We were repeatedly surprised to find, that in addition to realizing the official training objectives, other unintentional things were happening to those trained, the trainers and their respective environments within organizations.

We furthermore noted that in certain groups the learning results disappear relatively quickly after training has ended, whereas in other groups the results are retained and fostered and even appear to spark off a longterm independently continued learning process.

As a result of these observations we became interested in the factors which influence this interplay of forces between training and the target group and of that between training and the environment of the target group.
If such forces, which go beyond merely influencing the individual trained in relation to purposeful transfer of knowledge, skills training and attitude-building really exist, they invite further research.

For if a training department is able to influence the individual's working environment, then it must equally be possible to use this influence in a planned and conscious manner within the framework of a larger innovation strategy.