Impact and Results of Cuts in Training and Development Budgets on Small Local Business

Presenter Information

Emily Haag, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU Ballroom

Start Date

9-4-2012 1:00 PM

End Date

9-4-2012 2:30 PM

Student's Major

Management

Student's College

Business

Mentor's Name

Queen Booker

Mentor's Department

Management

Mentor's College

Business

Description

This study investigates how southern Minnesota area businesses managed training costs between 2006-2010. The study examined the how a reduction in spending for training and development was related to company profitability during that same period. The significance of the research was to determine if prior research results are still valid in general, and more importantly, the results can help inform small business owners of probable unforeseen negative impacts of training and development loss. The results show that companies that increased or maintained their spending on training between 2006 and 2010 had higher profitability overall as compared to companies that cut or did not invest in training. Using correlation analysis, the significant difference was .005 indicating that not only was there a difference but the difference was significant. In fact, companies that continued to invest at the same or higher levels had a net income after taxes of approximately $12,000. The research, however, was limited to companies that employed 100 or fewer people and were limited to the southern Minnesota area. The results are not generalizable to other areas.