The roles and competencies of U.S. petroleum industry training and development practitioners in lesser developed countries

Large investments in industrial training and globalization of U.S. industry and business lead to questions about the roles fulfilled and the competencies required by U.S. training and development practitioners working internationally. Personnel with experience working in lesser developed countries on international training programs provided by U.S. petroleum companies were used as a sample to study the applicability of the American Society for Training and Development's 1983 role and competency model, Models for Excellence, to describe the work of training practitioners in lesser developed countries.;The history and evolution of industrial training in the United States was traced from the early 1900s to the present understandings of trainer roles and competencies. Theories of culture were then reviewed to gain an appreciation of the complexities of cross-cultural transactions and how these complexities might affect international training and education programs. Three models, Strategic Management, Instructional Systems Development, and the CIPP Evaluation model were examined for their utility in the integration of training as a strategic part of an international organization.;A variety of quantitative and qualitative paradigms were considered to test for differences in the roles and competencies of trainers in domestic positions versus those working in lesser developed countries. A survey was conducted among experts in petroleum industry training in lesser developed countries using techniques similar to those of the Delphi method, attempting to replicate the Models for Excellence (ASTD, 1983) study.;Numerical data collected were sorted using a three-dimensional spreadsheet program, while qualitative statements and data were transcribed and reported. The results of the research project confirmed the findings of the Models for Excellence (ASTD, 1983) study, and expanded the number of training and development practitioner roles to include four international roles not previously identified. These new roles were: (1) Cultural Interface Analyst; (2) Organization Developer; (3) Government Relations Facilitator; (4) Technology Transfer Facilitator.