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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Learning and training at work

A firm wants to prove that a leadership programme caused an improvement in team productivity. It compares the productivity of managers who attended with a similar group who did not, both before and after the programme. What is the main reason for using this approach?

The main reason is that a control group lets the firm isolate the training effect from other influences on productivity. By comparing similar trained and untrained managers before and after, it gives stronger evidence that the programme caused the improvement, rather than measuring satisfaction or guaranteeing promotion.

  1. AIt provides a control group, helping to isolate the effect of training from other factorsCorrect
  2. BIt measures delegates' immediate satisfaction with the programme
  3. CIt eliminates the need to measure productivity before the programme
  4. DIt guarantees that all delegates will be promoted

Explanation

Using a control group of similar employees who did not train allows other influences, such as market conditions or new systems, to be separated from the effect of the training. This strengthens evidence for results-level evaluation. It does not measure reaction, remove the need for baseline data, or guarantee promotion.

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