This paper argues, based on academic research as well as personal experience, that management development (MD) functions are not always utilising their resources, either in terms of people or time, effectively. They are perceived to spend large amounts of their time on “administrative” or...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the interconnections between management development and change management within the context of an industry case study. To develop strategies for how management development practices might better support the management of change....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to clarify why and how leadership development programs should be used to foster post‐conventional consciousness in their participants. Design/methodology/approach – Starting from the observation that current and future organizational challenges may be...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report and reflect on a decade‐long action experiment to devise a form of business education for sustainability that helps managers act as “pro‐sustainability” agents of change. It offers one example of practice in this evolving field, for...

In a three‐year study of a firm undergoing major technical changes, the factors related to successful implementation of a JIT programme were determined. These factors could all be categorised as human relations or organisational behaviour issues and included: (1) communication skills, (2)...

Raises the issue of metaphorical thinking in organization theory and management development and in doing so warns of the dangers of framing our thinking through metaphor. Raises the notion of the learning organization in such a context and discusses some challenges and implications for...

Despite an apparent increase in investment and commitment over the last ten years, more recent studies now give grounds for reservations about overall ability of management development to meet the challenges of radical change and fulfil its strategic potential. Argues that the constraints...

This article reports the results of a study on management development practices in US service and manufacturing organizations. Data and statistical analyses from a sample of 433 middle and front‐line managers from 59 different US service and manufacturing organizations are reported which...

Management development programs are often regarded as essential for the preparation of managers who are presumed to be responsible for the future success of their organizations. At other times, such programs have been criticized as being irrelevant to the actual practice of management. This...

Purpose – This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework that can be used in studying the changing nature of management control in organizations. It is based on four components of the management control system, namely: organizational structure and strategy; corporate culture; management...