Seven cases, all Dutch organisations, are analysed on the relation between organisation characteristics and types of training on the job on the basis of contingency theory. Effectiveness and efficiency, dictated by a competitive environment, influence decisions regarding internal structure, including the form of the HRD function. Contingency theory predicts that the internal structure, resulting from differentiation of components, mediates between such pressures of the environment and the pressure of the operating core, which tries to perform productively according to norms of rationality. The actions of differentiated components of the internal structure must be coordinated. The tendency to differentiate a separate training function off the job can be at odds with the tendency to bind training activities on the job strictly to the priorities of productive work. However, in this article we propose that this opposition can be overcome when the chosen type of on-thejob training 'matches' the type of organisation and that matching types as a rule are more effective.

Structured on-the-job training (OJT) has gained the attention of the business world as well as of researchers. The project discussed in this article contains a series of case studies of on-the-job training programmes in seven Dutch firms. Several dimensions are found to be useful in discriminating between types of OJT activities and between ways of structuring OJT. Trainee activities are either of a preparatory nature or a real work character. Assignments may be focussed on skill application, individualised study, or experiential learning. Jobs may be broken down to a greater or lesser extent and supervisors may have either a directive or a coaching role.After a period during which training was mainly thought of as the transmission of knowledge in classrooms, preferably by professional trainers and with use of modern educational technology, the work place has been rediscovered as a site for training and learning (Marsick and Watkinsfor a critical stance see Garrick, 1998). The training departments of large companies are experimenting with training programmes which largely take place in the work environment, and often in interaction with actual work processes. New employees are coached by experienced colleagues or by their direct supervisor. The new employees and their supervisors may be supported during their learning and coaching activities by materials and instructions provided by the training department. Arguments for this training method are the supposed greater flexibility when compared with corporate classrooms, and the earlier availability of the new employees, resulting in higher cost effectiveness. Other reasons which are often mentioned are higher motivation on the part of the new employees and absence of problems with transfer of what has been learned to the working environment.Only a limited amount of empirical research into the phenomenon of on-the-job training has been carried out and theory building has only just started. Elsewhere

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The problem and the solution. What are the different types of planned training on the job? And how do they match with types of intended learning processes? This chapter proposes four models of planned training on the job. Each model is connected to one type of learning process and one corresponding set of roles for trainee and trainer. Types of training objectives and training procedures are discussed per model. Finally, the chapter discusses the implications of the typology for human resource development (HRD) research and practice.

A recent article by Resnick, Nolan, and Resnick (1995) analyzed the curriculum and examination system for mathematics in France and the Netherlands. The focus of the article was on how the two countries create and maintain “world class standards” in mathematics. However, the authors overlook the real process by which a country like the Netherlands, which has legal autonomy for individual schools, creates a national consensus around high standards for student learning. This contribution describes the formal, legal status of curriculum and examination standards and also the process by which high standards emerge and are maintained over time. Some attention is also paid to new trends in high-stakes examinations. The Dutch approach toward a balance between local autonomy and national, high standards has considerable relevance to the U.S. setting.