The Relationship between Self-Confidence, Self-Efficacy, Grit, Usefulness, and Ease of Use of eLearning Platforms in Corporate Training during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This exploratory study contributes to the understanding of self-confidence as a predictor of self-efficacy, ease of use, and usefulness of eLearning platforms in corporate training. The present research explored the relationship among the employees' beliefs regarding self-confidence, grit, ease of use, self-efficacy, and usefulness of eLearning platforms in their workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 307 responses from Romanian employees who used eLearning platforms in corporate training (females = 60.3%, males = 39.7%, age range of less than 24 years (12.1%) to over 55 years (6.2%)) were exploited for research. Data were analyzed through a path analysis model. Results indicate that grit (i.e., consistency of interest), self-efficacy, and perceived ease of use of eLearning platforms were considerably directly influenced by the self-confidence variable. Usefulness was directly influenced by the ease of use and was indirectly influenced by self-confidence. Mediation analysis indicated that full mediation occurs only through the ease of use of eLearning platforms variable in the relationship between self-confidence and usefulness. A unit increase in self-confidence will increase the expected value of grit by 0.54 units (t = 8.39, p < 0.001), will indirectly increase the expected value of usefulness through ease of use by 0.15 units (t = 2.39, p = 0.017), and will increase the expected value of self-efficacy by 0.53 units (t = 6.26, p < 0.001). In addition, perceived ease of use of eLearning platforms in corporate training fully mediated the relationship of usefulness regressed on self-confidence (beta = 0.20, t = 2.51, p = 0.012). These novel results reveal the contributions of self-confidence, consistency of interest as a grit dimension, and ease of use of eLearning platforms in predicting lifelong learning solutions, which improve business outcomes. The related investigation and consequences were further considered.