Manajemen | Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji joeb.83.5.309-312

Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

Book Review
Susan R. Feather-Gannon PhD & Peter J. McAliney CMC PMP
To cite this article: Susan R. Feather-Gannon PhD & Peter J. McAliney CMC PMP (2008) Book
Review, Journal of Education for Business, 83:5, 309-312, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.83.5.309-312
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.83.5.309-312

Published online: 07 Aug 2010.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 11

View related articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=vjeb20
Download by: [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji]


Date: 11 January 2016, At: 23:13

BOOK฀REVIEW

Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:13 11 January 2016

O’Connor,฀Bridget,฀Bronner,฀Michael,฀
&฀Delaney,฀Chester.฀Learning฀at฀
Work:฀How฀to฀Support฀Individual฀and฀
Organizational฀Learning.฀฀
Amherst,฀MA:฀HRD฀Press.฀2007.฀418฀pp.฀฀
ISBN฀978-1-5996-056-2.฀$44.95.฀

H

ow฀ best฀ to฀ lead฀ learning—not฀
training—is฀ the฀ overall฀ message฀
of฀ Learning฀ at฀ Work:฀ How฀ to฀ Support฀
Individual฀ and฀ Organizational฀ Learning.฀Whether฀you฀are฀a฀corporate฀educator฀ or฀ an฀ academic,฀ you฀ will฀ find฀ this฀

text’s฀ approach฀ to฀ instructional฀ design฀
and฀the฀management฀of฀the฀learning฀and฀
performance฀ function฀ in฀ organizations฀
both฀ novel฀ and฀ useful.฀ In฀ Learning฀ at฀
Work,฀O’Connor,฀Bronner,฀and฀Delaney฀
identify฀ and฀ analyze฀ the฀ processes฀ of฀
learning฀ that฀ regularly฀ transpire฀ in฀ the฀
workplace฀ and฀ how฀ to฀ organize฀ those฀
processes฀ for฀ maximum฀ efficiency฀ and฀
effectiveness.฀ O’Connor฀ and฀ Bronner,฀
professors฀of฀business฀education฀at฀New฀
York฀ University,฀ and฀ Delaney,฀ a฀ seasoned฀New฀York฀City–based฀workplace฀
learning฀ professional,฀ wrote฀ this฀ book฀
by฀ drawing฀ on฀ their฀ extensive฀ observations฀of฀work฀practices฀and฀their฀knowledge฀of฀learning฀theory฀and฀instructional฀design.฀Their฀overriding฀intent฀was฀to฀
shed฀ light฀ on฀ the฀ vital฀ role฀ of฀ learning฀
leadership฀within฀a฀workplace.
The฀ authors฀ provide฀ an฀ introduction฀
that฀ sets฀ the฀ stage฀ and฀ emphasizes฀ the฀
evolving฀vocabulary฀associated฀with฀the฀
role฀of฀a฀workplace฀learning฀professional.฀ Additionally,฀ the฀ authors฀ describe฀

the฀format฀of฀the฀book,฀which฀is฀neatly฀
divided฀ into฀ 5฀ parts฀ and฀ 12฀ chapters,฀฀
with฀chapters฀1฀and฀12฀serving฀as฀bookends.฀In฀chapter฀1,฀the฀authors฀establish฀
the฀need฀for฀organizational฀learning.฀In฀
chapter฀ 12,฀ they฀ provide฀ strategies฀ for฀
maintaining฀ a฀ professional฀ edge฀ as฀ a฀
workplace฀ learning฀ professional.฀ Parts฀
and฀ chapters฀ in฀ between฀ are฀ organized฀
around฀ the฀ authors’฀ action-researchbased฀ instructional฀ development฀ cycle฀
and฀ management฀ practices฀ and฀ issues.฀


Each฀ chapter฀ ends฀ with฀ a฀ summary฀ of฀
the฀ key฀ points฀ discussed,฀ questions฀ for฀
group฀discussion,฀ideas฀for฀projects฀that฀
would฀put฀concepts฀into฀action,฀and฀a฀list฀
of฀ additional฀ resources.฀ Each฀ part฀ ends฀
with฀ perspectives฀ from฀ well-regarded฀
practitioners฀ in฀ the฀ field฀ of฀ workplace฀
learning,฀including฀Captain฀Mike฀Barger฀

(chief฀learning฀officer,฀JetBlue฀Airways)฀
and฀Dr.฀Rebecca฀Ray฀(senior฀vice฀president,฀ MasterCard฀ International).฀ These฀
Voices฀From฀the฀Field฀share฀their฀views฀
on฀ the฀ content฀ in฀ that฀ section,฀ further฀
tying฀theory฀to฀practice.฀
The฀authors฀begin฀the฀prologue฀to฀part฀
2,฀“Needs฀Assessment฀and฀Evaluation,”฀
with฀ the฀ statement,฀ “The฀ very฀ raison฀
d’etre฀ of฀ a฀ learning฀ and฀ performance฀
department฀ is฀ to฀ ensure฀ that฀ the฀ right฀
people฀learn฀the฀right฀things฀at฀the฀right฀
time,฀ and฀ in฀ the฀ right฀ priority฀ order”฀฀
(p.฀39),฀a฀theme฀that฀is฀repeated฀throughout฀the฀book.฀The฀two฀chapters฀in฀part฀2฀
include฀ both฀ rationales฀ for฀ conducting฀
needs฀assessments฀and฀evaluation฀strategies฀ and฀ the฀ tools฀ to฀ help฀ you฀ do฀ so.฀฀
“Assessment”฀(chapter฀2)฀and฀“Evaluation”฀(chapter฀3)฀are฀side฀by฀side฀in฀the฀
instructional฀ development฀ cycle:฀ The฀
outcome฀ of฀ an฀ evaluation฀ spirals฀ into฀
needs฀ assessment฀ data฀ for฀ revised฀ or฀
new฀ offerings.฀ Chapter฀ 4,฀ “Collecting฀

and฀ Analyzing฀ Needs฀ Assessment฀ and฀
Evaluation฀Data,”฀provides฀an฀overview฀
of฀how฀to฀create฀and฀use฀data฀collection฀
instruments฀ and฀ how฀ to฀ make฀ sense฀ of฀
the฀data฀and฀use฀it฀to฀meet฀your฀goals.฀
Looking฀ at฀ workplace฀ learning฀ both฀
from฀ the฀ classroom฀ and฀ as฀ a฀ natural฀
learning฀ environment฀ in฀ part฀ 2,฀ the฀
authors฀ raise฀ several฀ key฀ issues.฀ First,฀
they฀ refute฀ the฀ belief฀ that฀ theory฀ and฀
practice฀are฀“antagonistic฀to฀each฀other”฀
(p.฀131).฀In฀fact,฀chapter฀5,฀“Appreciating฀
Theoretical฀ Perspectives฀ on฀ Workplace฀
Learning,”฀ provides฀ a฀ concise,฀ easyto-understand฀ overview฀ of฀ (a)฀ learning฀
theory฀ to฀ support฀ instructional฀ design฀
and฀(b)฀how฀people฀learn฀through฀work฀
practices.฀ Also฀ included฀ is฀ a฀ discussion฀ of฀ the฀ role฀ of฀ experience฀ in฀ adult฀

learning,฀learning฀styles,฀and฀motivation฀
theory—equally฀ important฀ topics฀ for฀

the฀workplace฀learning฀professional฀and฀
those฀in฀academia.฀That฀discussion฀sets฀
the฀stage฀for฀instructional฀design฀tenets฀
(chapter฀ 6)฀ and฀ for฀ instructional฀ strategies฀ in฀ the฀ classroom฀ (chapter฀ 7)฀ and฀
through฀ work฀ (chapter฀ 8).฀ Throughout฀
the฀ book,฀ there฀ are฀ forms,฀ worksheets,฀
and฀ case฀ studies฀ (including฀ a฀ terrific฀
case฀related฀to฀coaching)฀useful฀for฀both฀
practitioners฀ and฀ educators.฀ The฀ link฀
from฀theory฀to฀practice฀is฀always฀apparent.฀This฀approach฀is฀not฀found฀in฀other฀
training฀textbooks฀that฀we฀have฀considered฀for฀use฀in฀the฀classroom.฀
Part฀4฀(chapters฀9–11)฀is฀all฀business:฀
the฀ business฀ of฀ running฀ a฀ learning฀ and฀
performance฀ department.฀ Those฀ in฀ academic฀settings฀can฀use฀chapter฀9,฀“Writing฀ the฀ Training฀ Proposal,”฀ as฀ the฀ basis฀
for฀a฀student฀project฀assignment,฀whereas฀
consultants฀can฀use฀that฀chapter฀as฀a฀blueprint฀for฀what฀goes฀into฀the฀proposals฀that฀
they฀prepare฀for฀their฀clients.฀Through฀a฀
well-developed฀ training฀ proposal,฀ workplace-learning฀ professionals฀ can฀ ensure฀
that฀ their฀ learning฀ initiatives฀ are฀ well฀
thought฀ through฀ and฀ clear฀ to฀ decision฀

makers฀who฀might฀be฀approving฀them.
What฀is฀the฀role฀of฀workplace฀learning฀ professionals฀ in฀ organizational฀
change฀ efforts?฀ In฀ chapter฀ 10,฀ “Supporting฀ Change฀ in฀ the฀ Workplace,”฀ the฀
authors฀provide฀a฀quick฀study฀of฀organizational฀ development฀ theory฀ and฀ practice,฀calling฀for฀the฀partnership฀between฀
learning฀ professionals฀ and฀ their฀ clients฀
and฀ emphasizing฀ strategies฀ for฀ organizational฀ change฀ through฀ the฀ use฀ of฀
facilitation฀ skills.฀ Chapter฀ 11,฀ “Administering฀Workplace฀Learning฀Programs,”฀
may฀ not฀ be฀ the฀ most฀ glamorous฀ of฀ the฀
chapters,฀ but฀ if฀ you฀ are฀ managing฀ a฀
learning฀and฀performance฀function,฀you฀
will฀ find฀ sample฀ program฀ descriptions,฀
advice฀on฀selecting฀registration฀systems,฀
as฀ well฀ as฀ numerous฀ checklists฀ and฀
worksheets฀that฀can฀help฀to฀ensure฀that฀
your฀department฀and฀learning฀initiatives฀
run฀smoothly.
May/June฀2008฀

309


Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:13 11 January 2016

The฀last฀chapter฀is฀worth฀the฀price฀of฀
this฀ book.฀ Often฀ considered฀ “shoemaker’s฀ children,”฀ those฀ in฀ the฀ business฀ of฀
supporting฀learning฀often฀overlook฀their฀
own฀ professional฀ development.฀ There,฀
you฀will฀find฀a฀list฀of฀to-dos฀to฀ensure฀that฀
you฀ take฀ charge฀ of฀ your฀ career,฀ including฀a฀systematic฀reading฀plan.฀These฀are฀
things฀that฀everyone฀needs฀to฀do.฀
The฀authors’฀contributions฀to฀the฀field฀
of฀ workplace฀ learning฀ in฀ this฀ book฀ are฀
impressive.฀We฀have฀not฀seen฀a฀book฀that฀
addresses฀ both฀ the฀ management฀ issues฀
and฀the฀design฀tenets฀related฀to฀supporting฀individual฀and฀organizational฀learning.฀ O’Connor,฀ Bronner,฀ and฀ Delaney฀
incorporate฀all฀these฀issues,฀resulting฀in฀
a฀new฀appreciation฀and฀new฀vocabulary฀
to฀ take฀ the฀ emphasis฀ from฀ training฀ to฀
learning.฀Putting฀the฀organization’s฀and฀
learners’฀ needs฀ first฀ and฀ including฀ the฀
workplace฀learning฀professional฀in—but฀

not฀ confining฀ that฀ professional฀ to—the฀
classroom฀ results฀ in฀ learning฀ strategies฀
that฀ work.฀As฀ you฀ read฀ this฀ book,฀ you฀
can฀assess฀your฀learning฀experiences฀in฀
the฀workplace฀and฀consider฀both฀classroom฀ initiatives฀ and฀ initiatives฀ such฀ as฀
on-the-job฀ learning,฀ mentoring,฀ networking,฀ and฀ coaching฀ as฀ parts฀ of฀ the฀

310฀

Journal฀of฀Education฀for฀Business

continuum฀ of฀ learning฀ initiatives฀ that฀
can฀ help฀ organizations฀ and฀ individuals฀
to฀reach฀their฀goals.
This฀ book฀ is฀ the฀ third฀ edition฀ of฀
Training฀ for฀ Organizations฀ (SouthWestern฀ Educational฀ Publishing,฀ 1996,฀
2002).฀But฀it฀is฀truly฀a฀complete฀rewrite,฀
showing฀ how฀ the฀ field฀ of฀ training฀ and฀
development฀ has฀ been฀ transformed฀ to฀
that฀of฀learning฀and฀performance฀in฀the฀

21st฀ century.฀ The฀ book฀ is฀ thick฀ (418฀
pages),฀and฀the฀type฀seems฀large฀(especially฀ when฀ compared฀ to฀ that฀ of฀ the฀
2nd฀ edition),฀ making฀ it฀ seem฀ slightly฀
less฀ scholarly฀ than฀ the฀ previous฀ versions฀ of฀ the฀ book.฀ Moreover,฀ there฀ is฀
no฀ index—making฀ use฀ of฀ the฀ publication฀ as฀ a฀ reference฀ book฀ somewhat฀
tricky.฀ Additionally,฀ educators฀ would฀
benefit฀ from฀ accompanying฀ instructor฀
resources:฀ PowerPoint฀ presentations,฀ a฀
test฀bank,฀and฀suggestions฀for฀teaching฀
the฀content.฀Still,฀HRD฀Press฀is฀known฀
for฀its฀trade฀publications,฀not฀for฀its฀textbooks,฀ and฀ the฀ authors฀ do฀ incorporate฀
objectives฀ for฀ each฀ chapter,฀ cases,฀ and฀
forms,฀which฀academicians฀could฀use฀in฀
their฀classes.
Overall,฀ Learning฀ at฀Work฀ is฀ a฀ comprehensive฀ resource.฀ Its฀ content฀ and฀

complementary฀ support฀ materials฀ provide฀all฀the฀information฀and฀tools฀that฀are฀
necessary฀ from฀ program฀ conception฀ to฀
completion,฀ measurement,฀ and฀ debriefing.฀A฀ complete฀ training฀ proposal฀ is฀ in฀
the฀ appendix,฀ with฀ templates,฀ checklists,฀ and฀ even฀ logistical฀ considerations฀

for฀instructional฀delivery.฀For฀any฀areas฀
that฀you฀wish฀to฀explore฀in฀more฀depth,฀
the฀ list฀ of฀ learning฀ resources—organizations,฀ Web฀ sites,฀ publications—introduced฀throughout฀the฀book฀could฀prove฀
to฀be฀an฀invaluable฀time฀saver.฀If฀you฀are฀
a฀ beginning฀ or฀ experienced฀ workplace฀
learning฀professional฀or฀a฀graduate฀level฀
student฀of฀higher฀education฀or฀workplace฀
learning,฀ Learning฀ at฀Work฀ is฀ a฀ worthy฀
reference฀ book.฀ This฀ one฀ learning฀ or฀
train-the-trainer฀ resource฀ provides฀ the฀
breadth฀ and฀ depth฀ necessary฀ to฀ support฀
your฀needs฀for฀individual฀and฀organizational฀workplace฀learning.
Susan฀R.฀Feather-Gannon,฀PhD
Pace฀University
New฀York฀
Peter฀J.฀McAliney,฀CMC฀PMP฀
Chenery฀&฀Company,฀Principal฀
Westfield,฀NJ
Copyright฀©฀2008฀Heldref฀Publications

Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:13 11 January 2016

����������������
�����������
���������������
���฀�������฀��฀���������฀���฀��������฀��฀���฀�����฀���฀�������฀����������฀���������������฀
����฀�������������฀�������฀��������฀�����฀���฀�������฀��������������฀��������฀����������฀
�����������฀���������������฀����������฀��������฀�����������฀��������฀�����������฀
����������฀���฀�����฀��������฀������������฀��������฀������฀����������฀�����������฀��฀
��������฀���฀����������฀�����������฀��฀���฀�������฀���฀������������฀�������฀�������฀
��฀�������฀��������฀�����฀���฀��฀���฀��������฀�����������฀�������������฀���������฀���฀
������������฀����฀��������฀���������฀�����฀���฀������฀�฀�����฀���฀�������฀����������฀
�����฀�����฀��฀���������฀���฀��������฀���฀��������฀��฀�������������฀�������
����������฀����฀���������
�������฀������฀������������฀������
�����������฀฀���฀������฀�����฀���฀�����฀���฀������
��������������฀฀����฀������฀�����฀����฀�����฀�����฀����฀�����฀���฀������
���฀���฀���฀�������฀�������฀���฀����

�������������������������������������
���������฀���฀�����฀�������฀������������฀�������

������ � �� � �� ฀ � ��� ����
� �฀ � ��฀ � � ����
� � � � � � �� � � �฀ �� ฀ ����������
��฀ � � � �� � � �����฀ � ฀ ��฀ ������������
� �� ����������� � �� � �� ���� ������
� � ��� �� ��������

Journal
of

E ducation
B usiness

for

Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:13 11 January 2016

Scope฀of฀JEB
The฀JOURNAL฀OF฀EDUCATION฀FOR฀฀
BUSINESS฀features฀original฀basic฀and฀applied฀research฀
articles฀in฀accounting,฀communications,฀economics,฀finance,฀
information฀systems,฀information฀technology,฀management,฀
management฀information฀systems฀(MIS),฀marketing,฀and฀
emerging฀disciplines.฀Articles฀are฀selected฀through฀a฀blind฀
peer-review฀process.฀
The฀journal฀entertains฀articles฀that฀deal฀with฀significant฀
trends฀and฀issues฀affecting฀education฀for฀business;฀curriculum฀development฀and฀evaluation฀of฀educational฀programs฀in฀
traditional฀and฀nontraditional฀settings;฀the฀process฀of฀instruction฀in฀accounting฀and฀finance,฀business฀fundamentals฀(math,฀
law,฀economics,฀communications,฀organization),฀consumer฀
economics,฀management,฀marketing,฀microcomputers,฀and฀
office฀systems฀(office฀support฀staff฀training,฀information฀
processing).฀Articles฀review฀and฀report฀on฀successful฀innovations฀and฀practice,฀propose฀theoretical฀formulations,฀or฀advocate฀positions฀on฀important฀and฀controversial฀issues.฀

Instructions฀to฀Contributors
Contributors฀should฀submit฀a฀blinded฀copy฀of฀their฀manuscript฀to฀http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/฀
heldref/jebs
Include฀the฀names฀and฀contact฀information฀for฀all฀
authors฀in฀a฀separate฀cover฀letter;฀this฀file฀should฀be฀submitted฀in฀the฀space฀provided฀for฀cover฀letters฀or฀attached฀
as฀a฀separate฀file฀designated฀“not฀for฀review.”฀฀
Authors฀should฀provide฀up฀to฀five฀keywords฀for฀indexing฀(except฀for฀book฀reviews)฀and฀adhere฀to฀the฀Publication฀
Manual,฀5th฀ed.,฀American฀Psychological฀Association,฀Washington,฀DC,฀2001,฀for฀style฀guidelines฀in฀the฀preparation฀of฀
manuscripts.
Once฀received,฀manuscripts฀are฀reviewed฀by฀a฀consulting฀
editor฀and฀one฀of฀the฀executive฀editors.฀The฀review฀process฀
takes฀approximately฀3฀months.฀Authors฀of฀accepted฀manuscripts฀receive฀complimentary฀online฀access฀to฀the฀issue฀in฀
which฀their฀article฀or฀review฀appears.

Regular฀Manuscripts
Regular฀manuscripts฀should฀normally฀not฀exceed฀4,000฀
words,฀should฀not฀be฀simultaneously฀submitted฀elsewhere,฀
and฀should฀not฀have฀been฀previously฀published.฀If฀data฀
have฀been฀used฀in฀a฀prior฀study,฀authors฀must฀indicate฀
that฀the฀new฀study฀is฀a฀follow-up฀to฀the฀previous฀one.฀
•฀Submit฀blinded฀copies฀of฀any฀tables฀and฀figures฀as฀separate฀
files.
•฀Reproductions฀of฀figures฀(graphs฀and฀charts)฀may฀be฀submitted฀for฀review฀purposes,฀but฀the฀originals฀must฀be฀supplied฀if฀the฀manuscript฀is฀accepted฀for฀publication.฀Tables฀
and฀figures฀should฀be฀prepared฀in฀accordance฀with฀the฀
instructions฀given฀in฀the฀APA’s฀Publication฀Manual฀(see฀pp.฀
120–162).฀
•฀Avoid฀explanatory฀notes฀whenever฀possible฀by฀incorporating฀their฀content฀into฀the฀text.฀For฀essential฀notes,฀identify฀
them฀with฀consecutive฀superscripts฀and฀list฀them฀in฀a฀section฀entitled฀NOTES฀at฀the฀end฀of฀the฀text.
•฀An฀abstract฀of฀75–100฀words฀should฀be฀provided฀on฀the฀
first฀page.฀
Revisions฀not฀previously฀submitted฀on฀Manuscript฀Central฀
must฀be฀submitted฀as฀new฀manuscripts฀and฀will฀be฀given฀new฀
manuscript฀numbers.฀For฀reference฀purposes,฀please฀indicate฀the฀previous฀manuscript฀number฀where฀prompted฀
to฀do฀so.฀The฀revised฀document฀should฀show฀all฀changes฀
(e.g.,฀in฀Track฀Changes฀or฀a฀different฀font฀color).฀Please฀
also฀include฀a฀blinded฀copy฀of฀the฀response฀to฀the฀reviewers’฀
comments,฀which฀should฀be฀submitted฀as฀a฀“supplementary฀
file฀for฀review.”฀As฀with฀all฀submissions,฀the฀names฀and฀contact฀information฀for฀authors฀should฀appear฀only฀in฀the฀cover฀
letter.฀
Book฀Reviews
•฀Book฀reviews฀must฀be฀between฀1,250฀and฀1,500฀words.฀
The฀focus฀of฀book฀reviewed฀must฀directly฀relate฀to฀issues฀
covered฀in฀the฀journal.฀
•฀Include฀the฀book฀author,฀title,฀ISBN฀number,฀cost,฀publisher,฀edition,฀and฀date฀published.฀
•฀Reviews฀should฀include฀the฀following฀elements:฀scope฀of฀
text฀and฀target฀market;฀level฀of฀experience฀required฀for฀the฀
reader;฀type฀of฀information฀provided฀in฀the฀text;฀main฀topics฀included฀in฀the฀text;฀a฀listing฀of฀the฀book’s฀strengths฀and฀
weaknesses;฀recommendation฀for฀its฀use.