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To cite this Article Weinberger, Lisa A.(1998) 'Commonly held theories of human resource development', Human Resource
Development International, 1: 1, 75 — 93
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/13678869800000009
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13678869800000009
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Commonly held theories of human resource
development
Lisa A. Weinberger*
University of Minnesota
Each theory is reviewed and then tested with the first step of Patterson's (1986)
criteria for assessing the validity of a theory. This revie\\. of the definitions
and test of the underlying theories will give the field a primary interdisciplinary
foundation to begin to work from and to d o additional research.
Introduction
HRD definitions
The H R D definitions begin in 1970 (see Table 1). At that time, L. Nadler
(1970) defined H R D as 'a series of organized activities conducted within a
specified time and designed t o produce behavioral change' (p. 3). Nadler's key
focus here was to change the behaviour of organizational members. Craig
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L. Nadler, 1970 H R D is a series of organized activities conducted within a specified Behavioural change Psychological
time and designed t o produce behavioural change (p.3). Adult learning
Craig, 1976 H R D focus o n the central goal of developing human potential in Human performance Philosophical
every aspect of lifelong learning. Psychological
Jones, 1981 H R D is a systematic expansion of people's work-related abilities, Performance, Philosophical
focused on the attainment of both organization and personal goals organizational & System
(p.188). personal goals Psychological
Economic
Training and development is identifying, assessing and - through Training & Psychological theory
planned learning- helping develop the key competencies which de\relopment
enable individuals t o perform current or future jobs (p. 25).
Chalofsky & Lincoln, Discipline of H R D is the study of how indi\iduals and groups in Adult learning Psychological theory
1983 organizations change through learning.
L. Nadler & Wiggs, H R D is a comprehensive learning system for the release of the Formal and informal System theory
1986 organization's human potentials-a system that includes both adult learning Economic theory
vicarious (classroom, mediated, simulated) learning experiences and Performance Psychological theory
experiential, on-the-job experiences that are keyed t o the
organization's reason for sunrival (p. 5).
Swanson, 1987 H R D is a process of improving an organization's performance Organizational Economic theory
through the capabilities of it's personnel. H R D includes activities performance Psychological theory
dealing with work design, aptitude, expertise and motivation. Philosophy theory
System theory
Jacobs, 1988 Human performance technology is the development of human Organizational and Unifting systems
performance systems, and the management of the resulting systems, individual theory
using a systems approach to achieve organizational and individual Performance
goals.
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TABLE 1 continued
Author Definition IGy Components Underlying Theories
R. Smith, 1988 H R D consists of programs and activities, direct and indirect, Training & Economic theory
instructional and/or individual that positively affect the de\relopment development System theory
of the individual and the productivity and profit of the organization Organizational Psychological theory
( P 1). performance
McLagan, 1989 HRD is the integrated use of training and development, career Training & Psychological theory
development and organizational development to improve individual development System theory
and organizational effectiveness (p. 7). Career development Economic theory
Organizational
development
Watkins, 1989 H R D is the field of study and practice responsible for the fostering Learning capacity Psychological theory
of a long-term, work-related learning capacity at the individual, Training Pc System theory
group and organizational level of organizations. As such, it includes development Economic theory
- but is not limited to-training, career development and Career development Performance
organizational development (p. 427). Organizational itnprovement
development
Gilley & Eggland, H R D is organized learning activities arranged within at1 organization Learning activities Psychological theory
1989 to improve performance and o r personal growth for the purpose of Performance Spstcm theory
improving the job, the individual and or the organization (p. 5). improvement Economic theory
Performance
improvement
L. Nadler & Z. Nadler, H R D is organized learning experiences provided by employees Learning Performance
1989 within a specified period of time t o bring about the possibility of Performance improven~ent
performance improvement and/or personal gro\vth (p. 6 ) . impro\lement Psychological theory
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TABLE 1 continued
D. Smith, 1990 H R D is the process of determining the optimum methods of Performance Performance
developing and improving the human resources of an organization improvement improvement
and the systematic improvement of the performance and productivity System theory
of employees through training, education and development and Psychological theory
leadership for the mutual attainment of organizational and personal Economic theory
goals (p. 16).
Chalofsky, 1992 H R D is the study and practice of increasing the learning capacity of Learning capacity System theory
individuals, groups, collectives and organizations through the Performance Psychological theory
development and application o f learning-based interventions for the improvement Human performance
purpose of optimizing human and organizational growth and
effectiveness (p. 179).
Marquardt & Engel, H R D skills include developing a learning climate, designing training Learning climate Psychological theory
1993 programs, transmitting information and experience, assessing results, Performance Human Performance
providing career counseling, creating organizational change and improvement
adapting learning materials.
Marsick & Watkins, H R D as a combination of training, career development, and Training & Human performance
1994 organizational development offers the theoretical integration needed development Organizational
to envision a learning organization, but it must also be positioned t o Career development performance
act strategically throughout the organization (p. 355). Organizational System theory
development Economic theory
Lxarning organization Psychological theory
Swanson, 1995 H R D is a process of developing and or unleashing human Training & Performance
expertise through organization development and personnel training development improvement
and development for the purpose of improving performance (p. 208). Organizational System theory
development Economic theory
Performance Psychological theory
improvement at the
organization, process
and individual levels.
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perspectives: (1) its role in HRD, and (2) as applied against Patterson's (1986)
first criteria for assessing a theory. Patterson's criteria for assessing a theory are
the synthesized works of several authors. This model was selected based
on: (1) its similarity to other authors' criteria for assessing a good theory, and
( 2 ) its previous use by Jacobs (1989) in evaluating the theory of human
performance technology.
The October 1989 edition of The Academy of Management Review
included a special forum on theory building. Within this forum, Whetten
stated that the four building blocks of theory development are answering: what
(comprehensiveness and parsimony), how and why. In addition, Bacharach
highlighted falsifiability and utility as criteria for evaluating organizational
theories. The framework of these criteria he provides for evaluating includes
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1 Importance
2 Preciseness and clarity
3 Parsimony and simplicity
4 Comprehensiveness
5 Operationality
6 Empirical validity or verification
7 Fruitfulness
8 Practicality
Learning theory
Based on the US American literature search, it can easily be concluded that
learning should be included as part of the psychological component. Learning
theory arises primarily from psychological theory. Passmore (1997) defined
psychology as the 'science of behavior and mental processes of humans and
animals' (p. 210). He listed several perspcctives that guide psychological
inquiry: biological, evolutionary, behavioural, cognitive, humanistic and
psychodynamic. The intention here is to look only into the roles of learning
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Malcolm Knowles (1990) surmises that adults learn best when they can invest
their experience in the learning effort. Rogers (1969) stated that 'the most
usehl learning is learning the process of learning, a continuous openness
to experience and incorporation into oneself of the process of change'
(p. 163).
Organizational learning
Learning is a journey not a destination (Laird 1978). The field of HRD should
not only be concerned with individual learning, but also with organizational
learning, and the concept of the learning organization. Organizational
learning refers to learning at the system level rather than at the individual level
(Dixon 1992). Argyris and Schon (1978) state that 'there is no organizational
learning without individual learning and that individual learning is a necessary
but insufficient condition for organizational learning' (p. 20). Argryis
(1990) describes two levels of learning that occur in organizations. The first is
single-loop learning which results from the organization considering the
consequences of its actions when the consequences d o not match the desired
outcome. This discrepancy enables the organization to modify the actions
it takes. The second level is double-loop learning which occurs when an
organization's reaction to a discrepancy is to examine and possibly modify the
theories-in-use upon which the action is based. Double-loop learning, though
rare, allows the organization to improve its capacity to learn.
Learning organization
Marsick and Watkins (1994) have defined the learning organization as 'one
that learns continuously and can transform itself. The learning organization is
a sustainable vision for the development of the human in organizations'
(p. 354). Watkins and Marsick (1992) believe that the learning organization is
an integrating vision for the field of human resource development. 'Human
resource developers who are systematically and developmentally increasing
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performance' (p. 18), and proposed four 'leisurely theorems' in his writings:
(1) human competence is a hnction of worthy performance; (2) that human
competence is inversely proportional to the potential for improving perform-
ance (p. 30); (3) that for any accomplishment, a deficiency in performance
always has, as its immediate cause, a deficiency in behaviour (p. 76); and (4)
human accomplishments can be viewed at several levels of generality (p. 112).
There are six performance factors that can be manipulated to enhance
individual, group and organization performance (modified by Rosenberg
1996):
\ Theoretical Foundations
/ Performance I ~erfor'mance \ \
'erformance - \ A
stem \ \
Economic Psychology
FIGURE 1 Adapted from R. A. Swanson (1995). The Theory of
Performance needs to be added to Swanson's model for an additional
theoretical foundation of HRD. Performance is a key ingredient in
Economic, System and Psychological theory and ties them all together
as an additional foundation theory of HRD.
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Systems theory
The next field of underlying theory for HRD is systems theory. Much of the
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Economic theory
The final theory underlying HRD is economic theory. The bottom line for any
HRD intervention is providing financial benefits to the organization. The basic
model is: performance value less costs = benefits to the organization (Swanson
and Gradous 1988). Swanson and Gradous present this practical model for
forecasting HRD's financial benefits.
One of the key components for economic theory that can be applied to
Weinberger: Commonly held theories of HRD 89
Conclusion
underlying the field of HRD and move forward with an agreed-upon foun-
dational base for additional research. T o hrther these theories, additional
research is also needed to compare these results with the multitude of literature
in the European journals and determine if the proposed underlying theories
can be the universal theories underpinning HRD.
Roseville, MN 55 113
USA
References
Smith, D. (1990) The Dictionary for Human Resource Development, Alexandria, VA:
ASTD Press.
Smith, R. (1988) Human Resource Development: An Overview, Office of Educational
Research and Improvement, Washington, DC.
Snell, S. A. and Dean, J. W. Jr (1992) 'Integrated manufacturing and human resource
management: a human capital perspective', Academy of Management Journal
35(3): 467-504.
Swanson, R. A. (1987) Human Resource Development Definition, St Paul: University
of Minnesota, Training and Development Research Center.
Swanson, R. A. (1992) 'Demonstrating financial benefits t o clients', in H. Stolovitch
and E. Keeps (eds) Handbook of Human Performance Technology, San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, pp. 602-1 8.
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