This paper presents a case study based on the evaluation of the two VAL (virtual action learning) sets. We report participants learning both leadership and the VAL process based on the basis of telephone interviews. We conclude that what is learned about leadership is connected with how learning takes place and suggest that the content and process…

Business Driven Action Learning (BDAL), as a learning philosophy that attempts to create real value for business is often used by executive education providers in their management development programmes. As the action learning facilitator, I found that the learning that took place during such a management development programme resulted in…

This account of practice explores the benefits and challenges of using Action Learning (AL) with junior researchers. Findings are grounded in an AL set of six doctoral students, organised and convened by the author. The case study reveals the range of emotional and structural hurdles that Ph.D. candidates typically face in completing their…

Rural clergy often lack colleagues and may struggle with isolation, especially if over-extended in multi-parish benefices. Theory suggests that this sense of isolation could be addressed by launching clergy action learning sets, which have the potential to establish a peer support network through the formation of social capital as a by-product of…

This paper applies an action research (AR) design and action learning (AL) approach to network capability development in an entrepreneurial context. Recent research suggests that networks are a viable strategy for the entrepreneurial firm to overcome the liabilities associated with newness and smallness. However, a gap emerges as few, if any,…

Action learning was introduced into China less than 20 years ago, but has rapidly become a valuable tool for organizations seeking to solve problems, develop their leaders, and become learning organizations. This article provides an historical overview of action learning in China, its cultural underpinnings, and five case studies. It concludes…

The article presents an account of how action learning principles were implemented to alleviate complex problems in universities. It focuses on the registrars and administrators under the academic Registrar's department. The Marquardt model of action learning was used in combination with the constructivist theories of learning, namely community of…

The introduction of a Lean approach to management requires the development of understanding and capability. This in turn requires a structured training intervention and other supporting activities. This paper explores, through a case study, the way in which action learning groups (ALGs) supported the development of Lean capabilities in the…

This essay is about how to learn to organise to tackle the intractable and most difficult problems of organisations and societies. It opens with a discussion of the nature of such problems, which are the spur for Revans' action learning and the focus of some recent thinking on leadership. Action learning works on the basis of peer relationships…

This account examines the action learning process adopted by Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., embedded in the organization through the in-company Emerald Academy. In case study format, the paper emphasizes that in order to align learning with organizational objectives joined up thinking and practice is needed beyond the learning and development…

This paper reports on a study of how action learning facilitates the movement of knowledge between social contexts. The study involved a community organization that provides educational services related to aphasia and members of a complex continuing care (CCC) practice that received training from the agency. People with aphasia (PWA) (a disability…

The primary purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of a dual-project action learning program (DPALP) conducted in South Korea. A dual-project program requires each participant to carry out both team and individual projects. Cho and Egan's [2009. Action learning research: A systematic review and conceptual framework. "Human Resource…

This paper reports on a research study that involved the use of blended action learning to support leadership development within the New Zealand education sector. An important contributor to the success of this technology-enabled approach to professional learning was the role taken by the blended action learning facilitator. Two complementary…

This paper explores the relationship between action learning and Organisation Development (OD). It proposes that they are overlapping fields of practice, with interesting similarities and differences. Both fields of practice are experienced as challenging to conventional ways of viewing organisations and people but are also subject to increasing…

The aim of this article is to explore several decades of experience of action learning and to distil lessons from that experience that are worth sharing with other practitioners. The method is to systematically collect the experiential data within three categories (sense-based, affective and cognitive data), interrogate them to draw out lessons…