%0 Journal Article
%T The Effects of Training on the Competitive Economic Advantage of Companies in Spain
%A Maria Luz Marin-Diaz
%A Xavier Llinas-Audet
%A Luis Chiaramonte-Cipolla
%A Josep-Oriol Escardibul
%J Education Research International
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/749606
%X The search for factors that lead to competitive advantage in a company in relation to its competitors is a widely debated subject; a wide range of issues have been examined to determine which factors are the most influential. The aim of this paper is to study training effect on business results (particularly on firm¡¯s financial turnover). For the present research, the classical model of Industrial Economy as a frame of reference has been used. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire sent to 381 large organizations in Catalonia (Spain) during 2009 and 2010. The empirical section of the present article was developed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results relate training to company¡¯s financial turnover in a positive way. The General Expenditure and Costs is the variable that most contributes to the explanation of firms¡¯ financial turnover. The Organization of Training variable is the second most important construct to account for financial turnover However, training is required to be well organized as well as properly financed. 1. Introduction Fifty years ago, a number of leading economists laid the foundations of what has become an indisputable claim in the field of economy, namely, that education and training are essential to all developmental processes. Among such experts were Mincer [1], Schultz [2], and Becker [3]. They pointed out that a close link is to be found between training and such key economic variables as profit levels, employment, and GDP growth. Later, numerous contributions have been made to the field [4, 5], and, in today¡¯s world of business, the main objectives include obtaining competitive advantage, increasing financial turnover and profits, and enhancing labor productivity through the introduction of new strategies in Human Resource Management (HRM). The latter includes training based on the fact that a company¡¯s staff is now recognized as being one of its main assets. In fact, a company¡¯s survival strongly depends on its capacity to capture intelligence, transform it into knowledge, incorporate that new knowledge into organizational training, and disseminate it quickly throughout the company [6¨C10]. From an organizational perspective, training and the pursuit of excellence through learning enable companies to improve their profitability by modifying their employees¡¯ skills and attitudes [11, 12] and by increasing their job satisfaction [13] and commitment to the company [14]. In this sense, it seems that a company that invests in training and development tends to have more success [14¨C17] than the one that does
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2014/749606/