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AI in Corporate Training Program (e)Valuation
Bernard Mohr , Jane Magruder Watkins
The Synapse Group
2003
Annotation: AI in Corporate Training Program (e)Valuation
Consultants: Bernard Mohr and Jane Magruder Watkins, The Synapse Group, Inc.
Description of the Organization
SmithKline Beecham, (now GlaxoSmithKline) a transnational pharmaceutical company, developed and implemented a new process for drug discovery in its research division. The implementation effort included the design and introduction of an intensive computer-based simulation program to help scientists and leaders operate effectively within the new system by understanding the impact of actions over extended time periods. The training program was called the SB Discovery Simulation, referring to a simulation of the company’s research process, and was developed and managed by an internal organization development department.
Focus of the Appreciative Inquiry
The client organization wished to evaluate the impact of this computer-based simulation training program. When the project began in 1997, 480 senior scientists out of approximately 2000 scientists from the drug research division had completed the program.
Program evaluation is generally one of the most critical and reductionist of the deficit-oriented processes we find ourselves using in training and organization improvement efforts. An appreciative process turned conventional approaches to program evaluation on its head, with surprising and rewarding results.
This process inquired into what worked well, what had positive impact on the participants, and what positive impact was carried into the organization.
Organizational Objectives
The internal Organization Development group who had designed and delivered the program wished to do an in-depth evaluation to ascertain the degree to which the program had made an impact on the organization (Level 3 of the Kirkpatrick evaluation model): did program learning result in workplace behavior changes? Were there other applications and uses for the program? What follow-up activities might be helpful to the business? Should it be offered again, what parts should be redeveloped and why? The OD group also wanted to complete the process in time to use the results in their decisions about renewal of the program.
See below resources for full write-up.
Resource Files:
Case Write-up (doc )
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