There are four main issues in the case study.

The first issue is the performance gap between the expected and desired level of productivity. The second issue is a high accident rates caused by the failure of the Vietnamese staff to follow the standard operating procedures. The third issue is due to the inexperience of the Vietnamese staff. The fourth issue is the individual differences in adult learners that caused the learning strategies used in the training program to be inappropriate. I have identified the fourth issue as the most critical one because an exhaustive training comprising of standard operating procedures covering maintenance and operations, occupational health and safety and even team leadership have been given to the Vietnamese staff. Nevertheless, safety and performance issues still occurred. Hence there is a high possibility that the human resource development (HRD) team did not consider the individual differences in adult learners. In my essay, I will explore how adults learn and how the lack of consideration for individual differences in adult learners may have caused the failure of the training program that caused the occupational health and safety issues. To sum up the essay I will then recommend a course of action to address the main issue identified. A very relevant concept in the case study is andragogy which was popularized by Malcom Knowles (The adult learner. Neglected species, adult learner may really be a neglected species). Andragogy refers to the way adults learn and the way in which they are taught. There are some assumptions and principles in adult learning and they are: Before adults learn anything they need to have a reason; they are self-directed and believe that they are responsible for their own decisions; they bring more life and work experiences to the learning situation; they want the learning experience to help them solve real life problems or work tasks and they are internally motivated. ( TB pg 33 Knowles).

Therefore some when teaching adults, there are factors that designers of learning programs need to take note of. They are learning should be relevant to real life situations and problems to enhance the motivation of the leaders. The learning program should also try to make use of the rich experiences and tacit knowledge of the adult. Since an adult tends to be more self-directed, the learning should involve them to some extent do that their sense of selfresponsibility would ensure that learning is transferred back to the workplace. ( TB p 34). However, Knowles recognized that adults dont necessarily learn better under andragogical assumptions. Depending on the situation they may learn better under pedagogical assumptions. Pedagogical assumptions refer to the way

children learn and are taught. (The adult learner. Neglected species, adult learner may really be a neglected species). Pedagogical learning strategies are usually the structured or dependent learning strategies. ( pg 34). For instance, in high power distance cultures like Vietnam, pedagogical strategies are preferred as people see the HR developer as an expert and expect their learning to be ( come back to complete)

There are two useful frameworks of culture that are relevant to adult learning. They are high-context, low context approach by Edward Hall (TB) and the cultural dimensions by Hofstede.( citation) In low context cultures, communication tends to be explicit. In such cultures, the content of the message holds more importance than how the message is being said. The style of communication is very direct and rule oriented. Knowledge is often codified and to ease transfer between people. For instance written instructions for people to follow in a given situation (Link to learning). International Business: Theory and Practice. ( see got space to put loss of face or not). In high context cultures, the importance of content and the context in which it is being said are equally important. The literal meanings of words are less important here compared to in high context cultures. In such cultures, the communication styles tend to be indirect. The way words are being said and the non-verbal cues contribute to the overall communication between people. The Vietnamese culture is a high context culture. ( A Guide to a Nation at cross roads)They tend not to express what they think and feel preferring to say what a person wants to hear.

They also tend to express themselves indirectly. Hence if the Vietnamese staff had doubts during the training in Singapore, it is highly possible that they did not raise their concerns.

( Add a definition of culture) According to Hofstede (2005), cultures can be anywhere on a individualistcollectivist and power distance continuum. This framework can be very useful as a guide for the HRD developer as he as designs programs fro the learners. In a high power distance culture, people are more willing to accept authority and power based on position without much question. (International Business theory and practice).

In such cultures, the HRD developer or the ( whoever is gonna teach the learners) are not seen as equals to the learners. They look up to the HRD developer as an authority figure and an expert and they prefer structured learning strategies (Williams and Green 1994 TB pg 100). On the other hand, cultures with low power distance tend to be more willing to question authority. (International Business theory and practice). They prefer unstructured learning strategies with more facilitation (Tb pg 100). The HRD developer is seen like an equal such a colleague or friend. In individualistic cultures, individual goals are more important. Qualities like equity and independence are valued. In collectivistic cultures, group goals take more precedence over individuals ones. Such cultures place a lot of importance harmony, reciprocity, humility, and mutual dependence. ( Trandis 2004 TB 93). They have an elaborate set of expectations about how people should behave and communicate with each other. Breaking these expectations would cause social chaos. Therefore they tend to be less open about their views if it means disturbing the harmony. Many collectivist cultures are also very conscious about losing face and it could be even worse for them compared to physical pain. (Cultural dimensions in Management and Planning). Hence, the Vietnamese staff might have suppressed their doubts during the training in Singapore there might be a lack of avenue for them to express their concerns something suitable for their culture.