Two important issues prompting the creation of comprehensive management development programs in state government are the promotion of technically competent employees to supervisory positions who have not been prepared to manage, and the impending loss of state managers to retirement and the need for succession planning. With these issues in mind, training needs assessment (TNA) is necessary to understand both the needs of the organization for competent managers and of the individuals who are to be prepared to manage in state government. In this case study, we review the advantages and disadvantages of various TNA techniques and select focus groups to conduct the training needs assessment for a comprehensive management development program. Through several focus group sessions, the perspective of practicing managers was solicited for management training needs throughout the state. Alternatives were widely discussed and a synergy of ideas created through the group discussion format. State managers became more informed about the plan for management development and support for the concept was generated among important stakeholders. State managers clearly wanted training that would be immediately applicable to their job duties and wanted the training delivered in a way that is conducive to adult learning. We found that managers are most concerned with effectively performing their roles and responsibilities as managers, and that they must demonstrate leadership and human relations skills in the performance of their responsibilities.
The export potential of services has been assessed without regard to forward and backward linkages. Yet regional service sector growth is often associated with three factors: the displacement of manufacturing functions into service establishments, the marketing role of manufacturing-displacing imports, and locational shifts toward customer sites. Many services remain locationally linked to suppliers and buyers, with no net gain to the regional economy. In addition service gains may be temporary, associated with cyclical or abnormal business conditions. In the case of steel service centers, which grew rapidly in the early 1980s to account for 25% of all steel sales, employment gains were largely attributable to the spin-off of steel manufacturing functions and to opportunities for marketing imported steel. Eventually, the growth trend tailed off as macroeconomic factors (recovery from recession and the fall of the dollar) restored the relative profitability of the steel industry and enabled it to "learn" flexibility from service center pioneers. Economic development planners should assess service sector potential in light of such linkages and dynamics.
Current advocates of "reinvented" government call for more responsiveness to the needs of customers. This is true for internal as well as external customers, including government agencies seeking services from central personnel offices. Most states have adopted merit systems as a way to ensure open and competitive hiring for governmental service. The numerous rules and regulations that accompany these merit systems make the process of hiring qualified individuals slow and cumbersome and do not always ensure that the most qualified individuals are hired. This study of the state personnel system in Idaho reflects many of the problems that have been discussed by scholars and practitioners alike since the inception of the merit system. Agency officials are resolving these problems in an effort to be responsive to their customers by finding ways to circumvent many merit system rules in what has been referred to as an "underground" merit system.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.