In general, academic researchers work within disciplines, fields, and specific research communities, and their knowledge is published and presented in relevant academic and professional journals, conferences, and forums that are typically associated with those specific academic disciplines, fields, and research communities. Those disciplines, fields, and communities are neither watertight silos nor static. Instead they continually evolve, adapt, and interface with other scholarly communities and stakeholders (including funders) in ways that influence their trajectories and impact their boundaries (Traxler, 2018).
There are some researchers or projects that might position themselves as
‘interdisciplinary’ or ‘trans-disciplinary’ because they draw from multiple areas of literature. But even then, the fact remains that research essentially remains compartmentalised, albeit with more permeable boundaries.
This project sits at the intersection of several areas of research literature.
Some are directly related to my focus of research and others are related more indirectly, although they are all relevant to the overall goal of improving
knowledge, skills, and attitudes of staff in a corporate environment. The research subjects that are directly related to my research are:
a) E-learning in the corporate sector
b) Mobile learning in the corporate sector
c) Influence of context on technology integration in the corporate sector
These three areas are taken strictly within the environment of the corporate sector. The last domain, the ‘influence of context on technology integration in the corporate sector’ assumes importance and relevance because technology is being increasingly and pervasively used in corporate organisations to enhance learning in all aspects of its function – identifying training needs, designing and developing learning programs, deploying them, and finally, monitoring and evaluating the training effort (ATD, 2018).
Given below is a brief explanation of each of the three research areas.
Figure 2.1 Diagrammatic representation of the research areas focussed on
2.1.1.1 Area of Literature 1: E-learning in corporate sector
The phrase, ‘e-learning in the corporate sector’ is a generic one commonly used to denote the application of e-learning strategies, processes, tools and technologies, and practices in a corporate organisation with the objective of enhancing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of their staff. The terminal objective of any training in a corporate organisation is to improve staff
productivity and achieve organisational goals. From this domain of research, I wished to study the e-learning strategies, processes, practices, and the
perceptions of the training managers and sales and service staff on its effectiveness in achieving the learning objectives. I also wished to compare this knowledge with that of mobile learning.
2.1.1.2 Area of Literature 2: Mobile learning in corporate sector
The term ‘mobile learning’ in the corporate sector denotes the usage of mobile devices to deploy e-learning and digital learning content, offering learners the convenience of truly anywhere and anytime learning. In this research domain too, I wished to study mobile learning and its practices and perceptions. As it is a relatively recent practice in organisations, I hoped to fill important gaps in the existing literature.
2.1.1.3 Area of Literature 3: Influence of context on technology integration in corporate sector
This phrase has been coined to denote the phenomenon of how the context and situation in which technology is introduced influence its integration into the company’s existing technology infrastructure, processes, and practices, including the perceptions of training managers and sales and service staff.
I wished to study how and to what extent context enables or restrains the integration of learning technology into the training function. In my project, this domain of research assumes relevance as it impacts the adoption of mobile learning and influences the perception of its training managers and sales and service staff.
My research objectives lie well within these three research areas, and my project in this dissertation will aim to contribute to these areas of literature.
The objectives of my research are to discover the perceptions of training managers and sales and service staff regarding:
a) The effectiveness of mobile learning in corporate training settings
b) The relationship between mobile learning and wider e-learning practices
c) The reasons for adopting mobile learning
d) The benefits and limitations of mobile learning approaches when used with different members of sales and service staff, in particular, the 'millennials'
I believe that my research will uncover and examine the perceptions of the training managers and sales and service staff on the effectiveness of mobile learning, its relationship with e-learning, and the reasons for its adoption in business organisations.
I acknowledge that my project could have drawn on other relevant areas of literature that are closely related to mobile and e-learning, such as corporate training and development at a generic level, or micro-learning and just-in-time performance support at a very specific level. I had consciously chosen not to draw upon these research areas when formulating this project because I felt that these areas, if included in my research, would dilute the focus of my research objectives and my research findings would be too broad to be of substantial value. On the other hand, I firmly believe that the three areas of literature I am going to draw upon will constitute an adequate basis for making a doctoral-level contribution to the academic literature.