Learning Theory in the Practice of Management Development: Evolution and Applications

by Sara Grant, Aharon Kfir, Stephen A. Stumpf

The workplace is the ideal environment for tying together management theory and practice and yet, classes in many regular management development programs are conducted away from the work site, and class sizes are so large that individual instruction is difficult to achieve. In this book, the authors seek effective ways to merge theory with workplace practice, and advocate the modular preceptor method whereby participants work together in dyads and triads with a preceptor acting as advisor and instructor. Unlike traditional management development programs which do not usually lead to behavior changes, the modular preceptor model has behavior change as the basic aim. Participants can remain at work while experiencing individualized learning, developing problem solving skills, and acquiring new knowledge which can be immediately applied to work situations.

Various ways of learning, such as passive (lecture, case study, discussion) and experiential (role playing, games, sensitivity training) are examined. No single mode of learning can be comprehensive and adequate for all situations. The authors contend, however, that experiential learning is most effective for increasing the will and competence to learn and for using what is learned to change manager behavior. The purpose of the modular preceptor approach is not to present answers to specific managerial or organizational problems, but to help the participant acquire new problem definition and problem solving skills, and the confidence to apply them on the job. This book also analyzes the contribution of the behavioral sciences to the philosophies and techniques behind management instruction, and examines the role of the university in management development and the future direction of MBA programs. For anyone concerned with meaningful and effective management development, this book is an invaluable resource.

184 pages, Hardcover

First published May 21, 1998

About the author

Sara writes and edits fiction for children and teens. Her new series Chasing Danger is an action-adventure series for tweens. Dark Parties, her first young adult novel, won the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Crystal Kite Award for Europe. As a freelance editor of series fiction, she has worked on twelve different series and edited nearly 100 books. She has given writing workshops in the US, UK and Europe as part of Book Bound (www.bookboundretreat.com) and teaches a master’s class on writing for children/teens at Goldsmiths University. She co-founded Undiscovered Voices – which has launched the writing careers of thirty-two authors, who now have written more than 120 children’s books. (www.undiscoveredvoices.com) She is also a member of The Edge, eight UK-based authors working together writing a blog and running events across the country. (edgeauthors.blogspot.co.uk)