When deciding on an instructional setting, organizations should consider several factors, including control/standardization, fidelity, costs, social capital, and reward value. Control and standardization often work together when it comes to designing and delivering training.

First, control involves how much influence an organization has over the content and process of training. Generally, organizations have the most control over training design and delivery when it is provided on-site. Not only do off-site settings normally lack this control over design, but there is no guarantee about the delivery. Having control facilitates standardization (i.e., different groups of trainees experience the same training).

Fidelity is the degree to which the environment for training mirrors the environment where the trainees will use what they learned. Higher levels of fidelity are generally better, but not always possible. Fidelity increases the effectiveness of training through two different mechanisms. First, it increases employee motivation and aligns with andragogy (i.e., adult learning theory). Second, fidelity promotes the transferability of training. In general, the more realistic the setting, the more likely trainees will be able to utilize what they have learned after completing the training.

When providing training, another consideration is how much it costs to provide and the level of investment it represents. This is one reason that organizations provide low-fidelity training even if it is less effective than high-fidelity training. When discussing the direct costs of training, it is useful to separate fixed costs from variable costs. Variable costs increase with the number of people being trained.

Fixed costs present a larger concern when the training is developed and/or delivered on-site. If an organization develops its own training program, then it must pay for that development regardless of whether it ever delivers that training.