This paper will explore if and how psychological strain plays a mediator role between the learning climate and job performance in a group of health workers. Although the relationship between learning climate and job performance has already been explored in the international literature, the role of psychological strain, which may hamper or deepen this relationship, has yet to be investigated. The research hypothesis is that psychological strain mediates the relationship between the climate toward learning (including also the error avoidance climate) and job performance. Data were gathered in a Public hospital in Italy. Participants (N = 61) were health professionals (nurses and obstetricians). Considering the relatively small sample size, a mediation analysis with the aid of the SPSS macro PROCESS was performed. The results show that the relationship between the learning climate (specifically its dimension of organizational appreciation toward learning) and job performance is mediated by psychological strain. The future research agenda and practical implications are discussed in the paper.

Purpose – This paper aims to present an innovative model to evaluate the quality of the learning outcome in vocational education and training (VET) considering a wide approach that includes, in particular, stakeholders' expectations and perceptions. \ud \ud Design/methodology/approach – The Expero model was implemented in various kinds of vocational schools and educational institutions in different European countries. \ud \ud Findings – The model was validated through review by several international experts and by translation into a quality standard certification model. \ud \ud Research limitations/implications – Expero needs a larger testing phase in non-European countries to validate its appropriateness. Different vocational systems in non-EU countries could enrich and widen the model in terms of transferability and sustainability as well as fostering cross-educational requirements and needs that may impact the quality of the learning outcome. The Expero model is mainly dedicated to vocational education and, in its current form, is not suitable to be applied to other levels of education (i.e. primary or secondary). Meanwhile, it seems promising in terms of its application in higher education institutions, in workplace learning, and in continuous professional training. \ud \ud Practical implications – Expero permits analysis of the quality of the learning outcome, which constitutes the prior mission of a school. Being dedicated to the vocational sector, Expero is based on stakeholder evaluation, including school personnel, trainees, industries, companies and external bodies interested in a school's results. Applying the Expero model, a school can analyse its strengths and weaknesses in a systematic way; strengthening – or even creating – a collaborative network with its stakeholders finalised in improving learning outcome. \ud \ud Originality/value – Among the various opportunities a school has to perform a quality assessment (ISO 9000, EFQM, CAF), Expero is the first model focused on the quality of the learning outcome based on multi-stakeholder data analysi

Purpose – Currently, in the literature, words such as “corporate image”, “projected image”, “construed image”, “reputation”, “organizational identity”, and “organizational culture” are often confused and superimposed. This creates a conceptual mismatch that leads to results that are hard to compare. Moreover, this leads to difficulty in individuating the correct tools to investigate these constructs. Part of this confusion is due to the lack of a framework shared by different literatures. The aim of this paper is firstly to propose a reasoned review of the literatures related to these constructs. Secondly, the authors propose a new framework and a standard terminology, in which reputation is the wider construct that includes and relates to the others. Design/methodology/approach – The authors performed an extensive and multidisciplinary review in the 12 most used databases within corporate communication, organizational psychology, marketing, organizational studies, management, and business. A semiotic and relational approach was implemented as modus operandi. Findings – The paper builds on the previous literature, clarifying labels and constructs and identifying a standard terminology to which future studies can refer in order to facilitate a multidisciplinary dialog along different disciplines. Originality/value – To the authors' knowledge, this is the first review to take into consideration all of the seven constructs together and relate them within one framework. Moreover, it uses a novel approach in seeing “reputation” as an umbrella construct under which all the other constructs are grouped and included.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to introduce and validate the concept of training culture defined as a subset of the main organizational culture that allows examining meanings and values attributed to the training within an organization by management and employees. Design/methodology/approach This study, following the deductive scale development process, examines the theoretical foundation and psychometric properties of the training culture scale (TCS), testing the utility and appropriateness of the measure. The TCS has been designed and developed on three specific dimensions: individual, group and organizational. A confirmatory factorial analysis has been performed to assess the internal structure. Findings Results confirm the three dimensions initially hypothesized: individual, group and organizational, with good reliability indexes on the three factors. Practical implications The implementation of the TCS allows training experts to have a broader understanding of training in the organization and to better tailor the training activities according to the training culture profile of the organization. Originality/value Cultural analyses are usually carried out from the managerial perspective. The TCS considers the individual perception, including both management and employees in the definition of a training culture profile that enables the organization to develop more effective strategies for training and development.

PurposeThe purpose of the research was to develop a simple self‐evaluation model and tool that would be based on the preferences of improvement areas of all the stakeholder groups and that also would be possible to use in all European countries.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology starts with a survey to three school levels (primary, secondary, and vocationa) in seven EU countries, in which the opinions of important factors and their related importance are surveyed of the relevant stakeholder groups (school workers, pupil associations, parents, municipal education authorities, next higher school level, or employers). Total N of responses of stakeholder groups was 126. The relative importances are then built into a DEXi model with weightings generated from the responses, and finally a self‐assessment tool that uses the DEXi structure developed for the use of the schools in their quality improvement.FindingsThe final tool works and the school headmasters who tested it found it easy enough for use.Research limitations/implicationsNaturally, the preferences change over time. A new survey of similar type should be conducted maybe every five years to keep the model up to date. There is also an ongoing development work of the self‐assessment tool in a new EXPERO2EU project.Practical implicationsThe model attempts to make self‐evaluation so simple that all schools could find the motivation and time to make it a part of their annual planning. The tool itself is not the aim; the aim is to get schools to systematically discuss the issues that are important for their quality and to start improvement actions.Originality/valueBoth the stakeholder survey, the model and the tool are new constructs.