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Theme : skills
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DTI paper, Competitiveness: moving to the next stage (pdf)
Usefull paper on competitiveness. Argues:
1) Low road to competitivenss not flawed, but producing diminishing returns
2) Management not the answer to competitiveness challenge but symptom of wider problems around business models/investment etc
Offers typology of econ development:
- Low cost
- Value added
- Innovation driven
from : duncanoleary
10th January 2007
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Gladwell: the talent myth
Cites a an interesting-sounding study:
'Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Columbia University, has found that people generally hold one of two fairly firm beliefs about their intelligence: they consider it either a fixed trait or something that is malleable and can be developed over time.'
Study found that only those with the veiw that intelligence is maleable were disposed to further learning.
from : duncanoleary
10th January 2007
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Demos skills event with Bill Rammell, 30th January
Just a quick post to let you know that we are holding an event with Bill Rammell on January 30th, to launch a new Demos project, in partnership with City & Guilds.
The event should be a good chance to talk through some of the key issues, principles and policies put forward by the Leitch Review of Skills, which was published last month and featured strongly in the Chancellor’s Pre-budget report.
from : duncanoleary
8th January 2007
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In demand
I am just writing a provocation paper for a Demos event with Bill Ramell on January 30th (details to go up on the website shortly) looking at adult learning (see the Confronting the skills paradox project page) and just came across this from Martim Wolf in the FT on the Leitch Review of Skills. I think he makes one point that may be very important:
from : duncanoleary
3rd January 2007
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Martin Wolfe; FT.com; Leitch adds little to the skills debate
Argues:
'It is not obvious why the state should subsidise the job-specific training that employers desire. Far more important are general skills. These are hard to acquire after someone leaves school. But if this is to happen at all, it is through individual effort. It makes sense, therefore, for any subsidy to go to individuals rather than employers. The market failures in education also suggest that this makes sense.'
from : duncanoleary
3rd January 2007
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Skills gap 'more worrying than terror threat'
British companies have revealed that problems recruiting qualified staff are causing more boardroom headaches than either the threat of terror attacks or bird flu.
The survey by Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets reveals that one-third of firms say the skills gap is their biggest single concern, with al-Qaida strikes or deadly avian influenza outbreaks being cited by only four per cent of businesses each.
Of the 2,200 UK companies with a turnover of more than £1 million who responded to the bank, 48
from : duncanoleary
7th November 2006
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Employment and skills for the 2012 Games: research and evidence
Interesting microcosm of the skills paradox.
Good summary of the evidence from previous games, with some evidence of best practice/policy ideas.
from : duncanoleary
22nd September 2006
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Joining up the dots
The more we find about young people's changing relationship with digital media the more questions this raises about their future as students and employees. Just as some schools find it difficult to capitalise on the creative and technological skills of many of their pupils, so organisations risk overlooking the new skills of young graduates. As the recent Demos publication Working Progress demonstrated, employers think new graduates are arriving without with the skills needed to navigate the...
from : celiahannon
30th August 2006
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Employer Training Pilots: Final Evaluation Report
Huge deadweight costs to pilot scheme that lead to train to gain:
'estimates suggest
about ten per cent to 15 per cent of the training is additional
training, and about 85 per cent to 90 per cent is deadweight.'
from : duncanoleary
21st August 2006
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2002 Cabinet Office Workforce Development report (pdf)
Notes that a company's decision to adopt a low value-added business model may be self-reinforcing:
'Firms with low cost/low added value market
strategies have little reason to value
development. Organisations that resist
changing their working practices find making
improvements harder and harder as the
gap between what they do and best
practice widens.'
Identifies: 'the crucial relationship between
business support and WfD.'
from : duncanoleary
21st August 2006
