Dissertation on "Singapore Airlines"

Dissertation 45 pages (15348 words) Sources: 20 Style: Harvard

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Achieving such automaticity requires the learner to indulge in a good deal of practice of the application of transfer often in varied settings. Some examples of low road transfer of learning are tying of shoelaces, typing on a key board and steering a car (Day and Goldstone, 2012).

High road transfer of learning is referred to the process of transfer that requires the cognitive understanding and purposeful and conscious analysis of a situation and the transfer of learning from various disciplines to the situation or task (Day and Goldstone, 2012). The theory entails the use of purposeful creation of ideas for transfer of knowledge and skills and then the conscious application of the idea through the transfer process. This is necessary to tackle new situations or problems with ideas

This study would deal with the aspect of transfer of learning acquired during the training of cabin crew at Singapore Airlines. The study would try to understand the training and the learning process of the cabin crew in the airline and the way the crew transfers the knowledge and skills acquired during training to the practical job. The study would also inspect how the training and learning modules for cabin crew help in the process of transfer of knowledge.

The Research question

Applying the theory to practice: Do the current practices used by Singapore Airlines help newly appointed cabin crew transfer their learning when in a practical environment?

Aims and Objectives Objective Statements to answer the research question

Investigate about the training disciplines, the methods/techniques and the structure implemented in the initial training of newly appointed cabin crew.

Explore the evaluation model of the induction and initial training used at Singapore Airlines

Review the practical facilitation and obstacles/challenges that cabin crew face during their practical implementation of their induction and initial training.

Examine the measurement of transfer of learning employed at Singapore Airlines

Literature Review

Introduction

This chapter would deal with the critical analysis of the research and published work that has been done in regards to the issue of transfer of learning in the professional context. The chapter would deal with the start of the research on the topic and then go on to analyze the present literature and research issues related to the topic as well as look into the various aspects of the issue that the researchers have identified (Demirer and Sahin, 2013). The chapter would look into the recommendations and the suggestions that researchers have given on the issue with respect to professional application of training methods and techniques and the transfer of the knowledge and skills acquired during the training program.

The study is concerned about the transfer of learning and knowledge and that is acquired during employee training to real life job situations and problems. The study deals with the various processes of training and learning and the transfer of skills.

Early Research on Transfer of Learning

The learning of new knowledge, skills, attitudes or other characteristics in a particular environment or the training and classroom situation is considered to be the formal process of employee training. The aim of such learning through training is to enable the employees to transfer the knowledge and skills acquired to the performance situation or an environment that is different from the training environment (Goldstein and Ford, 2002).

It is expected that the employees would transfer and apply the knowledge and skills acquire during training to the job related problems and situations. However, experts claim that in many cases, the employee fail to carry the knowledge on to the job and are unable to apply the learning to job. For example, a study by Rackman and Ruff (1991) showed that more than 87% of the learning in a training module was lost by employees at Xerox in a period of just one month from the completion of the training module (Rackham and Ruff, 1991). Researchers like Baldwin and Ford (1988) note some related research that claim that just about 10% of the knowledge gained in trainings are transferred to the job. With the billions of dollars that industries spend every year on training, the actual loss due to non-transfer in terms of money can be easily estimated (BALDWIN and FORD, 1988).

While trying to understand the factors and the process of transfer of learning, literature has noted the importance to understand the issues of carry-over from training to the performance situation. In the positive terms, the transfer of learning to practical situations is defined by researchers Baldwin and Ford (1988) as the degree of application of the knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired during training (BALDWIN and FORD, 1988). This transfer of learning has further been identified to be transferred in two ways-'near' and 'far' situations. In the 'near' situation, the setting of the practical situation is very similar to that of the training conditions and tasks undertaken during training. In the 'far' situation, the situation is different and keeps changing in relation to that of the training situation or conditions. In the 'near' transfer of learning, an employee generally has to conduct a repetition of the application of the knowledge and skills acquired from training to the situations that do not change in the practical work (Haskell, 2001). In terms of the study, this can be defined by the job of cabin crew taking care of the meals of the fliers. I the 'far' transfer of knowledge, an employee has to adapt the knowledge and skills learned according to situations that keep changing. An example would be the application of skills to tackle a medical condition on the airplane that would probably be different for every situation (Haskell, 2001).

This brings the discussion to the dynamics of transfer that ensures effective and optimum transfer of learning from training to practical job situations and minimizing of losses of transfer (Demirer and Sahin, 2013). Though the field of applied psychology had been dealing with the transferability of training since the early part of last century, specific research into the issue of transfer in the context of formal organizational training started in the 1970's.

Mosel (1957), one of the earliest to study re issue in the present context identified three conditions to ensure the transfer of learning (Levins, 2010). The conditions comprise of the presence of useable content of the program, the necessity of the trainee to learn and the behavioral change in the trainee to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to real life job situations. Thus Mosel noted that the trainees not only need to be motivated to learn but also to be motivated enough to apply the knowledge and skills (Levins, 2010). Motivation can be achieved by using either formal or informal reward structure at work. The overall work atmosphere and the attitude of the organization towards innovation also contributes to the degree of transfer of acquired knowledge and skills in training.

In another study done by Ruth Salinger (1973), the researcher noted that the conditions for efficient learning during training and their transfer to the job include issues like lack of upper management awareness of training benefits that results I faulty planning, budgeting and reinforcement of training and haphazard training programs given lack of interest of upper management (Demirer and Sahin, 2013).

Various new and untested action strategies for meeting transfer problems were suggested by a number of research work on the subject during the late 1970's and 1980's. The researchers preferred to term the transfer of knowledge as the 'neglected half' of training program. The works stressed on the fact that the success of a training program for employees depended not only on want was taught I the training classrooms but to the degree to which the trainees were able to transfer the learning to the job. The research identified a number of work site related factors that were beyond the control of the trainer or the teacher that influenced the success of the training program (Lyons, 2009).

Two different schools of thought explaining the success of transfer of learning and training in the early research period were identified by Jelsma, van Merrienboer and Bijlstra (1990). The first school believed that the training needed to have as much as possible similar conditions and identical elements to that in the actual work or job to ensure efficient transfer of learning. The second school of thought however stressed on the course of the training to be such that a learned procedure would be able to fully be understood and then applied to other situations (Jelsma and van Merrienboer, 1990). The school believed the transfer of learning was possible if the basics of the training were appropriate to be applied to different situations.

These theories were named as the identical theory and principles theories of transfer of training respectively by Yamnill and McLean (2000).These were named based on the approach to the training program that ensured the transfer of learning (Yamnill and McLean,… READ MORE

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