Organizational Learning: Keeping Pace with Change through Action Learning

In the current climate of economic ‘austerity’, organisational learning has increasingly gained importance, and a need for new ways of transferring learning has been identified. Organisational learning is seen as key to organisational success, ensuring both competitive advantage and organisational longevity. However, in order for organisations to keep pace with change they must not only strive to learn but also pay attention to how they might learn. A dominant view within the field of organisational learning is that employees are the most productive source for learning. For the most part, learning largely takes place through training, management and leadership development programmes, or on the job, where the goal is to convert tacit knowledge into explicit and practical forms of knowledge that can inform and transform organisational processes and practices. A limitation of these forms of learning is that they rely on a didactic approach to teaching and learning. This paper discusses the value of action learning as a tool for a more effective way of knowledge transfer, and as a way in which organisations can facilitate and utilise learning in new and more effective ways. The paper draws on qualitative research carried out with middle and senior managers, from a variety of sectors, who have recently completed educational programmes that utilised action learning. The paper highlights how through this learning approach, the managers uncovered explicit knowledge, and developed the skills and ability to challenge organisational mores. The paper also reports on the challenges and solutions they found in diffusing their new explicit knowledge in their respective workplaces. Through these findings the paper argues that action learning offers a productive approach to facilitate and support both organisational learning and organisational change. This paper discusses the value of action learning in facilitating and supporting both organisational learning and organisational change

How Learning Happens: Action learning in an academic context

The session is designed to give a very brief overview of action learning in an academic context. The emphasis is placed on doing action learning….

Effective Action Learning Sets: An analysis of participant experiences

This thesis examines an under researched area in the field of action learning: how learning set participants experience action learning and the effectiveness of action learning sets. Through the adoption of a qualitative research approach, which utilised unstructured interviews with learning set members and employed a grounded theory approach to analysis, the thesis thus provides a unique insight into action learning practices and group processes, the latter significantly adding to knowledge in the field of organisational behavior. The research presented, which traces the connections between the research process, methodology and the ongoing development of analysis, also adds to existing knowledge in organisational research methods. Within the thesis, a number of significant issues concerning group processes within action learning sets are discussed. Through analysis of the data it is shown that differing hierarchies exist amongst set members and that these affect the contribution that individual members make to the operations in the set. Furthermore, trust is shown to be vital to the effective working of the set, with members needing to feel psychologically and politically safe before they will self disclose. Finally, member’s self disclosure is revealed to be located on a continuum ranging from comfort to discomfort, with a possibility that some set members may actively engage in dissimulation as a way of reducing cognitive dissonance in self disclosure. Analysis within the thesis also provides a unique insight into action learning practices. A discussion of the findings reveals several significant issues in relation to both set members and facilitators. These include the effect of the location of the set, member’s expectations of the facilitator’s role and the extent to which these expectations accord with the facilitator’s style of facilitation. Analysis of this latter point directly adds to the body of literature concerning the skills of facilitators in action learning sets

Universality of Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is increasingly being tested, and proven to be a viable tool for managing multi-cultural organizations. Existing empirical and conceptual studies on servant leadership suggest that this leadership construct is practicable. While a lot of studies seem to have investigated its effect on individuals’ and organizations’ outcomes, none has moved the motion that servant leadership might have universal connotations. This conceptual paper explores the underpinning framework of the universality dimension of servant leadership, and why viewing the construct as such, is necessary now and in the near future. By critically examining past and present literature on servant leadership, the paper offers robust and useful insights needed to stimulate the universality debate of servant leadership. The implications of the paper for early career researchers were also discusse

Psychological climates in action learning sets: A manager’s perspective

Action Learning (AL) is often viewed as a process that facilitates professional learning through the creation of a positive psychological climate (Marquart, 2000; Schein, 1979). An psychological climate that fosters an environment in which learning set members feel psychologically safe enough to reflect upon both the successes, and failures in their professional life without any form of repercussion. However, there has been little attention given to the ways that that psychological climate develops, and the differing facets that create that climate. In response to such deficit, this paper reports the outcomes of interviews with eleven managers, all of whom are former AL set members on their experiences of action learning set membership. Drawing upon an interpretivist philosophy, the paper explores the key themes that emerged from the analysis of those interviews. The analysis serves to illustrate the differing facets that collectively contribute creation of a positive psychological climate that is conducive for learning. Analysis points to the relative importance of such facets as: trust, honesty, vulnerability, reciprocity, confidentiality and personal disclosure, all of which have the capacity to lead to a positive psychological climate in action learning sets. This paper is useful for developing an understanding of the differing facets in AL sets that create a psychological climate conducive for learning. As such, it has utility for action learning facilitators, set members, academics and educational consultants

Action Learning: Understanding interpersonal relationships within learning sets

Purpose - This paper responds to calls for research into the use of action learning in management education (Hay, 2011). It reports on student experiences of action learning in a final year module for part time Master of Business Administration students. It focuses specifically on the development of an understanding of the interpersonal relationships that existed within those action learning sets; both positive and negative. The paper then discusses the subsequent impact those dynamics may have on the effectiveness of the action learning process. Design/methodology/approach – An interpretivist philosophy underpins the research framework adopted in this paper. Data was captured by means of semi-structured questionnaires distributed at both the beginning and end of the module. The data was thematically analysed using open coding. Findings – The paper used two contrasting views of the interpersonal relationships in action learning sets: Revans’ (1982) ‘comrades in adversity’ and Vince’s (2004) ‘adversaries in commonality’ as a framework for discussion. It found that various interpersonal dynamics existed within the sets, which in this case, had the ability to influence individual satisfaction and the overall effectiveness of the set. Originality/value - The findings provide insights, via participant voice, into aspects of interpersonal relationships within action learning sets. In particular, the politics and emotions that occur within the learning sets, whilst considering the subsequent impact on both participant satisfaction and the effectiveness of action learning sets

Enculturation & Acculturation: An Exploration of International Student Experiences in Western Learning Cultures through Individual Case Study Research

This small scale exploratory study examined the Post Graduate International student experience in a UK Higher Education Institution. The study was conducted by interviewing students and asking them about the initial experience on arrival in the UK, what there experience was like in the early weeks of the FTMBA programme, the issues they faced and the participants to the study were asked what factors supported the transitions made. Five students took part in the study using a semi structured interview process. The country of origin of the participants were India, Jordon and Australia. Generally, participants to the study, experienced some degree of acculturative stress in making the transition required to the UK way of learning. Participants, where English was not their first language, did appear to experience a greater level of acculturative stress. In order to prepare these students to be graduates of the 21st Century a range of employability measures were suggested by the participants such as work placements, internships, paid or unpaid and the opportunity to develop good UK work ethic

It's all a question of balance

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) differs from other management degrees by providing a broad perspective on knowledge, skills and competencies rather than a narrow focus on specialist areas. This is doubtless one of the principal reasons why its appeal among public servants has grown so significantly in recent years. At the same time, however, the MBA has faced criticism for having limited relevance to actual management practice. Even an article published by Harvard Business School, which is widely credited with having invented the qualification, has questioned whether there is nowadays too firm a fixation on scientific research and warned that business schools risk "institutionalising their own irrelevance"

Effective Action Learning Sets: An analysis of participant experiences

This thesis examines an under researched area in the field of action learning: how learning set participants experience action learning and the effectiveness of action learning sets. Through the adoption of a qualitative research approach, which utilised unstructured interviews with learning set members and employed a grounded theory approach to analysis, the thesis thus provides a unique insight into action learning practices and group processes, the latter significantly adding to knowledge in the field of organisational behavior. The research presented, which traces the connections between the research process, methodology and the ongoing development of analysis, also adds to existing knowledge in organisational research methods. Within the thesis, a number of significant issues concerning group processes within action learning sets are discussed. Through analysis of the data it is shown that differing hierarchies exist amongst set members and that these affect the contribution that individual members make to the operations in the set. Furthermore, trust is shown to be vital to the effective working of the set, with members needing to feel psychologically and politically safe before they will self disclose. Finally, member?s self disclosure is revealed to be located on a continuum ranging from comfort to discomfort, with a possibility that some set members may actively engage in dissimulation as a way of reducing cognitive dissonance in self disclosure. Analysis within the thesis also provides a unique insight into action learning practices. A discussion of the findings reveals several significant issues in relation to both set members and facilitators. These include the effect of the location of the set, member?s expectations of the facilitator?s role and the extent to which these expectations accord with the facilitator?s style of facilitation. Analysis of this latter point directly adds to the body of literature concerning the skills of facilitators in action learning sets.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo