Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how a medium sized business has addressed what it has termed a "push-pull" method of management and organization development, based around an action learning approach. Design/methodology/approach: The paper sets out a methodology that other SMEs might look to replicate in their management and…

Discusses the development of information technology (IT) in teachers' professional work and its development within organizations based on examples in the United Kingdom. Highlights include Project INTENT, to improve IT in teacher education; dimensions of professional development; personalized strategies for staff development; individual and group…

Striving to be learning organization, Imperial Oil of Canada focused on organizational, divisional, and individual capability development. Lessons learned include the following: (1) all levels of employees are potential professionals; (2) learning must be continuous; (3) intrinsic motivation and commitment are essential; and (4) organizational…

Each interpretation of staff development is derived from a particular theory of organizations and a particular understanding of educational and personal psychology. This paper outlines several organizational theories on which staff development might be based. Staff development is considered as being concerned with all those needs of the individual…

Effective organizational learning must build on individual learning. Continuous work-centered learning is a sequential process of interaction, implementation, integration, and iteration. A learning organization should aim to improve individual capacity to recognize and use learning opportunities. (SK)

Describes and compares the foci, methods, and outcomes of experiential-education and organizational-development models. Explores the synthesis of the two models in developing corporate adventure programs and services. Lists the contributions that each approach offers to corporate programs. (KS)

Even the best employees tend to reach plateaus and need consistent direction for their continued achievement. To be truly effective, job related training should include recognizable components which people feel will result in improvement of themselves as individuals. (EM)

In a recent experience in the Manitoba provincial government, an active, varied, and largely homegrown system-wide "open systems" approach for the design and delivery of staff development and training became operational in only 18 months. The development and implementation of the strategy and some significant results are recounted.…

A process of decision making and professional growth is described as a tool for refocusing on individual growth for professional development and redefining the relationship between professional development and organizational outcomes. Refocusing on individual professional growth is an intervention aimed at reconceptualizing the linking…

Portfolios are increasingly being used to demonstrate competence and to show development needs among employees in organizations. This book explains what a portfolio is and how it links with the current training revolution taking place through the introduction of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) in Great Britain. It shows how portfolios…

Current methods of introducing creativity techniques in industrial training courses can be modified to increase the amount of personalized learning, according to the authors. They offer a framework for a new approach to creativity training in short courses and workshops, with both in-house and business school examples. (MF)

An internal evaluative feedback system used at a large multi-campus community college for presidential assessment is described. The purpose of the system is to provide for administrative development of the president; it does not involve presidential retention or dismissal. All those reporting directly to the president, including campus provosts,…

Effective corporate adventure training programs: (1) develop parallel structures between the adventure experience and the workplace (context); (2) consider how the learning will address a company's future needs (continuity); (3) provide learners with valid information and feedback on their actions (consequences); and (4) create physically and…

Definitions, purposes, and goals are enumerated to provide a planning framework for the creation of a staff development plan at Metro Tech Community College (MTCC). After introductory material outlines the planning process for staff development and the steps in an informal assessment of staff development needs, an operational definition is…

Faculty development programs in colleges and universities must be faulted for not having adequate theory, employing comprehensive approaches, or showing a deep intention. An adequate theory of faculty development will involve a sophisticated understanding of the process of professionalization and an integrating theory of human development.…