Action learning is often used as an element of leadership development programmes. The intention is to support classroom learning with an experiential thread which runs throughout the life of the programme. Action Learning Associates (ALA) has been working with an international organisation for three years to deliver the global "First Line…

Replacement planning is a process of identifying short-term or long-term backups so that organizations have people who can assume responsibility for critical positions during emergencies. Individuals identified as "replacements" are not promised promotions; rather, they are prepared to the point where they can assume a critical position long…

Many leadership development programs are intended to improve individual leaders' skills and abilities to perform. Methods for measuring the effect of such programs range from simple metacognitive self-report surveys to 360-degree feedback, to instrumentation of psychological phenomena. However, the outcomes of some leadership development programs…

Drawing on their experience in a Midwest healthcare system, the authors propose a model of leadership development through action learning that embraces "concentric collaboration" at its core. The present study suggests that the process of concentric collaboration can serve to strengthen the skills of the individual leader as well as…

Action learning encourages individual reflection, insightful questioning and assumption breaking that result in changes in attitude and behaviour. This learning process provides the potential to explore and solve complex organizational problems such as the question of how to develop a future business strategy. Existing literature on the process of…

This study explored the involvement of 15 training and development (T & D) professionals during mergers and acquisitions (M & A). The study found that T & D professionals are highly involved in orientation and management training and organization development related activities such as communication and diagnosis and blending of organizational…

A learning organization is viable when the learning climate successfully changes managers' mindsets. A case study of a financial services enterprise illustrates ways to keep mind sets from hardening and shows how changing learning activities and tools can change habits of thinking and learning. (Contains 30 references.) (SK)

Middle managers in high-tech companies (n=163) characterized their work environment with the terms complexity, ambiguity, and lack of control. A postmodern mechanism for organizational and managerial development involved creation of complexity maps, a diagnostic tool for identifying concerns and areas for personal growth and development. (SK)

The trainer or internal change agent in a firm undergoing an organizational development program may be instrumental in designing the implementation of a change strategy. Proposes a situational change typology which may be of use as a training instrument. (Author)

Academic leaders face particular challenges when they assume formal leadership roles in higher education. For the most part, they have had little prior engagement with the political, economic and strategic context of their institution and limited leadership networks on which to draw. The University of Western Australia has trialled a number of…

This examination of the organizational development model of change as it applies to management development within a complex organization of higher education includes some practical results from applying this model and insights into how to manage a public or private organization. (MBR)

An account of structural evolutions to the present, with suggestions for viable approaches in the future. (Editor)

A force field model application for improved effectiveness." (Editor)

Interviews with managers caught between traditional organizational culture and a shift to "learning organizations" show that individual development is important to organizational change; efforts to change managers to fit a culture defined by top management may not succeed if the vision is not shared; and spiritual and moral dimensions of…

This book offers a set of stories in which corporate executives demonstrate the folly and futility of their own business practices. In the stories, 12 executives are trying to escape from a hell of their own making. The tales provide insights into the management woes with which people at all levels deal on a daily basis. Topics include: the…