bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Thoughts on Action Learning
Authors: SMITH DUNCAN
Published: February 2008

One of the gravest disabilities from which training suffers is that, of all the important fields of human activity, few have a smaller corpus of significant literature. Most of the millions of words which have gushed forth about training have been ephemeral, repetitious or pretentious. It is sad that after decades of bustle and effort Bruce Nixon should, in the September 1982 issue of ICT, have had to write in such simplistic terms about a LAST CHANCE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT. Though there are some sectors to which they do not apply, few will quarrel with his general charges. The packaged course, the remote academic, the fluttering fashions and the lowly, disregarded trainer should all have vanished long ago, but they are, it appears, still with us. The basic reason for this intellectual poverty is surely that trainers have concerned themselves with means rather than ends. With a few notable exceptions, such as the Phoenix series, the journals are filled with techniques and descriptions, and those aspects of analysis which are covered are apt to be so swathed in jargon as to be frighteningly obscure. Seen from the trainer's eye‐view this preoccupation with means may seem inevitable. As Nixon points out, the ends of training are concerned with the survival, the effectiveness and the financial viability of an enterprise. How can a trainer, way down the hierarchy, presume to deal with these high matters? Their proper consideration demands that the trainer should peer into the future and, if Jacques' theory of the time span is correct, he should be paid more than his Managing Director. His problem is that if he dons the mantle of a futurologist, he may not only be denied a rise, but also be told sharply to get back to training the foremen. There are ways of squaring this circle, but there seems no doubt that the low status of most trainers and the limited horizons that have been imposed upon them have been a prime cause of the intellectual deserts which cover much of the training world.
Interactive video
Authors: PARSLOE ERIC
Published: February 2008

Interactive video: is it all talk, or is somebody out there actually doing something? Having discussed theoretical and technical questions in this series in past months, I would now like to describe some practical applications. If you attended EPIC's Interactive Video Briefing in London in November, you heard about a number of pilot projects, here and in America — and saw three demonstrated. The theme of the briefing was ‘Practice Not Theory’, and the day included presentations, in graduated degrees of complexity, on three pilot projects currently under way in Britain. The Royal Military Police demonstrated the tape‐based Sony Responder; Smith Kline & French introduced their videodisc, produced by EPIC, for use on the Pioneer PR‐7820 disc player with micro‐processor onboard; and the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology (UWIST) unveiled a project undertaken for Texaco Overseas Tankship to produce an interface between the Pioneer disc player and an external Commodore PET micro‐computer. Let's just recap on these to begin.
The role of VSO in developing human resources Part 2
Authors: HARDIMENT TONY
Published: February 2008

The background to VSO and the ideas behind the way it has developed over the last 25 years were discussed in a previous article. I mentioned the double aim of volunteers passing on their skills, and doing so in a spirit of ‘volunteering’. In this second article I would like to look in more detail at the various ways in which this aim is achieved, and the conditions which may limit this and to describe the sort of training which is given to volunteers in the UK before they themselves become trainers overseas.
Taking one's own medicine
Authors: BERGER MEL
Published: February 2008

For 14 years now I have operated as an outside expert, telling other people how to run their businesses, even their lives. Increasingly, small doubts crept into my mind: how do you know?; are you a fraud? Eventually, these negative thoughts were reversed into a positive goal. “I will put my money where my mouth is”, I thought, “I want to build something that is mine”. So I decided to start up my own business. And that is how MEL'S HOLLYWOOD STARS RESTAURANT was born.
interactive video
Authors: PARSLOE ERIC
Published: February 2008

If you've been following this series over the last five months, you've read about the concept of interactive video and its use in training, about production standards and compatibility, about instructional design and authoring systems, about what people in the industry here and in America are thinking and doing. I hope that by now you're also thinking about doing a programme yourself, so I'd like to devote the last article of the series to some notes on making video interactive.
Training in TEAMWORKING SKILLS
Authors: HASTINGS COLIN
Published: February 2008

“There are four people who should be the hub of the wheel in my factory” said James Young. James is production director of a factory making fast‐moving knitwear, where the mix is always changing according to fashion and season. “The trouble is”, he continued, “that the organisation chart makes them look more like the four legs of a table. The structure doesn't say that they are a team but they have to be”. The four managers that he is referring to are the market forecaster, the production planner, the raw materials buyer and the distribution manager. “One cannot sneeze without the others being affected. And if they don't get it right, and can't see themselves as a team, then I know only too well what that does to my already‐narrow margins. Each of them needs to be very different, but what each must have is a teamworking mentality” …. “Our audit teams are constantly changing as an audit progresses”, said a senior partner of one of the big five accountancy firms. This presents problems both for the audit manager as to how best to lead and develop his team, and for the individual auditors who often experience problems slotting into the team. And that can affect our clients adversely too which of course is not good for our business”. A large air‐conditioning contractor finds similar problems with on‐site teams. He needs to retain labour flexibility. His clients don't always like the changes. His team managers have to be skilled not only in managing the team, but they must also be adept at relating to the client and ensuring that they get the resources they need from the organisation. The team members in turn must learn to slot quickly into the new team. “All our people need to learn the same teamworking language”, says the managing director”. “There's no time to invent new rules for each new team”. The 3M company in the USA brings over one hundred new products to the market every year. They do this by creating a large number of small ad hoc teams to develop ideas and test‐market them very quickly. Some individuals find themselves involved in a number of these “venture teams” simultaneously. A major pharmaceutical company in the UK alone has one hundred and forty “temporary task groups” working on a wide range of products and issues, “I've counted a number of key managers who are involved in as many as twelve of these group”, says Alan Ladd, the management development manager. “Money spent on improving the teamworking skills of those and other managers is quite simply a major investment in the future of our business. My problem is, how do I do it?”
Some final advice on STATUTORY SICK PAY
Authors: WALSH BILL
Published: February 2008

Employee information. Few firms have thought of the need to tell employees about SSP and what it will mean to them not only as ‘sickness benefit’ but what variations it will make to occupational sick pay. Middle managers and supervisors, at the very least, should be informed of the broad resuls of SSP and what will happen when an employee has exhausted SSP.
The Prospect Programme
Authors: TROWBRIDGE M.B.
Published: February 2008

June 1982 saw the start of a new programme of courses for unemployed managers in the North East. Called the PROSPECT programme it is sponsored by the Manpower Services Commission and run by the Northern Regional Management Centre. PROSPECT features a coherent approach to meeting the needs of the unemployed manager and includes the use of open learning. PROSPECT has built on the staff experience of dealing with the effects of unemployment in the North East over the last few years, has taken into account overseas work and is providing data for research into several topics.
Using video creatively to promote and study interaction within a learning group
Authors: HART ANDREW
Published: February 2008

Television now fulfils many of the needs which were previously satisfied by public hangings. As entertainment, it has inherited the crudity, vividness and intimacy of the wood‐cut illustrations which used to feature in the lurid ‘Police Reports’ and other penny crime‐sheets of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Series like “Perry Mason” and “Crown Court” have fired the popular imagination by exploiting the drama inherent in the confrontation and cross‐examination of the court room. Although this kind of material is of very limited value for training and educational purposes, there is still tremendous potential for the imaginative use of video in this area. At Warwick University, for example, a structured teaching programme to enable behavioural change in students who are learning about lawyer/client interviewing, has proved extremely successful. Video recording and replay has become such an important element in the programme that the School of Law has acquired its own video equipment for teaching students. Research conducted by Avrom and Lorraine Sherr (with the help of a Nuffield Grant) demonstrated that a group of articled clerks who were able to watch their recorded interviews on video, in addition to taking part in formal teaching and top‐up' reading, performed significantly better than groups which took part only in the teaching and reading or only in the reading. Interestingly, there was little difference between the last two groups, (i.e., teaching and reading or reading only) suggesting that the formal teaching on its own produced no significant variation in performance.
Problems of training design with special reference to YTS
Authors: STUART ROGER
Published: February 2008

We include this second contribution to show how complex some of the seemingly‐simple directives of the MSC can be when it comes to implementing them. The author shows how the MSC directives on Training Design are mutually incompatible. We present the article to show that some of the issues are at an advanced technical, rather than at the layman's, level.
TRIPARTITISM as it affects YTS
Authors: TAYLOR COLIN
Published: February 2008

The Historical Perspective: Post‐war industrial training policy in Britain had been characterised by a laissez‐faire approach involving minimal government intervention, until the report of the Carr Committee in 1958. Although some ad hoc provision existed (Government Training Centres, Training Within Industry etc) the prevailing attitude was encapsulated in this report when it stated that the responsibility of industrial training should rest firmly with industry.
The Role of the Trainer‐Counsellor in management training
Authors: DAVIS RICHARD
Published: February 2008

In the search for methods of improving the management development process, several basic techniques are currently coming to the fore. One of these is coaching and counselling. The author talks about this new and emergent role for management trainers.
CBT: trying it out
Authors: JONES FRANK
Published: February 2008

There have been various articles and news items in the training press about the application of new computer technology to training. Most of these have emphasised the hardware element. By this I mean what the equipment is and an excessive concentration on the superficial impression given by the initial impact. We have all read that video disks can provide immediate access to a still frame anywhere on the disks and that the quality is fantastic but nobody seems to be answering the question, how do I go about trying it out, or maybe is it really a commercial idea for me anyway? Video disks are only one aspect because the new technology includes a whole range of communications equipment. The clue to the likely training applications is the computer: a word which strikes terror into the heart of many otherwise confident human beings. This is a new series of articles aimed at the practical training and education practitioner who wants to know more about the applications of the new technology with a view to having a go.
The Value of Using Training Intelligence Services
Authors: Gibson Elizabeth
Published: February 2008

Although there has been talk of a total collapse in external training i.e. open courses and use of consultant trainers in‐house, the author's experience does not bear this out. External training may not be flourishing but it is certainly holding its own in the overall pattern of training.
The Prospect Programme
Authors: Trowbridge M.B.
Published: February 2008

This article discusses some of the learning processes involved in the three‐day introductory phase of an open learning programme for unemployed managers. Open learning in this application means the individual having responsibility for setting her or his own learning tasks and choosing processes and timescale.
Using the Outdoors — Part II:
Authors: Teire John
Published: February 2008

In the first of these two articles, John Teire, a training and development consultant, described the reasoning behind the course he helped design for Plessey at Beeston. And Steve and Larry, managers on the course who had both kept diaries, gave their accounts of the experience from the inside. It is now Wednesday morning of the course and a new day. Steve and Larry continue with their stories.
CBT: Having a Go
Authors: Jones Frank
Published: February 2008

In my last article I outlined briefly what CBT is and gave some information on its background. One of the biggest problems in understanding this new field is precisely its newness. There are very few people about who have any experience, and the few who have usually have only been involved in one or two projects. The technology is still evolving and although some patterns are beginning to emerge they are by no means established yet. One thing that has proved true is that the technical experts, the computer men, do not make the best authors. This means there is a big need for training experts to get into this field. So, what follows is the lay trainers' guide to CBT.
In Place of Cash
Authors: Walsh ACIS MISM Bill
Published: February 2008

Two former “proposals” will become embodied in new legislation now that the return of a Conservative administration has removed uncertainties. The first of these (to enable employers and employees to agree on non‐cash forms of wage payment) will demand research and education. The second (to be dealt with later) will require some constructive rethinking of training in manual lifting and handling as it will reduce the areas for excuse for manual handling accidents.
The Roots of Excellence
Authors: Lessem Ronnie
Published: February 2008

In two previous articles on “The New World of Work” (ICT, November 1982) and “The Creative Re‐integration of Business” (ICT, May 1983) I sketched out an agenda for business, tomorrow. Armed with what seemed to me home truths, I ventured across the Atlantic, to attend a conference on Organisational Transformation in New Hampshire. As I began to listen to those agents of transformation in the “land of plenty”, I became progressively more concerned. For the cupboard was bare. It was plain for me to see that the Americans had no fundamental answers. They were being stymied not by the great Russian Bear, but by their own projections on to the Japanese. So, I would have to gain confidence in my own answers.
Emphasis on the Learner: A New Approach
Authors: Mumford Alan
Published: February 2008

This article argues that analyses of causes of some ineffectiveness in the education and training of managers have been incomplete, and that some potential solutions have been insufficiently recognised, co‐ordinated and implemented. It is necessary to give greater attention to the learning process and an increased use of real problems, owned by the learner, as major features of learning to be an effective manager.
Stability in Industrial Training
Authors: Kemp Leslie
Published: February 2008

The Address given by the chairman of the Construction Industry Training Board to the Conference of the Institute of Municipal Building Management in October. He comments on the need for stability in the policy approach to industrial training and in the funding of it.
CBT: Checking that it works
Authors: Jones Frank
Published: February 2008

In the second article on this subject, the author examines the problem that the computer does not have the flexibility of thought which we take for granted in the human mind. So how do trainers using CBT overcome this inherent “incompetence” of the computer? In short, they turn the problem into an opportunity.
Interpersonal Skills Training Eight Years On
Authors: Rae Leslie
Published: February 2008

A course on interpersonal skills training, described in a 1977 issue of ICT, has changed now beyond recognation. The author looks at the changes made and the reasons for such.
Learning to Manage — and Managing to Learn
Authors: Hinton Ian
Published: February 2008

This article starts by looking at learning in its broadest sense: why and when people learn; how people learn; why they don't learn; how to learn better yourself and to help other people to do so. Then the author focuses on management learning in particular.
Practical Approaches to Women's Management Development
Authors: Hammond Val
Published: February 2008

This is a report on the first European Foundation of Management Development Seminar on Women's Management Development.
The Effects Feedback Method in Skills‐with‐People Training
Authors: Gould Philip , Gould Rosemary
Published: February 2008

This article describes the “effects feedback” training method which employs the prin‐ciple that if you want to improve your performance you need to know your results and how you attained them. The authors indicate some of its applications and make a case for using it as an antidote to organisational inertia.
Equality of Opportunity — An Assessment Questionnaire
Authors: Fonda Nickie
Published: February 2008

The author demonstrates an Equal Opportunity Impact Assessment questionnaire which helps the user assess the effects and consequences of their decisions on women. By using the questionnaire several things can be found out: what decisions managers are conscious of making; the impact of decisions on women; identification of the unintended consequences of actions, and the changes that need to be made to create a more equitable situation.
Managerial Linking Skills
Authors: Margerison Charles , McCann Dick
Published: February 2008

Why do some teams work effectively and others not? The authors, in examining the attributes of High Performing Teams, show that there are three major areas which team leaders need to concentrate upon. These are example, experience and expertise. There are certain work functions that are critical to success and there is a need for every work team to have a member who can co‐ordinate and integrate these functions. This person performs the “linking” role.
What Industry Really Wants: Implications for Education and the Community
Authors: Marsden Chris
Published: February 2008

Beyond narrow and short‐term recruitment considerations it is difficult to get a view from industry on its needs for education. It is part of education's role to prepare young people appropriately for their future. To do this adequately education and industry are interdependent and must help each other. The author outlines the forms that this help might take.
Updating the Interactive Video Casebook
Authors: Parsloe Eric
Published: February 2008

This survey of interactive video concentrates on training applications and British projects after the first year of British activity in this market.
Group Awareness and Relaxation
Authors: Wooding Rob
Published: February 2008

The author describes the operation of the second of three residential study courses on group awareness. The primary purpose of the exercise was to familiarise the participants with all aspects of groups — development, dynamics, processes, styles etc. The secondary purpose was to explore, investigate and practise various relaxation techniques.
A Look at Interviewing
Authors: Hughes Alec M.
Published: February 2008

In this article Alec Hughes looks at interviewing, with a close concentration on appraisal and selection. This is an attempt to provide an improved service to readers, and could be provided for other film subject areas. Write to the editor and tell him whether you have found this article useful, and what other areas of film would interest you.
Project‐Based Learning in a Local Authority
Authors: Brown Rick
Published: February 2008

Evaluation by participants on a management training course (run by the Durham University Business School for the North Yorkshire County Council) indicated that the programme, covering five modules and a personal project, contributed to personal and career development and was a valuable insight into industrial management. Awareness of work within different departments of the Council was increased and a team spirit evolved. Reservation was expressed, however, on whether certain techniques could be successfully transplanted into local authorities.
The Compleat Course Review
Authors: Broadhurst Alison
Published: February 2008

Course reviews seem to be a standard adjunct of training courses nowadays, out they tend to lack a formal contribution by the visiting lecturers involved. Notes which have been made but not published by lecturers can throw light on otherwise undetected aspects of courses which may require attention.
Why Not Try Triads?
Authors: Harris Neville D.
Published: February 2008

The use of groups of three to help provide for participative learning of interview skills, with participants undertaking Interviewer, Interviewee and Observer roles in rotation, has shown universally effective results when utilised on a Management Experience Programme, a performance appraisal scheme, and Education Management activities for head teachers.
The Adult Training Strategy
Authors: Bacon Jenny
Published: February 2008

The adult training schemes being introduced by the MSC in line with the New Training Initiative can only be a small part of the effort required to make adult training (and retraining) a force for economic improvement. The success or failure of this strategy and its implications for the country depend on how employers, individuals and organisations concerned with training act on the messages underlying the strategy.
The Development of a Business Game for Wholesale Management
Authors: Freeman Jim , Cauldbeck Patrick , Kern Khoo Kiak
Published: February 2008

Computer‐based games can now be tailored to fit individual applications with relative ease. The “soft” format of games packages (as opposed to the “hard” format of manual games) allows them to be customised and kept up‐to‐date. Wholetrain, developed by the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and MAKRO, fills the training gap within the wholesale industry, aimed at junior wholesale managers and supervisors and providing (simulated) training in a Cash and Carry environment where experimentation is not usually feasible.
The MSC and Training for IT
Authors: Roberts A. , Griffiths S.
Published: February 2008

Britain's Present Plight: The Manpower Services Commission (MSC) note that “The last few years have seen a steep decline in output and employment. Between mid 1979 and mid 1981 national out‐put fell by about 8 per cent and manufacturing output by nearly 20 per cent… Employment has fallen by 1.8 million…, total unemployment has risen to… 12.5 per cent of the work force compared with 5.5 per cent in the autumn of 1979”.
Current Research in Management
Authors: Hammond Valerie
Published: February 2008

In January the Ashridge Management College hosted a novel conference jointly with the Association of Teachers of Management. More than 20 managers, academics and consultants from the UK and overseas, all with an active interest in solving management problems, debated some of the very many research projects currently in progress. After an opening session in which Philip Sadler emphasised the need for high quality, relevant and practical research, most time was in small sessions with researchers whose projects had common themes but who tackled the issues from different perspectives. Since almost all work presented at the conference was based on practical studies within organisations, there was much scope for sharing experience between managers and academics.
The Education and Training of Engineers and Managers for Manufacture
Authors: Wild Ray
Published: February 2008

The principal hypothesis of this article is that because of changes taking place in the nature of manufacture in industry, the type of engineers and managers required for such work will also change.
Methods of Teaching New Technology
Authors: Knowles Norman
Published: February 2008

The main purpose of this article is to describe some of the ways in which Walsall College of Technology is approaching the teaching of new technology. The approach and methodologies adopted at the college for the course described here are not considered to be the definitive solution to the daunting task of retraining and educating staff to teach the new technology disciplines. They are described here mainly to act as a catalyst for other colleges and to open up communication between colleges, industry and commerce. The need to offer courses relevant to the wants of industry and commerce increases as the technology rapidly changes. Because the methods adopted by teachers and the curriculum are dependent upon the needs of the students, their needs are discussed. As the methods are so dependent also upon equipment availability resource management is discussed. The views expressed here are mine and are not intended to represent the views held by other members of the college staff. I welcome constructive criticism on the approach and methodology described and would also like to communicate with other colleges that are involved with similar courses.
How To Get Time On Your Side
Authors: Lane Chris
Published: February 2008

Time equals money is a much repeated cliché, but for the training officer it is certainly a message to be taken to heart. At the end of the day the whole purpose of his job must be to ensure that employees achieve as much as possible during the working day. Staff are sent on a variety of courses to bring this about—computer courses can be in fashion so everybody is sent off to learn to control a desk top computer. Maybe there is a course in salesmanship or bookkeeping, customer relations, typing or business French which would produce greater efficiency. But it is easy to overlook the crucial area of time management itself—particularly because we see so many examples of poor management every day, it is easy to feel that it is an inevitable part of office life. There is the sales executive trying to get hold of a plumber to mend his burst pipe, the secretary coping with the receptionist's boyfriend problems, or the assistant product manager organising the new telephone systems (and we all know how long that can take!) They may be normally conscientious and efficient workers but they have one thing in common—none of them are making the best use of the time they have available.
Training Process Effectiveness
Authors: Poulet Roger
Published: February 2008

The Difference Between Process and Results: Most managers, when they consider the question of the effectiveness of the company training programme, automatically think of it as applying to the person who is being trained. How has he or she improved their performance after training? For an operational manager who has forgone the services of a subordinate for the period of the course and has had to fill the gap somehow this is a very reasonable reaction. He has at the very least to make up the lost ground through the increased performance he is led to expect.
The Application of Learning Styles
Authors: Rae Leslie
Published: February 2008

Peter Honey and Alan Mumford published in December 1982 The Manual of Learning Styles which brought to a wider audience the advantages of a determination of the different preferences of people for the way they learn. The approach suggested by Honey and Mumford was not completely new, but offered an alternative approach to the other major learning style inventory, that by Kolb. A number of people had been unhappy with the construction and results of Kolb's Learning Style Inventory and it had been positively attacked from an academic viewpoint by Freedman and Stumpf.
Career Paths in Tomorrow's Organisation
Authors: Stamp Gillian
Published: February 2008

In this article I shall endeavour to show how the practical application of a classic theory of work has led to a totally new approach to the selection of personnel and to the appraisal of individual potential, both in new or expanding industries and in old or contracting industries. Whatever the setting, the approach has achieved the same result: a more efficient organisation and better job satisfaction and career opportunities for its employees.
Self Development: Missing Elements
Authors: Mumford Alan
Published: February 2008

My first written work on Self Development was published in 1971, and I have written about various aspects of its meaning, objectives, and processes since then. I recently had the opportunity to review what I perceive as relatively unattended issues of strategy and principle. In this article I look at these and show where at least some of the answers may be found to be available.
Making Cultural Differences Work for You
Authors: Rodgers Irene
Published: February 2008

Some Illustrative Problems — A large company in the petroleum sector, with subsidiaries in virtually every European country, consistently gets lack of co‐operation, if not downright hostility, from its subsidiary in one particular country.
A Development Matrix: The Gateway Concept
Authors: Simpson Ron
Published: February 2008

For some years the author has grappled with the various trends and fashions which have always appeared to pervade the world of the organisation development specialist. It has become fashionable to ensure that one is au fait with as many “recently published” approaches as possible, in order to appear that one is abreast of progress made by those regarded as innovative among their peers.
Effective In‐House Management Development: Challenging Tradition
Authors: Allen Richard , Nixon Bruce
Published: February 2008

Our Vision and Our Mission ‐ We are a richly innovative race whose creative talents are sought and exploited successfully throughout the world. Why is it that so often we are unable to turn these talents into successful, wealth‐creating enterprise? We have witnessed a succession of explanations and corresponding remedies, most economic or political, none of which has had much effect. A fresh explanation is needed.
An Action Learning Approach to Performance Review and Development
Authors: Coates Jonathan
Published: February 2008

This is an account of how the London Borough of Bromley introduced an approach to Management Development based around a performance appraisal mechanism (which they call Performance Review) from autumn 1985 to spring 1986. The need for an improvement in management methods and approaches was inspired by a strong and imaginative paper on “survival management style” published by the Chief Executive in June 1985. This was a time when local government in Britain was thinking very seriously about its right to continue doing what it had traditionally regarded as its own. However, the strong guidelines contained in the Chief Executive's paper were not in themselves capable of getting a common approach to better management started on its own. It needed much more in the way of structure and order, and this is what the management development programme set out to provide.
Towards Change Orientation — Trainers in a Developing Country
Authors: Akin‐Ogundeji Oladele
Published: February 2008

Many articles have been written in recent years on trainers' roles. However, much of what has been written was often prescriptive. Besides, the suggestion has often been made that trainers need to operate as change agents within their organisations. Yet, only in very few instances had there been serious attempts to look closely into the prescription of a change agent role and the varying realities which confront trainers within their organisations. Even then such studies have been limited to the developed countries of Western Europe and America.
Middle Managers Can Share in the Future of the Business
Authors: Wills Gordon
Published: February 2008

Management development is increasingly perceived, marketed and sold as a wise investment rather than simply a socially good thing for industry to provide. The most powerful demonstration of its investment potential is perhaps available from the action learning models that Revans has pioneered most particularly in Europe especially in Belgium and the UK, but also in the Middle East, South East Asia and Australia.
The Competency Programme of the American Management Association
Authors: Evarts Harry F.
Published: February 2008

The American Management Association (AMA) is a nonprofit educational institution whose fundamental purpose is the improvement of managerial performance. This is achieved through a variety of educational and training programmes, research and development in the practice of management, and publications. The AMA is a membership organisation whose 80,000 members are practising managers in a variety of companies and organisations. It is governed by a Board of Trustees elected by the membership. A series of Councils, each composed of members with expertise in such areas as marketing, human resources and finance, advise the staff members of appropriate directions for development.
Bridging the Gap between the South East and the Rest
Authors: Willis Eric
Published: February 2008

Divergent Prosperity: The surest indicator of the rapidly increasing divergence in prosperity between the South East of England and the rest of Britain is the large and quickly widening differential in house prices. Whilst in areas like Wales, house prices are dropping in real terms, increases of over 25 per cent per annum are occurring in the South East. So once again, the British economy is failing to grow in a developed and even fashion which is creating considerable economic imbalance and checks to long‐term growth. A great deal can be done to correct this imbalance by regional, not central, authorities — but it will need a far more dynamic approach that has not been shown to date.
Repertory Grid Combined with Learning Styles: A Pilot Study
Authors: Williams Teresa
Published: February 2008

A combination of Repertory Grid analysis and the Honey/Mumford Learning Styles approach facilitates understanding in the learning process. A correlation between information from the two different tests is shown. The detail of the process involved is described and ways in which other course users could apply the same processes are described.
The Extended TVEI Programme
Authors: Cross Jack
Published: February 2008

The new elements in the Training and Vocational Education Initiative currently being developed by the MSC are described — their objectives, purposes and funding. The major role of a programme which runs into £1 billion is emphasised. Some of the problems, for example in dialogues with LEAs, are reviewed.
Action Based “Learning”: Are Activity and Experience the Same?
Authors: Logan Andy , Stuart Roger
Published: February 2008

The behaviour of managers oriented to learning from action is reviewed, and analysed in relation to the work of Kolb, Honey and Mumford. It is proposed that there is a difference between action and experience. The steps necessary to convert action into experience are defined, following an examination of blockages and defensive routines.
The Training Model: Time for a Change?
Authors: Donnelly Eugene
Published: February 2008

A new model of training is proposed, redefining and adding to the traditional model, which is usually seen as defining organisational requirements, assessing job training needs, designing programmes, and evaluation. The author believes this is no longer adequate and gives an over‐simplified view. The four main blocks in his suggested replacement model are resource availability, assessment of training needs from the organisation standpoint, assessment of training needs relating to the job itself, and programme design. Evaluation activities are included within all the blocks.
Changing an Organisation: A Training Contribution
Authors: Thompson‐McCausland Ben
Published: February 2008

The author was appointed Chief Executive of a traditional insurance company with the task of waking the organisation from its lethargy and helping it to grow. It proved difficult to overcome corporate inertia. Management style and behaviour needed radical alteration and a programme called Corporate Development and Training was adopted. Its gradual acceptance and success in tapping the company's energies and talents are described.
Training for the Future in Norwich Union
Authors: Firman Jacqui
Published: February 2008

A course is described which combines Action Centred Leadership and Outdoor Activities designed to develop managers in an insurance company. Specific exercises are described, first for building trust between participants and then to expose them to challenging physical activities.
The Internationalisation of Business and the International Manager
Authors: Barham Kevin
Published: February 2008

The increasing internationalisation of business and transition to a global economy are discussed, with special detail on the views of UK and Scandinavian managers as revealed by a “Management for the Future” project carried out at Ashridge Management College. Cultural factors, including national differences in management style, and readiness to learn foreign languages, can be modified by management development processes. For the international manager of the future, however, attitudes and values may also need to develop a greater openness.
Anglo‐Japanese Negotiations: A Computer Simulation
Authors: Willmer M.A.P. , Holden N.
Published: February 2008

To the Western businessman, negotiating with the Japanese seems fraught with difficulties. So a computer simulation was designed to capture some of the main dimensions of the negotiation process, and used to explore the reactions of Western managers to a typical Anglo‐Japanese negotiation situation. The imaginary scenario is described, and then the simulation itself in some detail. At the end, the “communication competence” of each participant is assessed.
Senior Management Development — An In‐company Approach
Authors: Nixon Bruce
Published: February 2008

An in‐company programme to develop senior managers in the Sun Alliance Insurance Group is described, the first to be attempted at this level. Senior managers have a crucial role in strategic development and the long‐term perspective was just one respect in which the course differed from those aimed at middle management. The senior managers also wanted practical help with managerial skills, and found great value in the support processes developed during the workshops. Goals, selection of participants, design of the sessions, and the eventual outcome are reported in some detail, together with comments from those taking part.
Safety in Team Building — The Contracting Process
Authors: Oliver Neil , Langford John
Published: February 2008

The process of team building may be inhibited by feelings of personal risk and insecurity. The individual needs to feel safe before becoming an effective team member, and contracting can provide this safety. The “contract” is the system of rules defining acceptable behaviour between people, and two important components of the package are the “task” and “personal” elements. The whole contract must be discussed openly and carefully maintained as the team matures and changes.
Use and Abuse of Assertion Training for Management Development
Authors: Bennett Roger
Published: February 2008

Good and bad justifications for Assertion Training are examined, and it is emphasised that it is crucial trainees are selected by need, not status. AT must be treated as complementary to other training activities. The relationship of assertiveness and aggression is discussed. Effective AT concentrates on inner feelings. There are problems and possibilities in AT for women.
The Education and Training of British Managers
Authors: Mumford Alan
Published: February 2008

Two reports, “The Making of Managers” by Charles Handy and “The Making of British Managers” by John Constable and Roger McCormick, were published in April 1987. In a commentary on both reports, it is suggested that they are insufficiently concerned with the total management development process. Three major issues — skills, wider development processes and learning processes — are not discussed. Management education must be centred on real management work.
Learning by Experience — for the Trainer Too!
Authors: Teire John , Chris Angela
Published: February 2008

A personnel manager was faced with the task of setting up a management development programme for staff who were facing drastic changes in company operations. With little experience, the personnel manager herself needed to learn as she went along. A conversation between her and a consultant who contributed to the programme explores her thoughts and feelings about the experience of becoming a trainer.
Job Efficiency and Executive Feedback (JEEF)
Authors: Wrinch Stephen
Published: February 2008

The failings of a typical appraisal scheme are discussed, and then a revised approach is described, with principles and details worked out by line managers and not the personnel function. The new approach was reviewed and modified after one year. The result is improvement in other management practices, a positive response from the staff appraised, and a significant impact on the employee relations climate.
Positioning Managers for the Future — The Role of the Government
Authors: Beck Mick
Published: February 2008

The role of the Government in management education and development is defined under four headings: Government as leader, as catalyst, as deliverer, and as regulator of standards. The influence particularly of the Manpower Services Commission on both content and techniques is discussed, and the importance of training being focused on organisational as well as individual needs. Qualifications will in future be derived from a wider range of courses and work experience: standards will need to be established, with Government but also employers taking a formal role in the monitoring system.
THE MENTOR GAME
Authors: Hiley Nigel , Wynn Martin
Published: February 2008

The introduction of a new computerised order processing system at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals made an enormous amount of production data available to the users of on‐line computer systems. To understand and act on this data effectively, it became increasingly evident that a wider understanding of production processes was needed at both a practical and conceptual level. To meet this training need, the MENTOR game was developed in‐house to train staff in the theory and practice of production planning, stock control and materials explosion in a manufacturing environment. The game has also been run with pre‐university school groups in liaison with local and central government educational agencies.
ENCOUNTERING OTHERS AT WORK — A TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS APPROACH TO TRAINING
Authors: Hannabuss Stuart
Published: February 2008

The process of Transactional Analysis is reviewed and the uses of its techniques demonstrated. A training exercise illustrating the three ego states in transactions is included.
FROM TRAINING MANAGER TO HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER — NOT A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME!
Authors: Beck Anna S. , Jones Tony
Published: February 2008

A total approach to development justifies the change of title from “training manager” to “human resource development manager”, and this concept is discussed in the light of experience at Sony UK. Changes in business strategy brought about by increased competition and technological advance had company‐wide effects. The sequence of workshops, clinics and job clarification is described. Both problems and success stories are reviewed.
LEARNING MORE EFFECTIVELY ON A GENERAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME
Authors: Butler Jim
Published: February 2008

Learning by doing is not the sole process of learning for managers. Experiential work on programmes can be improved if the opportunity is offered of going through all aspects of the learning cycle. Deliberate analysis of learning situations and managerial and learning preferences can be productive of extra learning. Use of instruments designed by Belbin, Saville and Holdsworth, Honey and Mumford, and Schein is described, with interesting case examples taken from a BAT Industries' management development programme.
THE CHALLENGE FACING THE COUNTRY
Authors: Munn James
Published: February 2008

It is claimed that the main challenge facing Britain at present is razor‐sharp international competition, with increased specialisation, growing demands for specialised services and fast technological advance all having an influence. Priorities are reviewed for national action on training, and the plans of the Training Commission, with special reference to initiatives in higher education, re‐skilling the unemployed and young people.
MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT FOR JOB CHANGERS
Authors: Melling Tim
Published: February 2008

In recent years, Marks and Spencer has chosen to bring in more senior personnel from “the outside”. In order to ensure that they succeeded within their new environment, and that the organisation likewise gained from any particular expertise they might be able to bring to their new “home”, a programme was devised to bring these benefits about. The programme is described, and how the consultant involved internal trainers to run it and future events is set out.
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS TRAINING IN THE 1980s
Authors: Canning Roy
Published: February 2008

Some of the major shifts in interpersonal relationships training in the 1980s are outlined. Covering face‐to‐face communication skills, influencing and assertion, team building and personal awareness programmes, it is argued that a more holistic rather than a reductionist approach is desirable. Change, it is argued, usually involves awareness and small steps, not uprooting what is and replacing it with something different.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT BY NEGOTIATED LEARNING CONTRACT
Authors: Seymour David
Published: February 2008

Training derived from an instrumental approach such as appraisal often leads to a passive response to training. It is more effective to encourage autonomy, yet to achieve it through negotiation between learner and manager, with the participation of a trainer. A specific programme using this approach is reviewed.