Objectives
1. Understanding of the Lifelong Learning strategies in 50–60 successful enterprises,
across 15 EU countries and 4 EU competitors, and across 5–6 industries. Understanding will be sought through detailed interviews of the top management of these enterprises and financial and strategic background analyses of the enterprises, supported by a Complex Problem Solving skill assessment of 50 employees in each of the enterprises. In five of these enterprises we will initialize long-term longitudinal observations.
The core outcome of Obj 1 will be a value creation model of the enterprise, where the various links between LLL activities and enterprise competitive advantage are highlighted and evidenced. The links will vary by those industry, country and enterprise contexts which we investigate.
Objective 1 is the focus of WP 4, more …
2. Understanding of the Lifelong Learning policies in 15 public policy trails,
which created the LLL institutions that were used by the above enterprises. This will be achieved through interviews with public policy officials and a documentary analysis of public policies, supported by a Complex Problem Solving direct skill assessment of 20 entrepreneurs in each of these 15 public policy environments. By starting out from successful enterprises in objective 1, the research follows a good-practice approach to derive conclusions for future policies and strategies.
The core outcome of Obj 2 will be an investment efficiency and effectiveness framework model which public policy officials can employ to trace LLL investments to effects on final beneficiaries and from there to social, enterprise and individual rates of return of learners.
Objective 2 is the focus of WP 5, more …
3. Understanding the relationship between Lifelong Learning and innovation in companies,
via the link of employee-driven innovation and entrepreneurship. This will be done by an in-depth investigation of 25 companies in one particularly successful European industry – consumer foods – which is experiencing high rates of innovativeness and facing strong global competitive pressure.
The core outcome of Obj 3 will be a decision tree analysis model which can be used by policy makers, business strategists and individuals to decide who will preferably undertake or promote an LLL investment and to which degree, by accounting for the networkedness of innovation returns.
Objective 3 is the focus of WP 6, more …
4. Understanding the skill of Complex Problem Solving (CPS),
whereby we suspect CPS to be a good recorder of LLL activities by individuals, and at the same time to be a foundational skill for the acquisition of non-routine, job specific skills of high value. We will test a total of 4150 individuals including 500 individuals in five enterprises in two longitudinal observations, 300 entrepreneurs in the above policy trails, and 600 in a cross reference study to the OECD PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) survey to establish for the first time ever a crossnational, cross-industrial reference set of CPS scores.
The core outcome of Obj 4 will be a measurement device for CPS skills. It can tell the user about CPS competence, a skill which is trainable, and which is a foundation skill to acquiring complex job-specific skills – and thus is the ticket to high employability.
Objective 4 is the focus of WP 7, more …
5. Understanding the sources of skills
using background questionnaires of our own Complex Problem Solving test and the OECD PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) survey, and drawing on data from EU databases LFS (Labour Force Survey, 3rd wave)/ SES (Structure of Earnings Survey, 3rd wave), CVTS (Continuing Vocational Training Survey, 4th wave) and AES (Adult Education Survey, 2nd wave), recording public, business and individual LLL investments respectively. We will establish cross-nationally valid learning mechanisms by which skills were attained or maintained with adult LLL investments.
The core outcome of Obj 5 wil be a toolbox for designing LLL circumstances and learning biographies, with which the learning biographies can be charted which snake their way through instances of learning and predict how much and what kind of skills this person is likely to achieve.
Objective 5 is the focus of WP 8, more …
6. Understanding the outcomes of skills
by tracing the level of skills as measured by our own Complex Problem Solving test and the OECD PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) survey (and supported by analyses from objectives 1 and 2). Skills will be traced to socioeconomic outcomes of growth as measured by income, to competitiveness as measured by employment, and to social equality as measured by inclusiveness of employment opportunities.
The core outcome of Obj 6 will be improved versions of investment return methods on LLL investment: an improved neo-classical production function, better predictions of private rates of return on LLL investment, and better predictions of social rates of return on LLL investment.
Objective 6 is the focus of WP 9, more …