Exported for Herry Kartono on Sun, $25$ Sep $202216$:$34$:$47$ GMT

Case Study: Training the Sales Force

When responding to a case study or scenario, the HR practitioner should use a consistent, fact$-$based,

problem$-$solving approach. The development of this skill will allow the HR practitioner to respond to issues as

they arise using an analytical methodology in order to explore possible solutions.

Sales at a large telecommunications company were down for the third quarter. Management reviewed several

strategies to improve sales and concluded that one solution would be to improve training for the large,

dispersed sales force.

For the sake of expediency, the training department began using a needs analysis it had conducted several

years before as a basis to develop enhanced training. Their plan was first to update the original needs analysis,

and then to develop new training strategies on the basis of what they found. They also began investigating

new training technologies as a possible way to reduce training delivery costs. However, management was so

intent on doing something quickly that the training department was ultimately pressured into purchasing a

generic, off$-$the$-$shelf training package from a local vendor.

One of the features of the package that appealed to management was that the course could be delivered over

the Web, saving the time and expense of having the sales force travel to the main office to receive the training.

Hence, even though the package was costly to purchase, the company believed that it was a bargain

compared to the expense of developing a new package in$-$house and delivering it in person to the sales force.

Six months after the training had been delivered, sales were still declining. Management turned to the training

department for answers. Because no measures of training performance had been collected, the training

department had little information upon which to base its diagnosis. For lack of a better idea, members of the

training department began questioning the sales force to see if they could determine why the training was not

working.

Among other things, the sales people reported that the training was slow and boring, and that it did not teach

them any new sales techniques. They also complained that without an instructor, it was impossible to get

clarification on things they did not understand. Moreover, they reported that they believed that sales were off

not because they needed training in basic sales techniques, but because so many new products were being

introduced that they could not keep up$.$ In fact, several of the sales people requested meetings with design

engineers just so they could get updated product information.

The training department took these findings back to management and requested that they be allowed to

design a new training package, beginning with an updated needs analysis to determine the real training

deficiencies.

Source: Republished with permission of Blackwell Publishing Inc. from Salas, E$.,$ & Cannon$-$Bowers, J$.$ A$.$

$(2000).$ Design training systematically. In E$.$ A$.$ Locke $($Ed$.),$ Handbook of principles of organizational behavior

$($pp$.5657).$ Oxford, UK$.$ Blackwell Publishers Ltd$.$ Permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center,

Inc. Case questions prepared by Alan Saks.

Using the HR thought cycle as a guide, we are able to consistently analyze the case study.

Questions

Case Study Question $4\mathrm{.}1$

What were the objectives of the training program? Write a training objective for the program described in the case that contains

the key elements and components of a training objective. How would your training objective have helped in the choice$/$design of

a training program? How would it have helped trainees and managers?

Students will write their responses here...

Grade Responses $(0)$

Case Study Question $4\mathrm{.}2$

Comment on the companys decision to purchase a generic, off$-$the$-$shelf training package by a local vendor. What were the

advantages and disadvantages? Do you think it was a good idea for the company to purchase the training rather than to have it

designed in$-$house? Explain your answer.

Students will write their responses here...

Grade Responses $(0)$

Case Study Question $4\mathrm{.}3$

Explain how using a request for proposal $($RFP$)$ might have changed the companys decision to purchase the training program. Do

you think the company would have purchased the same training program from the same vendor if they had created a detailed

RFP$?$ Explain your answer.

Students will write their responses here...

Grade Responses $(0)$

Case Study Question $4\mathrm{.}4$

What effect did the use of the original needs analysis have on the content of the training program and the decision to have it

delivered over the Web? Do you think a new needs analysis should have been conducted? If so$,$ what effect might it have had on

the design of the training program?

Students will write their responses here...

Grade Responses $(0)$

Exported for Herry Kartono on Sun, $25$ Sep $202216$:$34$:$47$ GMT

Case Study Question $4\mathrm{.}5$

Comment on the use of the Web as the main method of training. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this method of

training? What other methods might have been more effective?

Students will write their responses here...

Grade Responses $(0)$

Case Study Question $4\mathrm{.}6$

If you were to design the training program, describe what you would do differently in terms of $($a$)$ training objectives, $($b$)$ training

content, $($c$)$ training methods, $($d$)$ active practice and conditions of practice, and $($e$)$ active learning. How would your training

program be different from the one described in the case? Would your program be more effective?

Students will write their responses here...

Grade Responses $(0)$