Corporate Distance Education: An Applied Understanding of Its Resistance Factors

The objective of this study was to identify and analyze the main factors that explain the resistance to distance education (DE) in corporate education (CE) in a military institution. The present study was structured with quantitative and explanatory approach, based on the theoretical framework of the READEC model, which was developed and validated by Albertin and Brauer (2012). From a technical point of view, a bibliographic survey and a field survey were carried out by means of an electronic questionnaire. Data collection was carried out with a sample of 345 Brazilian Army personnel who were part of the Training Course for Sergeants (TCS). The data of this research were treated with the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), technique based on Partial Least Squares (PLS). The results of the research showed that the self-efficacy and performance expectation dimensions directly and positively influence the resistance to the DE in the CE, and the effort expectation, facilitating conditions and interactivity dimensions are constructs antecedent to the performance expectation. Contrary to the previous theory, the results also indicated that the perception about the organizational infrastructure was not significant to explain the resistance to DE, which allows us to bring new insights about this phenomenon.