The Industrial Training Act and Management Training, with Particular Reference to the Needs of Small Firms

Abstract

The provisions of the Industrial Training Act, 1964, are reviewed and this is followed by a study of the impact of its main instrument, the Industrial Training Boards upon the management training and development of small firms (employing up to 250 people). The replies to two postal questionnaires (one of which was completed by twenty-two Boards having a significant proportion of small firms in scope, and the other of which was completed by the chief executives of 99 firms which paid levy to one or other of these Boards) are analysed and conclusions are drawn from the findings. The response to the questionnaires revealed a) that the majority of the firms in the sample would opt out of scope if free to do so and b) the Boards themselves were not, in general, satisfied with the progress of management training in the small firms. Following a consideration of the management-training needs of small firms, and of the various methods to facilitate their fulfilment, suggestions are put forward as to the means by which the Boards could provide a more effective management-training service and thereby improve the image which many small firms hold of them. To this end, it is recommended that the Boards provide on-the-job (consultancy) field service to the small firms, and considerably reduce the administrative and paper work expected by the Boards from the small firms. Proposals, including a syllabus, are submitted for a training course to facilitate the development of the Boards' field training advisers in the diagnosis of the management-training needs of small firms and in providing on-the-job assistance to fulfil them. Finally, within the context of this study, reviews are made of the Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Small Firms and of the proposals in the Government Green Paper 'Training for the future’.