THE USE AND DETERMINANTS OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FOR CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

Abstract

Human Resource Management (HRM) practices are considered as a possible contributor to firm success. Further research is needed in this field to address how HRM practices contribute to a firm’s ability to be creative and innovative. The first objective of this paper is to map the implementation of training and development practices for creativity and innovation (TD4CI) in manufacturing and the second is to analyse the factors that most influence this implementation. The study, based on the Spanish sub-sample of the European Manufacturing Survey, demonstrates the unexhausted potential of TD4CI as a step prior to innovation. The results show that one third of the companies currently use TD4CI and that this figure is rising. Most of the firms, however, have not put these practices into place and they have no intention of doing so. Regarding the determinants that influence the studied practices, the results show that there are some significant factors, for example new products or services being introduced within the company in the previous three years, that positively affect all the practices. Other determinants are individually significant, for instance the complexity of the product. Some factors, on the other hand, such as size or single unit production, do not appear to influence any of the practices studied so far. The value of this research lies in the up-to-date, relevant figures it provides regarding the implementation and dissemination of TD4CI.