HRD is primarily about developing people to be better people and to help reach their potential. Its about creating a life long learning life-style, and one of the venues that we do this is through the work place. With depression strongly related to ones occupation, this is a great place to begin to alter and raise the quality of life. Helping people feel more productive will hopefully result in them feeling more worthy, and ultimately more satisfied and happy in life. It could be a revolution to create peace in the world! Well, maybe, but let's start with passing this course first...