Experiential Management Development

Experiential Management Development

In this unique work, Hoberman and Mailick analyze the effectiveness of different educational approaches in management development for the transfer of learning to the workplace, placing particular emphasis on the crucial importance of experiential education. In the course of the presentation, they introduce a number of new analytic and integrative concepts including life-bank, synthetic, and natural experiential education. They also provide examples from the literature and the work experience of the authors in teaching and management. Research relating to management development is among the topics discussed, which also include consideration of environmental influences and an analysis of the relevance of educational and use venues for the transfer of learning. Beginning with the concept of management development, the discussion articulates the role of the manager in management development, the application of learning theory to management development and then details the concept of experiential learning and the authors' LIFE (Learning Inducted From Experience) approach to learning. The authors conclude their study with a statement on the importance of experiential education to the practical development of management expertise. This work will be of interest to those practitioners and scholars involved in management training, human resource development, and management education.

Experiential Learning in Management Development

Learning Theory in the Practice of Management Development

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.