Helen Bound

In an era of rapid technological, economic, and social change, organisations must constantly adapt to remain relevant. This book examines the growing importance of dynamic capabilities in enabling training providers to respond to uncertainty, reconfigure resources, and create sustainable value in increasingly complex and volatile environments. Focusing on the Training and Adult Education (TAE) sector, the book examines how organisations integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external resources to respond effectively to shifting demands. It conceptualises dynamic capabilities through a socio-cultural lens, emphasising the central role of people, leadership, and organisational culture in driving strategic change. Drawing on empirical research conducted with 18 training providers in Singapore, the book presents seven in-depth case studies that reveal how dynamic capabilities are enacted in practice. From these cases, seven key organisational resources are identified and analysed, showing how they are mobilised, combined, and transformed across different contexts, purposes, and time horizons. The book develops a practical framework that captures effective practices in capability development and includes a toolkit to support organisations in diagnosing their capability profiles, aligning resources with strategic goals, and fostering continuous innovation and learning. This book is particularly valuable for leaders, managers, policymakers, and researchers in education, training, and human resource development. It offers practical insights and tools for organisations seeking to strengthen strategic adaptability, enhance performance, and build sustainable capabilities in rapidly changing educational and workforce landscapes.

In an era of rapid technological, economic, and social change, organisations must constantly adapt to remain relevant. This book examines the growing importance of dynamic capabilities in enabling training providers to respond to uncertainty, reconfigure resources, and create sustainable value in increasingly complex and volatile environments. Focusing on the Training and Adult Education (TAE) sector, the book examines how organisations integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external resources to respond effectively to shifting demands. It conceptualises dynamic capabilities through a socio-cultural lens, emphasising the central role of people, leadership, and organisational culture in driving strategic change. Drawing on empirical research conducted with 18 training providers in Singapore, the book presents seven in-depth case studies that reveal how dynamic capabilities are enacted in practice. From these cases, seven key organisational resources are identified and analysed, showing how they are mobilised, combined, and transformed across different contexts, purposes, and time horizons. The book develops a practical framework that captures effective practices in capability development and includes a toolkit to support organisations in diagnosing their capability profiles, aligning resources with strategic goals, and fostering continuous innovation and learning. This book is particularly valuable for leaders, managers, policymakers, and researchers in education, training, and human resource development. It offers practical insights and tools for organisations seeking to strengthen strategic adaptability, enhance performance, and build sustainable capabilities in rapidly changing educational and workforce landscapes.

How Non-Permanent Workers Learn and Develop is an empirically based exploration of the challenges and opportunities non-permanent workers face in accessing quality work, learning, developing occupational identities and striving for sustainable working lives. Based on a study of 100 non-permanent workers in Singapore, it offers a model to guide thinking about workers’ learning and development in terms of an ‘integrated practice’ of craft, entrepreneurial and personal learning-to-learn skills. The book considers how strategies for continuing education and training can better fit with the realities of non-permanent work.Through its use of case studies, the book exams the significance of non-permanent work and its rise as a global phenomenon. It considers the reality of being a non-permanent worker and reactions to learning opportunities for these individuals. The book draws these aspects together to present a conceptual frame of ‘integrated practices’, challenging educational institutions and training providers to design and deliver learning and the enacted curriculum not as separate pieces of a puzzle, but as an integrated whole.With conclusions that have wider salience for public policy responses to the rise of non-permanent work, this book will be of great interest to academics and researchers in the fields of adult education, educational policy and lifelong learning.

How Non-Permanent Workers Learn and Develop is an empirically based exploration of the challenges and opportunities non-permanent workers face in accessing quality work, learning, developing occupational identities and striving for sustainable working lives. Based on a study of 100 non-permanent workers in Singapore, it offers a model to guide thinking about workers’ learning and development in terms of an ‘integrated practice’ of craft, entrepreneurial and personal learning-to-learn skills. The book considers how strategies for continuing education and training can better fit with the realities of non-permanent work.Through its use of case studies, the book exams the significance of non-permanent work and its rise as a global phenomenon. It considers the reality of being a non-permanent worker and reactions to learning opportunities for these individuals. The book draws these aspects together to present a conceptual frame of ‘integrated practices’, challenging educational institutions and training providers to design and deliver learning and the enacted curriculum not as separate pieces of a puzzle, but as an integrated whole.With conclusions that have wider salience for public policy responses to the rise of non-permanent work, this book will be of great interest to academics and researchers in the fields of adult education, educational policy and lifelong learning.