Title of case : The supply and demand of management development and action learning
Abstract
Hong Kong is unique because it is a place where Western thoughts and practices meet Eastern ones. Despite its long history and the abundance of management development ideas and approaches, macro systematic researches on how supply (i.e. programmes, courses, books, articles, concepts, theories, etc) has matched with actual demand (appreciation, belief, ongoing or ad hoc practice of theories, etc) are lacking. A dilemma some suppliers often experience is whether to continue with the same products when the picture on consumers' satisfaction is blurred. Good feedback loops are vital for evaluating organisational effectiveness.
Action Learning can be a good tool to bridge theory-practice and supply-demand gaps in management training and development. It facilitates learning from own and others' (other people, groups or organisations) experiences, from previous mistakes, from situations in business management cases and from the learning cycle of abstract conceptualisation, active experimentation, concrete experience and reflective observation. Through learning cycles of training institutions and of trainers, programmed knowledge (textbook contents, articles, lecture notes, etc) and delivering methods can be appropriately created and selected. Through learning cycles of business organisations and management students, programmed knowledge will be questioned before being applied, with or without modification, to suit each unique situation.
Supported by empirical data, models and hypotheses, views of personalities in the case can stimulate thoughts and discussions of people at the supply and demand sides of management training and development in Hong Kong and perhaps also in other Asian countries.