I am carrying out research into ROI and i am hoping that someone can offer some recommendations to what organisations (both public and private) have used ROI effectively with a focus on quanitifiable results as opposed to 'happy sheets.'

Well happy sheets certainly have little to do with measuring ROI (if anything at all). If the learning was indeed a necessary solution in the first place, then it surely was linked to specific performance which is linked to a specific business goal. The proof should be in the pudding (as they say).

go to www.learningpathconsultants.com or research the book "Learning Paths, Increase Profits by Reducing the Time it Takes Employees to Get Up-To-Speed". It is an ASTD co-published book.

Thanks for your help but i am looking more specifically for examples of actual organisations (i.e. Virgin, Nestle, etc) that have developed a methodology to track ROI in order to contact them directly and see what we can learn from them.

Good luck with that, Ian. Most companies can be very protective of their methods. I was trying to provide you with a generic version of what I've seen work within a few select companies who have managed to do this successfully.

In other words, the info I provided is a best practice. To realize any ROI, you have to link business goals to performance to learning. Companies that strive to do this are successful in that respect.