Abstract

Multinational corporations have followed the strong global trend of adopting e-Learning systems to facilitate their organizational learning. In Australia, corporations have been quick to embrace this technology in order to provide ubiquitous training programs in the workplace. Whilst much research has been undertaken in the area of e-Learning in higher education, there is a general dearth of studies relating to e-Learning in the workplace across both Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Given the fact that there are fundamental differences in the assumptions underlying e-Learning in the workplace and in higher education, this embodies an area of interest. The current study presents findings of two case studies in Australia seeking to identify and understand factors of an e-Learning system, specifically those influencing the overall satisfaction of adult learners in the workplace. A number of existing theoretical models in the fields of systems and organizational behavior were studied which both explained and predicted individuals’ attitudes and acceptance of information systems. However, it soon became evident that major limitations exist in the validity of these models in their original form when applied to e-Learning in today’s general workplace environments, and in particular, in the Australian environment. Based on the findings from the case studies the authors propose an improved conceptual framework for defining the relationships between perceived adult learner satisfaction and e-Learning environmental characteristics.