Decision-Making Criteria for Workforce Development Boards Systematic Review

Abstract

This policy systematic review focuses on the team structure and strategic decision- making processes of workforce development boards (WDBs) from 37 states and territories of the United States classified as distressed, underserved, and nonmetropolitan communities. Practitioners and policy makers alike have deemed systematic reviews essential. The systematic review process is employed for this research to identify what is known, how the information is known, and varies across studies specifically focused on WDB team composition and decision making processes. The literature search yielded over 1,495 studies, but the inclusion and exclusion criteria reduced the correlating primary studies to 516 studies. Using a configurative approach, a realist synthesis model, and the theoretical framework lens of Zeleny’s Multi-Criteria, MultiDecision Making/Analysis (MCDM/MCDA) and Hackman& Oldham team concepts, the researcher was able to gather an inductive meaning to form ideas and theories, answer the research questions that examine WDB decision-making strategies, board structural policies, and team effectiveness. The study’s basis is the 2012 national call for papers by the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, who identifies a series of evidence-based research initiatives and strategies for the Employment Training Administration (ETA) that spearheaded the 2013 reframing of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) 1998. This study examines the WIA 2013 evidence-based transferal in workforce development program (WDP) models and the shift that further accentuates the role of WDBs. Collectively, these constructs serve as the variables within this study’s predictions of analytical methods to national improve workforce development outcomes in the 37 states and territories of the U.S. classified as distressed, underserved, and nonmetropolitan. Two sets of independent and dependent variables guide this study: 1) IV–decision-making process; DV– achievement of workforce priorities; 2) IV–team composition; DV–board effectiveness, along with two epistemological questions that address the theories of knowing and an understanding of the phenomenon, while addressing the how and what: 1) How do the WDBs of distressed, underserved, and nonmetropolitan communities decision-making process or lack thereof impact achieving prescribed D.O.L. workforce priorities? 2) How do the policy of WIA 2013 statutory team composition and the societal environment impact board effectiveness?