ISBN: 0-87778-295-4

The aim of the study reported in this chapter was to identify a set of practical instructional design standards, validated by empirical research, that can be used in the context of corporate education. Although the importance of learning rarely has been questioned, there is increasing doubt as to the effects of the actual activities geared towards the facilitation of learning processes. Training and development activities absorb a costly part of an organization’s manpower capacity, budget, and opportunities, but the resources needed become scarce in periods of economie decline (Harrison, 1992). In organizations, the need for successful adaptation to an ever-changing environment, and thus also for learning, is most urgent in such periods of economie instability. At present, learning is widely recognized as a major vehicle for organizational survival and change, and great interest is shown in emerging and re- emerging concepts such as ‘learning to learn,’ ‘organizational learning,’ and the ‘learning company’ (Pedler, Burgoyne, &; Boydell, 1991; Senge, 1990).