The evaluation of training is important because of the resources committed to training and the need for an effective performance by employees, but in practice, it is difficult to measure the return on training investment (ROI). Here, we follow the Kirkpatrick and Phillips model to measure the ROI from 327 training programs at the Portuguese national railway company in the calendar year 2016. Additionally, we use a fuzzy‐set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) on company records to determine the causal configurations that lead to higher values of ROI. In doing so, we add to the measurement literature but our major contribution is the use of fsQCA to provide a deeper analysis than hitherto of the factors associated with higher or lower ROI. The findings show the importance of complex causation for ROI and offer five alternative configurations of conditions that lead to higher ROI values. There are only three configurations of conditions that lead to lower ROI values. Further, the results show the importance of organizing training programs in small groups. Although the results cannot be generalized due to the use of national data in the study, the proposed method of analysis is generally applicable.

中文翻译：

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葡萄牙铁路公司培训计划的投资回报率：模糊集的定性比较分析

培训的评估很重要，因为投入培训的资源和员工需要有效的表现，但是在实践中，很难衡量培训投资的回报（ROI）。在这里，我们采用柯克帕特里克和菲利普斯模型来衡量2016日历年葡萄牙国家铁路公司327项培训计划的投资回报率。此外，我们在公司记录上使用模糊集定性比较分析（fsQCA）来确定因果关系配置可带来更高的ROI值。为此，我们增加了测量文献，但我们的主要贡献是使用fsQCA提供了迄今为止比以往更高或更低的ROI相关因素的更深入的分析。研究结果表明，复杂的因果关系对于ROI的重要性，并提供了导致高ROI值的五种替代条件配置。只有三种条件配置会导致较低的ROI值。此外，结果表明在小组中组织培训计划的重要性。尽管由于使用研究中的国家数据而无法将结果进行概括，但建议的分析方法通常适用。