Authors:
Andrée Roy
1
and
Louis Raymond
2
Affiliations:
1
Faculté d’administration, Université de Moncton, Canada
;
2
Institut de recherche sur les PME, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada
Keyword(s):
Training, e-learning, learning, workplace learning, SME.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Case-Studies and Applications
;
Computer-Supported Education
;
e-Learning
Abstract:
Facing pressures from an increasingly competitive business environment, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are called upon to implement strategies that are enabled and supported by information technologies and
e-business applications. One of these applications is e-learning, whose aim is to enable the continuous assimilation of knowledge and skills by managers and employees, and thus support organisational training and development efforts through the use of Internet technologies. Little is known however as to the actual role played by e-learning with regard to the training problems faced by SMEs. A multiple case study of 16 SMEs in the Atlantic region of Canada, including 12 that use e-learning with varying degrees of intensity, was designed to explore this question. We observed the firms’ training process in terms of training needs analysis, method selection, tool selection and evaluation, and ascertained how this process is impacted by their use of e-learning. E-learning i
s then characterised in terms of opportunity and feasibility for the development of SMEs and their region.
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