Companies today can no longer afford to provide training and development without an established plan. Making this decision requires a training strategy focused on business needs, customer expectations and skill development of employees.This will then ensure that the company can proceed to measure whether it has the right people in place with the right competences, knowledge, experience and capabilities necessary for both current andfuture responsibilities. This will allow real development and progress to be made.

More often than not, training and development activities are developed in response to the departure of valued employees, a rash of customer complaints, or major crisis. Some examples of crisis plans include the Maple Leaf listeria outbreak, the Toyota recall, and the BP oil spill.

Utilizing your textbook and any additional resources, you will develop a Strategic Training Plan to convince senior management to support this investment. This can be a company you used to work for, one you currently work for, in response to a crisis or a fictional organization. Samples will be provided under Course Documents.

Fairfield-Sonn (1987) detailed a strategic decision making model in his classic article, "A Strategic Process Model for Small Business Training and Development". (Available under Course Documents).He included a case example demonstrating the use of the process. You can use this model or any other that you prefer. You will be required to include a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT), or similar analysis (SOAR) with regard to performance management and training.

SWOT Analysis Template will be provided under Course Documents.

Please follow APA format when referencing articles and additional materials. A tip sheet as to the basics of the APA format is provided for you under Course Documents. This should be between 1000-2000 words, depending on the type of organization or industry selected.