The purpose of this study was to assess the perception held by managers of feedand farm supply stores in Texas regarding the contribution of employee training to thecompetitiveness of the firm, determine if managers of feed and farm supply storesperceive that employee training can improve their competitive strength, and to determineif they will invest in employee training in order to gain a competitive advantage.The objectives of this study include: describe the operating environment of feedand farm supply stores in Texas; describe feed and farm supply store managers?perception of employee training?s contribution to their firm?s competitive advantage;identify barriers to employee training in feed and farm supply stores; determine Internetavailability and potential use for employee training in feed and farm supply stores; anddescribe the willingness of feed and farm supply store managers to engage in employeetraining delivered via the Internet. This study employed a descriptive and correlational research design. A selfadministeredquestionnaire was used to collect data from a sample frame of 305 feed andfarm supply stores randomly selected from 1,487 stores in Texas.These stores operate in a demanding, competitive environment that is changing ata rapid pace. They perceive that employee training improves customer satisfaction,contributes to business growth, improves productivity, and increases profits. The skillsneeded by their employees are increasing and they need training in sales, communicationskills, technical knowledge, time management, retail merchandising, marketing, andbusiness management to help the business stay competitive.Barriers to training include not being able to see immediate results, cost,difficulties created when key employees are not on the job, travel distances to attendtraining, and a lack of training programs relevant to their needs.Over 80 percent of these stores have both computers and Internet access.Managers will allow employees to use these resources for training purposes, encourageparticipation in online training, and allow their employees to participate in trainingduring business hours.It is recommended that Internet based training programs be developed in sales,communication skills, technical knowledge, time management, retail merchandising, andbusiness management for these small agribusinesses.
