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Twenty years since educational reforms were implemented in Spain aiming at the modernisation of the vocational education system and at the improvement of its educational and developmental functions, relationships between education and industry have not been widely analysed. This study reviews the recent international literature on the topic and then looks at one advanced regional case within the school-based, Spanish vocational education context. Analysing data from a sample of 330 industrial firms from the Basque Country, binary logistic regression was applied in order to identify factors especially associated to the fact that SMEs have a greater or lower number of collaboration relations with vocational schools. We also examined the variables that have the greatest impact on whether firms assess vocational schools positively. Results indicate a strong association between intensity of relationships and positive assessment of vocational schools' educational and developmental functions.

This paper seeks to contribute to the knowledge of the relationship established between firms and vocational education and training (VET) schools around work placements in companies (both standard and extended, so‐called 'dual', models) in Spain. An ad hoc survey of 332 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from two industrial regions was conducted and a categorical principal components analysis was applied to identify the main dimensions or components of those relationships. The main elements found are related to (i) staff selection and social responsibility; (ii) trust, reciprocity and knowledge sharing with schools; and (iii) the organizational culture of the companies. The results obtained illustrate an evolution from a 'provider‐client' scheme towards a more strategic partnership between schools and firms, thus contributing new aspects to the literature available on the Spanish case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive coaching has become one of the principal leadership development strategies of our time. However, this is a field of HRD that has been discussed far more often in professional than academic literature and further research is required. This work analyses the relation existing between the main explanatory factors of executive coaching effectiveness and the different types of results that can be achieved. This study also provides an empirical test of the effectiveness of executive coaching using the first three levels of Kirkpatrick's evaluation model (1975). Responses from 176 executives are analyzed, assessing their perceptions of their latest experience of executive coaching. Structural modelling is used to match factors affecting the success of executive coaching to its results. The resulting model highlights the influence exercised by the coach, and to a lesser extent the coachee and the process, on coachee satisfaction. It also shows how the coach influences the coachee's learning. The results also suggest that there is a positive relationship between satisfaction, learning and behavioral change, as Kirkpatrick suggests. The development of a final focus group, in which human resources managers, coachees and coaches took part, contributed to improvements in the discussion and interpretation of the results. In the light of these results, the implications for the professional and academic area are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interactive learning model argues the importance of incremental innovation, linked to production activities, and the role in that innovation of qualified workers - including those with a vocational training degree - in opposition to the supremacy of scientific personnel that tends to characterize high-tech industries. However, scarcely any attention has been paid to the role of intermediary workers in innovation processes. This study, based on a survey of 1142 Spanish industrial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), examines the degree to which technicians and employees with a vocational education and training (VET) profile are represented in these firms and their involvement in innovation activities. In order to identify the importance of the factors studied in a multivariate model, a binary logistic regression was performed with an index of VET workers' participation as a dependent variable, segmenting the companies by technological level. The study shows that for sectors with greatest R&D intensity, the presence of VET personnel in technical posts and the existence of external co-operation in innovation were found to triple the probability of greater participation. In more low-tech sectors, these variables continue to exercise a strong influence, but the multiplier effect of another two has also been detected, specifically the innovative capacity of the company and a greater level of involvement of operators in organizational learning practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Española de Sociología is the property of Federacion Espanola de Sociologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Organizations / Revista Internacional de Organizaciones (RIO) is the property of Analisi Social i Organitzativa grup de recerca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Organizations / Revista Internacional de Organizaciones (RIO) is the property of Analisi Social i Organitzativa grup de recerca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The academic literature argues that managers, with their resources and capabilities, constitute a source of competitive advantage for companies, but that cooperatives generally have difficulties attracting and retaining competent managers. The present study examines the special efforts made in the creation and development of cooperative managers via corporate training centres in the Mondragon Cooperative Group. The fieldwork that supports this research is a qualitative study based on a series of in-depth interviews with 12 people in charge of Mondragon’s training structure. This study confirms that Mondragon’s cooperatives have overcome the difficulties common to other cooperatives in attracting and retaining valuable managers. The study also confirmed that Mondragon’s management training policy, based on its corporate training centres, is internally perceived as a source of competitive advantages to the cooperatives in the attraction, development and retention of managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]