The role of the set adviser at Ashridge Management College is discussed with reference in particular to methods of dealing with difficulties encountered by participating chief executives. Five tasks for the set adviser are identified: to facilitate giving and receiving; to clarify the processes...

The central idea of action learning — that for any organism to survive its rate of learning must be equal to or greater than the rate of change in its environment — has stood the test of time, and is used as a reason for selecting and launching action learning processes by management. Little...

The process of action learning‐based training of managers in the field staff of the UK division of the Prudential Assurance Company is described, covering its introduction, acceptance and subsequent evolution. The programme undertaken is assessed, including examples of success and failure. The...

Action learning is explored through a question and answer dialogue between a supporter and a critic of the method.

Management development should take cultural differences into account. A summary of Hofstede's classic four dimensions of dominant value patterns is given: Individualism v. Collectivism; Large v. Small Power Distance; Strong v. Weak Uncertainty Avoidance; Masculinity v. Femininity. Current Human...

The author reviews the serious shortage of managers and the cultural factors influencing behaviour in organisations in Arab countries. A detailed survey of management development in Jordan is presented, and the conclusions provide a checklist of priority considerations in the formulation of a...

This case study, of an intervention in a region of the Israeli water supply company, demonstrates that the application of well known management techniques such as MBO, performance appraisal and bonus schemes, affect not only the technical but also the cultural and political subsystems of the...

Cultural assumptions are often inadvertently exported or imported when performance appraisal is introduced in organisations in developing countries. Performance appraisal has been developed in “individualist” societies, and the systems, when applied in non‐individualistic cultures, can...

After 30 years, the oil industry in Qatar has relatively few Qataris in middle and senior management posts. The reasons were the small indigenous population, the lack of manpower planning, attractive employment opportunities elsewhere, and indifference towards training by the international oil...

Throughout the world the workforce is becoming increasingly multinational, with the USA in particular welcoming large numbers of immigrants, many of them highly skilled and educated. It is being questioned whether present HRD and OD techniques are suited to multicultural workforces at these...