Business Commons^™

Post-School Adult Life For Young People With Down Syndrome, Kitty Rose Foley

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Down syndrome is a chromosomal birth disorder affecting one in 650 to 1000 live births in Western Australia. The life expectancy for people with Down syndrome has increased dramatically over the past two generations leading to these young people having changing needs in terms of social, economic and personal life. Encompassed within this, is the successful transition from school to post-school, a time of upheaval, stress and important decisions for young people with intellectual disabilities. The International classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF) is a world renowned framework which provides a scientific basis and standardised language for describing and …

Stakeholders' Perceptions Of Technical, Vocational Education And Training : The Case Of Kenyan Micro And Small Enterprises In The Motor Vehicle Service And Repair Industry, Susan W. Ngure

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Technical, vocational education and training (TVET) in Kenya has undergone major changes since colonialists introduced it at the beginning of the twentieth century. Since then, TVET has evolved in the areas of science, technology and innovation to provide skills that will propel the country to middle-level industrialised status by the year 2030. However, current training and development (T&D) processes in Kenya have been criticised for being rigid and irrelevant to industry, creating a mismatch of skills produced by the training institutions and those demanded by the industry; it is upon this criticism that this research is built. The focus of …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Small Business Owner-Managers' Participation And Learning In An Online Discussion Forum : Not Quite Paradise Found, Tara Laureen Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Small business owner-managers (SBOMs) are a difficult group to engage in formal face-to-face training and learning activities. Research to encourage SBOMs' participation has focused on two main themes: first, trying to ascertain why they do not attend training and, second, determining their learning preferences. They are reluctant to attend formal training because they prioritise business operations (no time to attend training), perceive training as a poor return on investment, have negative perceptions of training and education, and believe the training provision often does not meet their needs. In terms of their learning preferences, it is clear that SBOMs prefer informal, …

Decision Making Regarding Employee Access To Training And Development In Medium-Sized Enterprises, Alan Coetzer, Janice Redmond, Jalleh Sharafizad

Research outputs 2011

Employees in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) form part of a ‘disadvantaged’ group within the workforce that receives less access to formal training and development than employees in large firms. The manager’s decisional role is critical when considering employee access to training and development. Unfortunately, there is scant research into factors affecting managers’ decisions regarding employee access to a requested development opportunity in SMEs. To address this research gap, semi-structured interviews incorporating critical incidents were conducted with a purposive sample of 12 managers of medium-sized enterprises based in Perth. We report key findings of the interviews and assess the effectiveness …

Small Business Owners: Too Busy To Train?, Elizabeth Walker, Janice Redmond, Beverley Webster, Megan Le Clus

Research outputs pre 2011

Purpose – The reason often cited for the poor relationship between small businesses and their uptake of vocational education and training is that small business owner-managers claim that they are too busy to engage in training or any type of learning activity and that most training is of little value to them. The aim of the research is to examine the relationship between these factors.

Design/methodology/approach – Using qualitative research methods the study collected data of the knowledge, attitudes and needs of small business owner-managers, both before and after participation in a training program.

Findings – This study has indicated …

The Construction Of A Business English Curriculum, Relevant To The Workplace, And Making Use Of Word Processing In Place Of Handwriting, Ladawan Wattanaboot

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Since the Thailand economic crisis in 1997 there has been a sense of urgency expressed in many areas of the society that businesses must modernize their practices and focus more on international trade and communication. Two important components of the changes required are better use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and better use of the English language for business communication. In the education arena this has translated into the need to provide graduates with better skills in the use of English and computers. These two skill areas come together naturally in the study of Business English. In Thailand Rajabhat …