This case study details the results of measures taken to secure the effectiveness of 1213 learning activities conducted for more than 11,000 participants in connection with the global SAP implementation at Vestas from 2008 to 2009. In these rollouts Impact Measurements were conducted on 937 learning activities including 7,657 participants. The introduction of systematic measures to secure the effectiveness of the SAP training provided a significant, 68 percent increase in the overall learning results.

This case study details the results of an extensive Impact Measurement of a Management Development Programme carried out at the Dantherm Group. The Programme consisted of eight management modules. The Management Development Programme provided significantly good results, particularly in regard to the managers’ implementation of learning into their job.

This study found zero correlation between learning and satisfaction in 84 percent of all learning activities distributed across more than 3 million measurements. In only 13 percent of all learning activities, a significant positive correlation between reaction and learning could be found. It is concluded that subjective measurements, such as satisfaction or reaction measurements, cannot be used to measure the quality of training nor the level of learning.

Facing a growing globalized market, recession and increased competition with fewer corporate resources, the need for cost-effective learning strategies is mounting. Research indicates that e-learning as a corporate learning strategy can reduce training hours and training cost, but do e-learning programmes also produce the same effect and impact as classroom training does? This study examined the differences between e-learning and classroom training on 667 different training and learning programmes, measured on reaction, learning and transfer. Key findings in this research are that e-learning produced a significantly higher learning efficiency than classroom training. Conversely, classroom training performed significantly better in terms of retention and transfer. However, 3 months after training, the two approaches ended up producing the same level of knowledge and skills.

This paper analyzes how subjective assessments of satisfaction with training compare to objective measures based on differences intest scores before and after training. A complete lack of correspondence between the objective measure of learning and 11 subjective measures of satisfaction with aspects of the courses is found. This finding suggests that either learning has no weight in the employees subjective evaluations or subjective evaluations cannot be trusted. We cannot fully ascertain whether subjective evaluations can be used as a substitute for econometric or experimental program evaluations, but the results found here suggests that this is not the case.