|
Items in cart [1] |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
PAPERBACK PDF BOOK Free Resources |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2009. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 73
Appendixes
OCR for page 74
OCR for page 75
APPENDIX A
Pilot Study for a Survey of
Policymakers' Attitudes Toward
Continuing Education
The panel decided to investigate the attitudes of corporate policy-
makers whose companies had developed and implemented relatively
large-scale continuing education programs. Because a large survey was
beyond the scope of this project, the panel instead sampled 20 compa-
nies in a pilot study. The interview guidelines that were developed for
this effort appear below in four "documents":
1. Information for Interviewers: Pilot Interview Protocol,
2. Pilot Interview Protocol,
3. Debriefing Questions for Interviewers,
4. Information for Policymakers Who agree to participate), and
5. The Pilot Survey of CEO Values Questions and Answers.
See Chapter 3 for a discussion of the study's results.
Document 1: Information for Interviewers-
Pilot Interview Protocol
This is a pilot protocol for interviewing policymakers about their
values and attitudes pertinent to continuing education. The questions
it contains are based on discussions of the National Research Council's
Panel on Continuing Education and the Committee on Education and
Utilization of Engineers. The Panel's interest lies in field testing the
protocol to determine if a formal survey of values is feasible and will
yield useful information.
75
OCR for page 76
uses.
76
APPENDIX A
A. The General Rationale andiApproach
The main reason for considering a survey is that very little formal
research has been done to assess values of CEOs and other policy-
makers on continuing education for engineers. The Panel believes that
it is important to understand values and attitudes at the highest possi-
ble level of the organization. This pilot protocol is a first step in under-
standing how to produce unique helpful information that will augment
other data on the topic.
The pilot study and this protocol are based on some working prem
Continuing education here refers to formal courses of study of tech-
nical or nontechnical material, undertaken by the graduate engineer, to
produce some benefit for the company. The course of study may be
external to the company or offered in-house.
The target for interviews are chief executive officers or an executive
with primary responsibility for policy and resources bearing on career
development of engineers. It is especially important to the Panel that
this level of general ~nanagement, as opposed to human resources staff,
be addressed.
B. The Interviewers ' Role In the Pilot Test
The survey is a pilot in the sense that if information generated in a
small survey is useful and helps to understand values in this arena, then
a larger formal survey may be undertaken. The interview protocol and
procedure will be revised in several respects on the basis of the experi-
ence of interviewers in this pilot study. The interviewers' experience in
using this protocol is critical.
Suggestions about how questions may be sensibly improved,
deleted, or augmented are of course welcome. And to facilitate the
process, a set of "Questions for Interviewers" is attached. These
debriefing questions for the pilot study can be addressed by phone or in
writing, depending on the interviewer's preferences.
The information being requested in the protocol is not especially
sensitive. Nonetheless, individual responses are treated as confidential
by the National Research Council and will not be disclosed in identifi-
able form. The responses will be summarized in statistical form for
analysis.
OCR for page 77
APPENDIX A
C. Rationale for the Questions
77
The protocol involves some "scripting," i.e., an introduction, for
each group of questions. Interviewers should modify the script to suit
their needs.
Items 1-4 are background questions. Item 4 is predicated on the idea
that the CEO'S values about education stem partly from professional
experience.
Items 5 and 6 address the issue of how technical change and human
resources development are recognized explicitly in policy and plan-
ning, on the assumption that such recognition is important at times.
Items 7 and 8 focus on the CEO'S concerns about technical obsoles-
cence/currency of company engineers and his or her views of how
important currency is in influencing company productivity.
Items 9-11 ask for the CEO'S views on whether andhow continuing
education can influence companyproductivity, competitive position,
an c] capacity to innovate.
Items 12-14 ask for CEO views on the company's role {versus the
individual's role) in career development of the engineer.
Document 2:
A. Background
1. Name of Organization*
Pilot Interview Protocol
Title of CEO or Policymaker Interviewed
2. Name and Title of Interviewer
3a. Number of years policymaker in his/her position
3b. Number of years policymaker with this company
The early primary professional experience and training of poli-
cymakers at times shapes views of how professional skills are
developed or maintained.
4. What, in your early professional experience or training, may
shape your views on the topic?
* Note: Items l-3 may be completed by the interviewer.
OCR for page 78
78
B. Long-Range Planning
APPENDIX A
Some companies' long-range plans focus special attention on
technical change and on the role of continuing education in
change. Others do not.The Panel's interest lies in understanding
your views of the value of recognizing change and continuing
. . . . .
ec .ucatlon in strategic p annmg.
5. In particular, how are technical change and technical issues rec-
ognized generally in the company's long-range planning process?
For example, are such issues ranked high in planning relative to,
say, marketing or administration? Are they formally recognized
in priority-setting, agenda, committees, and other aspects of
planning?
6. Is continuing education of engineers for technological change
incorporated into long-range planning? If so, how?
Explain:
C. Engineers and Their Expertise
A variety of studies on technical obsolescence of engineers
have been issued by universities such as MIT and by national
commissions. Most maintain that obsolescence is a problem
because of the rapid rate of technical and scientific innovation.
Some do not.
7. How would you assess your concern with technical currency of
the company's engineers?
Explain:
OCR for page 79
APPENDIX A
79
If you have to summarize the level of your concern with currency
of engineers' technical expertise on a scale from 1 to 5, how would
you rate it?
1
2 3 4 5
Not a
Concern
Very
Concerned
8. To what extent do you believe that the productivity of the com-
pany's engineers depends on their technical currency?
Explain:
If you had to summarize your belief about the claim that engi-
neers' productivity depends heavily on technical currency on a
scale from 1 to 5, how would you rate it?
2
3
4
5
Strongly
Disagree
9.
Strongly
Agree
D. The Company and Engineers ' Continuing Education
A company's productivity, competitive position, and capacity
to innovate at times may be influenced by the continuing educa-
tion of its engineers. But little is known about CEO, EVP, and
other executives' views about this. The Panel would benefit from
your views of each of the three issues.
To what extent do you believe that the company productivity
can be increased through continuing education of its engineers?
Explain:
If you had! to summarize the strength of your belief, very roughly
on a scale from 1 to 5, how would you rate it?
1 2 3 4 5 Prefer not
Do not believe Believe to rate
this at all it strongly
OCR for page 80
80
APPENDIX A
10. To what extent do you believe that the company's competitive
position can be influenced through continuing education of its
engineers?
Explain:
If you had to summarize the strength of your belief very roughly
on a scale from 1 to 5, how would you rate it?
2 3 4
Do not believe
5 Prefer not
Believe it to rate
To what extent do you believe the company's capacity to inno-
vate can be influenced through continuing education of its engi-
neers?
Explain:
If you had to summarize the strength of your belief very roughly
on a scale from 1 to 5, how would you rate it?
1 2 3
4 5
Do not believe
this at all
E. CareerPaths
Prefer not
Believe it to rate-
strongly
Career paths of engineers vary a great deal from one company to
another and within companies, of course. The company's role in
structuring career paths in each varies, too. The Panel is inter-
ested in understanding your views about both career paths and
the company's role in that path.
12. Is it sensible to characterize "typical career paths for engineers"
in the company? If so, how would you characterize the typical
paths? If not, why not?
OCR for page 81
APPENDIX A
Explain:
81
13a. What role does the company now play in managing career paths of
its engineers? For example, is this left primarily to the individual
or does the company take an active role?
Explain:
13b. Do you envision any change in this role, in view of your own
judgments about change in the industry more generally?
Explain:
14. What is your view about the incentives for company engineers to
continue their education? For example, do you place a high value
on incentives created by the company? Are other sources of incen-
tives valuable?
Explain:
15. Are there in your judgment other important issues bearing on
company values and policy that we have not considered?
If so, what are those issues? Why are they important? How are
they related to assuring technical health of the company and
technical currency of engineers?
OCR for page 82
82
Document 3:
Debriefing Questions for Interviewers
~ . How much time did the interview take?
APPENDIX A
2. Were any special difficulties encountered in settingup the interview
and conducting it?
3. Can the background "Information for Interviewers" be made more
helpful for interviewers? How?
4. Can any of the questions be improved? Which ones? How?
5. Should additional questions be posed to help understand values,
attitudes, and policy of policymakers in this arena?
6. Should special features of the company be kept in mind in interpret-
ing the responses?
Interviewer Name
Company Name
Phone
Document 4: Information for Policymakers
Information about this effort will be provided to the policymaker
you've identified as a respondent in two forms. First, a formal letter
will be sent to the individual from the Panel. Second, a more informal,
oral statement should be made by you to apprise the individual about
the effort.
The letter from the NRC Panel should help to assure the individual of
the import of the work, and will at times facilitate the task of setting up
an interview.
The letter below is a draft of the one that will be sent out by NRC.
OCR for page 83
APPENDIX A
(NRC LetterheadJ
Dear
83
The National Research Council has undertaken a major research
project for the National Academy of Sciences on the "Education and
Utilization of the Engineer." The work was initiated partly because of
private and public sector concerns about the future vitality and com-
petitiveness of high technology industry in the United States.
The main objective is to better understand how to assure that the
United States industries continue to depend on able engineers- trained
in the right ways, at the right times, and with the right results. To
achieve that understanding, NRC has been provided with financial
resources to study this issue. The value will depend on the expertise of
individuals representing major industries, universities, and govern-
ment agencies at the local, state, and federal level.
The values and attitudes of top management are critically important
to the NRC work. For this reason, the Panel on Continuing Education
has undertaken a pilot test of a survey of corporate values and attitudes
on the topic.
The pilot test involves an interview by one of your own managers. It
asks for your judgments about technological issues and engineer train-
ing in the company. of your organization will receive an
interview guide and will contact your office within the next few weeks
to set up an appointment.
Your cooperation is essential if we are to build a better understanding
of how to produce and innovate well in a rapidly changing technologi-
cal environment.
Sincerely,
Panel Chairman
Document 5: The Pilot Survey
of CEO Values Questions andAnswers
Q. What
A.
is the "Pilot Survey of Policymaker Values" ?
The Pilot Survey is a small field test of an interview protocol. The
protocol is designed to determine whether and how well we can
obtain information about top management views of continuing
education for engineers.
If the pilot test of the protocol suggests that we can in fact
OCR for page 84
84
APPENDIX A
obtain useful information about values and attitudes of top man-
agement, then a larger formal interview survey will be mounted.
Q. Why would anyone want to interview top management about
their views?
A. No formal survey of CEO values and attitudes toward continuing
education has ever been done. We know little, apart from anecdote
and some personal experience, about how top management views
the topic. Yet, CEOs' values seem important to our understanding
of continuing education, its resources, and its future.
Q. Under whose auspices is this test being undertaken?
A. The test is being undertaken as part of a larger research project of
the National Research Council's Committee on Engineering Edu-
cation and Utilization. The Panel on Continuing Education of
Engineers, a working group of the Committee, is responsible for
the pilot test of the protocol and survey procedures.
Q. Who is supposed to be interviewed?
A. The Panel's primary interest here is in high-level general manage-
ment values, rather than the values of human resources execu-
t~ves.
As a consequence, the target for interview is the CEO or EVP
level.
Who will do the survey?
A. The interview of a company CEO or policymaker will be con-
ducted by a company manager or executive.
We believe this is a more efficient and practical approach than
designating an outside individual or institution to conduct inter-
views. That is, an outside group would have less access to CEOs,
be less expert in company affairs, and be a less informed and less
able vehicle for questions.
If the survey is done by insiders, will "objectivity" be an issue?
A. The panel believes that insiders can elicit information and fairly
represent the CEO's response. But the Panel also recognizes that
here, as in any other interview setting, coloring questions or tak-
ing license with responses is possible. And so we ask the inter-
viewers to abide by the instructions in a reasonably conscientious
way.
The more important factor here is insider access to the CEO or
related executive level. It is not clear that an outside contractor
can {aJ get the access needed, or jbJ pose the questions as expertly
OCR for page 85
APPENDIX A
85
as an insider can. In making this judgment for the pilot test, the
Panel does not forego other options for a larger survey. This
depends in part on the experience of interviewers.
Q. What incentives are there for the policymaker or CEO to cooper-
ate?
A. The incentives here are tied to the Committee and Panel mission.
If the CEO believes that understanding how to get the right
people trained at the right times in the right way on the right
things is important, then he or she will be more likely to cooper-
ate.
If the interview procedure is sensible, in the CEO's view,
cooperation is more likely.
Still, this may not be sufficient. If other incentives or
approaches are likely to be more useful, in the interviewers' judg-
ment, the Panel welcomes suggestions.
A.
What will the product of the pilot test be?
If the information produced in the pilot test is a reasonable charac-
terization of top management views and helps to understand val-
ues about when, how, and why continuing education may be
important, then a formal survey with a large sample will be con-
sidered by the Panel.
Will r~.~,lt~ of the pilot test be made available to interviewers or to
Q _ ~
executive level policymakers?
A. A brief report on the pilot test and results will be made available.
For information beyond the report, interviewers or respondents
may contact members of the Panel on Continuing Education or
the NRC staffer for the Panel, Vernon Miles.
Q. Who are the members of the Panel on Continuing Education for
Engineers? Who is the principal NRC staff member posted to the
Panel?
Panel Members
Dr. Morris A. Steinberg {Chairman), Vice President, Science,
Lockheed Corporation
Mr. Ralph T. Dosher, Manager, Corporate Training and Education,
Texas Instruments
Mr. Rod Hanks, Director, College Relations and Technical
Development, Lockheed Corporation
OCR for page 86
86
Dr. Robert A. Hofstade~ Managed Education and Development
Unix Exxon Resources and Engineering Company
Professor Harold Kaufman' Polytechnic Institute of New York
Dr Russell O'NeiD' University of California at Los Waggles
Fir. Bernard SaDot' Advanced Technologies Croup Services
Mr. Vernon Miles' National Rese~cb Council
Co~
Dr. Robert E Bo~cb/ Nortbvestern University
Representative terms from entire chapter:
pilot test
