This Australian and New Zealand adaptation of Raymond Noe’s distinguished textbook retains the strengths of the earlier editions of this work. It not only provides a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of training and development but also covers essential aspects such as transfer of learning, and careers and career management, which are all too frequently neglected or overlooked in other texts. A specialised regional publication of this type is an effective and efficient way for those working in the area of training and development to keep abreast of key information in both context and time, and to stimulate thinking about the way in which they go about their work.

This adaptation builds on the strengths of the original work by offering stimulating regional angles on the strategic and operational aspects of training and development. Through providing practical ideas to augment our own practice, it serves as a very useful tool for those engaged in this increasingly complex and fascinating field. The application assignments in this adaptation add to the armoury of the earlier editions with a variety of scenarios and other devices which motivate constructive thinking and encourage problem solving in the Australian and New Zealand context.

The work will be invaluable to the region’s training and development practitioners who, in the twenty-first century, are required to deal with more types and greater volumes of information, to work more strategically, and at the same time to design and deliver interventions that make a real difference in the organisations within which we work. These challenges are intensified by the accelerating rate of change in training and development generated by such influences as increases in international competition, complex new technologies, and changes in the nature of the workforce on an unprecedented scale.

There is now a much wider recognition that training and development is a key factor in delivering organisational success. For example, the management of talent is now highly valued by organisational leaders, both for the competitive edge and cost savings it can deliver. The value which training and development provides in terms of improved skills, capacity, and organisational agility is seen not merely as desirable, but essential. This new adaptation of Professor Noe’s textbook will prove its worth in helping to deal with the pressures which these factors place on both line managers and training specialists responsible for improving workforce competence and productivity.

At a personal level, I’m particularly glad to have had this opportunity of commending this work, as Col Winkler and I taught together in the early days of our academic careers in an innovative Graduate Diploma in Professional Management. Col is an outstanding teacher whose creative approach to teaching and learning is reflected in this textbook.

Jim Kitay
Honorary Associate Professor
Faculty of Economics and Business
The University of Sydney