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This project was undertaken in order to develop a Business Design Training Program for a major international management consulting firm. The concept map was constructed from 77 statements that described elements that needed to be included in the training. Ten participants sorted the statements and fourteen rated them for importance. The map revealed twelve clusters of training topics. Results show (see Figure 1) that the most important skills needed are in the areas of performance analysis, process improvement, interviewing and facilitation. Secondary skills that are also important are an understanding of the methodology, the ability to partner with clients, process interfaces, and the ability to develop business solutions.

Figure 1. Concept map for Business Design Training Program showing importance of each cluster topic.

After the beta version of the training was developed, it was pilot tested on a small group of participants who subsequently rated how much opportunity they had to address each training element and how much they felt they achieved on each. The pattern match of the two participant ratings (opportunity - achievement) was extremely high at .94, suggesting that participants achieve when given the opportunity. The pattern matches of each of these to importance were somewhat lower (importance and opportunity = .61; importance and achievement = .71, see Figure 2). Even so, these pattern matches suggest that, on the whole, participants in this initial pilot study achieved most in those topics deemed most important. The pattern match suggests that there is still room for some improvement in the training program. Perhaps most notable is that participants did not achieve as much in interviewing skills as intended. Performance analysis could also be improved slightly. Results also suggest that there may be slightly more emphasis on facilitation in the training than is need to achieve expectations.

Figure 2. Pattern match of importance and achievement for Business Design Training Program.