Individual and situational factors affecting transfer of training in a call center environment.

164 Pages·2016·0.85 MB·English

by  Eric Travis Hicks

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Electronic Theses and Dissertations
5-2006
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Eric Travis Hicks
University of Louisville
Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd
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Hicks, Eric Travis, "Individual and situational factors affecting transfer of training in a call center
environment." (2006). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 614.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/614
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INDIVIDUAL AND SITUATIONAL FACTORS AFFECTING TRANSFER OF
TRAINING IN A CALL CENTER ENVIRONMENT

By

Eric Travis Hicks
B.A., Brigham Young University, 1982
M.S., Indiana University, 1984

A Dissertation
Submitted to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of the University of Louisville
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Leadership, Foundations, and Human Resource Education
University of Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky

May 2006

Copyright 2006 by Eric T. Hicks
All rights reserved.
INDIVIDUAL AND SITUATIONAL FACTORS AFFECTING TRANSFER OF
TRAINING IN A CALL CENTER ENVIRONMENT
By
Eric Travis Hicks
B.A., Brigham Young University, 1982
M.S., Indiana University, 1984

A Dissertation Approved on

April 11, 2006

By the following Dissertation Committee:

___________________________________
Dissertation Director

___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

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DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, first love, and best friend
Cynthia Dawn Hicks
who has supported and encouraged me with patience, love, and sacrifice during this long journey.
Without her at my side we would have never crossed the finish line.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I acknowledge and thank my dissertation committee, Dr. Mike Boyle, who served as
Chair, Dr. Joseph Petrosko, Dr. Thomas Reio, Dr. Carolyn Rude-Parkins, and Dr. Thadeus
Dumas for their encouragement and support in this long process. In particular, I thank Dr. Boyle
for keeping me focused on the most important things and on helping me maintain a positive
attitude during the doctoral journey. I thank Dr. Joseph Petrosko for his invaluable assistance and
time in helping me find my way through the analytical maze created by this study’s data. I also
thank Dr. Reio for his challenge to consider response bias and study limitations. Though not on
my committee, I give special thanks to Dr. Paul Winter who challenged me to finish my literature
review with appropriate academic rigor, and without whom I would not have been motivated to
push for the summit.
No great accomplishment is attained without a great support team and I had the best. My
heartfelt thanks and love go to my wife, Cindy, and family for putting up with me during my
journey back to school. I also express my love and thanks to my children, Nathan, Kyle, and
Whitney, who have helped me keep a perspective on things and given me no shortage of well-
deserved teasing about returning to school in my “ancient years.”
I thank my parents who instilled in me a desire to learn and seek out new challenges and
in particular my mother, Carol, whose proof reading kept me from making more than a few
errors. I also thank my brother, Zac, for providing stimulating discussions during our Saturday
morning breakfasts together when I needed an escape and sanity check. Finally, I thank my good
friends Dr. Robert Nixon for his enthusiastic encouragement and Marji Settles for her tireless
assistance and cheerful smile through all my questions, phone calls and department visits. You’re
the best!
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ABSTRACT
INDIVIDUAL AND SITUATIONAL FACTORS AFFECTING TRANSFER OF
TRAINING IN A CALL CENTER ENVIRONMENT
Eric Travis Hicks
April 11, 2006

In the past 35 years, the average U.S. corporation expenditure per employee on
training has increased over ten-fold, yet research studies covering the same time period
estimate that only 10-15% of skills and knowledge acquired during training actually
transfer to the job. A study was conducted using Mathieu and Martineau’s model of
training motivation to better understand which factors predicted for motivation to transfer
learning on the job in a call center environment.
Participants from a large mid-western insurance company call center (n = 195)
participated in a longitudinal study to determine the relationship of individual factors,
situational factors, and reaction to training with motivation to transfer training. Pre-
training survey scales measured variables motivation to learn, locus of control, self-
efficacy, learning confidence, managerial support, organizational support, and job
support. Post-training survey scales measured reaction to training and motivation to
transfer training.
Pearson correlation, hierarchical multiple regression, and factor analysis were
used to understand correlation among the predictor variables and between the predictors
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and the criterion variable motivation to transfer. Results indicated that while all variables
of interest correlated with motivation to transfer in Pearson tests, only situational factors
and reaction to training predicted for transfer motivation when entered into the final
hierarchical multiple regression model.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………….…..iv
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………….….…..v
LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………vii

CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION……………………….………………………………1
General Background of the Study………………………....…………3

Problem Statement……………………………….….….……………5

Professional Significance of the Problem………………….…….…..7

Theoretical Framework and Methodological Overview…….…….…9

Limitations of Previous Studies……………………………...…..…11

Limitations of Current Study…….…………………………….…...14

II. LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………….….…..…15
Individual Factors Influencing Training Transfer………………….16

General Self-Efficacy, Learning Confidence and
Locus of Control…………………………...….…….…………17

Motivation……………………………………….………………....22

Situational Factors that influence Training Transfer………………36

Organizational Climate and Job Support…….………………….…36

Managerial Support……………………………………….………..51

Training Design Considerations ……………..…………………….59

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