Human competence is a vital element for any organization that expects to survive and then thrive. Developing individual performance ability is necessary but not sufficient because trained people alone will not make an organization successful. We must determine what people should deliver and why it should be delivered in order to add measurable…

Purpose: This paper aims to: extend the concept of "The learning organization" to "The learning community," especially disadvantaged communities; demonstrate how leaders in a migrant community can achieve positive change at the personal, professional, team and community learning levels through participatory action learning and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine organizational practice to investigate what insights could be gained to support and extend existing theory. Design/methodology/approach: Adopts a clinical approach, e.g. not a priori or an academic one where data are mangled to fit a theoretical stance. Findings: Data analysis reveals four…

Professional development in family-centred services was given to professionals supporting children with disabilities and their families with the purpose to influence ways to perform working tasks. Is it possible to change ways of working through in-service training? In order to find answers to that question perceptions of in-service training at…

Discusses changes in organizational training systems in light of new ideas about organizational development and learning. Topics include the difference between training and learning, old assumptions about the functions of training, how training can be detrimental to organizational development, how to initiate change, and expanding training…

Instead of training staff to deal with problems, organizations need to recognize the problems and change to solve them. Training departments are changing to include organizational development to facilitate teams, design work processes, and get out where the real work happens. (JOW)

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…

Addresses the question of training transfer; i.e., transferring knowledge gained in training courses back into work situations. States that training staff should systematically analyze course content and identify recipients of proposed changes in order to help course members apply new knowledge. Lists four main practical implications to help…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure the effectiveness and practical utility of an organizational learning intervention for an organization that was not progressive, was not specifically chartered as a learning organization, and was situated in an urban, culturally diverse, and under-privileged community. Design/methodology/approach:…

Presents an exercise to facilitate employee understanding and implementation of planned organizational change, along with techniques to introduce the concept of change into organization development workshops or supervisory training efforts. Describes barriers that stimulate resistance to change and ways to promote acceptance of organizational…

Describes research into the way graduates are inducted into an organization. Investigates, in particular, the extent to which organizations encourage innovation among their future managers. Contends that, while there is much talk about fostering innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, the approaches used tend to be counter-productive. Puts…

This case study explores the use of survey feedback--an organizational development technique--in an educational field setting. A version of survey feedback was used with an alternative high school to assist the staff in defining problems and in developing and implementing change strategies. Based on a perspective that focuses attention on the…

In project training methods for managers, the training project is crucial, but it is merely a means to an end, the key element being the learning arenas for management processes. A British consultant describes these processes as consultancy, organizational change, and interpersonal. (MF)

This report describes a 2-year effort begun in fall, 1988, to improve the child care provided at the Child Health and Development Institute, located in an unidentified Middle Eastern country. The report begins by stating eight guidelines that governed the project. Discussion then turns to the three phases of the project: (1) identifying and…

Organizational development is explored through this discussion of a series of projects initiated by researchers at the University of Oregon to provide consultation and training to a school district in the Northwest. The primary focus was the improvement of problem-solving skills in the district and the development of a heightened capacity for…