Editorial

Citation

Gimson, A. (2011), "Editorial", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 25 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2011.08125baa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 25, Issue 2

We begin this issue with a look at perceptions. Joan Marques’s Viewpoint is a distillation of her USA business students’ perceptions on leadership – what it entails; what traits leaders should develop and the differences they perceive between the roles of managing and leading. Wherever our own preferences lie (which models, what theories), a crucial question is whether our development processes are likely to engender the types of capabilities we propound.

In last year’s Special Issue, we explored the latest trends in leadership development. Harry Gray provides a refreshing and exciting vision of a different kind of international management school based in the UK – one that locates learning in the real-life context of businesses rather than the disconnected world of case studies or purely academic research. I almost wish I was a student again, and hope Harry will update us on his progress in the future.

Anas Khan, Riad Khan and Mohammad Habibur Rahman stay in the global arena through their article on developing international executives. The costs of expatriate failure are immense, both to organizations and to individuals and their families. Anyone involved in international assignments would benefit from reflecting on the advice here for pre-departure preparation and post-arrival support.

Looping back around to perception again, Michael Bokeno invites us to consider its role in situations of conflict. He provides us with a succinct reminder of how we create and organize our own perceptions – oft times with little awareness – which then underpin our notion of reality. Understanding our own and others’ perceptions then becomes an important element in resolving situations of conflict.

Pepsico UK sends zero waste to landfill sites – a tremendous achievement for a manufacturing company. Catherine Golds shares the kinds of initiatives that the company has undertaken to achieve this impressive result. With sustainability ever higher on the agendas of most organizations, the two case studies in this article provide timely advice.

Our first review piece continues the sustainability theme. “Do sustainable products require sustainable leaders?” provides further examples of how organizations are adopting sustainable business practices.

“Follow my leader – and love the firm” describes research into the notion of organizational identification (OI) and whether the strength of a leader’s sense of identity with the business will impact on the level felt by their teams. This research was conducted in a “laboratory” situation and the results are such that further investigations in real organizations would be welcome.

“De-bugging organizational blogging” outlines a case study of how one company dipped its toes into the world of blogging. It contains valuable advice on how to overcome the challenges of implementing an organizational blog.

Our last piece, “Leadership boost retains the human touch”, details the design and delivery of a leadership development program in the UK mental health sector. The program was aimed at creating “reflective learners” and participants were encouraged to consider their learning in terms of implementing, improving and innovating.

Finally, a gentle nudge to remind you that our special issue this year is on work-based learning. Do get in touch if you have some interesting research or case studies to share.

Anne GimsonStrategic Developments International, UK. anne@stratdevint.com