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This study aims to examine the process of informal learning of aviation instructors.

A qualitative instrumental case study design was used for this study. In‐depth, multiple semi‐structured interviews and document review were the primary approaches to data collection and the data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis. The Marsick, Watkins, Callahan, and Volpe reconceptualized model of informal and incidental learning underpinned this study.

Findings support prior research on the catalysts, strategies, and lessons learned that are associated with informal learning. However, a key finding of this study was capturing the complexity of the informal learning process for aviation instructors as they faced the daily challenges associated with facilitating their students' learning which served as the catalyst for their learning.

The findings of this study are not intended to be generalizable to populations beyond this specific study due to limitations associated with the site selection, purposeful sample selection criteria, and sample size. Additionally, the unique nature of the aviation field and temporal considerations prevent the generalizability of the results of this study.

Despite the growing base of research on informal learning, calls for research that continues to examine how certain characteristics of workers and their work environment influence informal learning, and research that provides more holistic understandings of this type of learning have been requested. This research responds to these calls by exploring the process of informal learning among aviation instructors. The catalysts for informal learning, the strategies used, and lessons learned are identified. More importantly, unlike previous research, the complexity of the process of informal learning is captured and illustrated as a cyclical, non‐linear, non‐sequential process that is highly intertwined with teaching in this aviation context. The careful documentation of the actual learning process provides thick, rich data to deepen our understanding of what this kind of learning actually looks like.

The purpose of this paper is to overview the state of research on feedback and aspects of feedback that have been under-researched in the scholarly literature, particularly involving the theme of quality of the feedback. The paper seeks to draw on the existing literature, to develop a conceptual framework that identifies important aspects associated with quality of feedback that the articles in this special issue uniquely address.

This is a conceptual article that presents the results of an analysis of the feedback research literature and offers an abbreviated overview of it. It also develops a conceptual model that illustrates the complexity of the feedback process and identifies gaps that exist in the literature which the contributions of this special issue address.

The provision of feedback is critical to individuals ' learning and performance improvement in the context of their work. Coupled with the provision of feedback is the importance and need for high quality feedback. The quality of feedback and factors that influence it are the central themes of this issue.

This paper introduces this special issue on “Perceptions of quality of feedback in organizations: characteristics, determinants, outcomes of feedback, and possibilities for improvement” by overviewing the concepts associated with feedback and feedback seeking and developing a conceptual model that highlights the complexity of the feedback process. It also identifies existing gaps in the knowledge base that the contributions within this special issue address.

This study empirically explores one of the important channel issues – the relationship between various channel support given to channel partners and the perceived (by managers) goal‐orientation of a firm. Results from an emerging market, India, indicate that perceived orientation towards both profitability and market share is not associated with any of the channel support considered. Growth orientation however is strongly associated with most of the channel support activities – both business (e.g., business advice, pricing and ordering assistance, and personnel training) as well as marketing (advertising support, sales promotional material, and inventory management assistance) oriented activities. In contrast, perceived sales volume orientation is only associated with advertising support and business advice, however, the relationship is negative. These findings have interesting implications for channel management and channel motivation.

Limited published research has examined the role of leaders and managers in building learning capability and learning organizations. It is speculated that leaders and managers will assume roles such as facilitators of learning, coaches, and teachers. However, these roles and the micro‐behaviors manifested in them remain an area that has not been fully explored. This article reports specific findings from a qualitative critical incident study that was designed to investigate the multiple ways exemplary managers facilitate their employees’ learning in organizations considered to be learning organizations. Thirteen behavior sets emerged from this research that help to define the role of facilitator of learning. Implications for management development are discussed and areas for future research are identified.

Research suggests that employee engagement favorably influences the provision of customer service, that high levels of service employee engagement are rare, and that firms' strategic profit emphases affect engagement and service climate. This study responds to calls for research that identifies drivers of employee engagement and foundational issues that promote effective service climates within service organizations.

A survey method is utilized to assess data from 502 key informant service employees from multiple service industries.

The findings indicate that service organizations' revenue enhancement and cost containment strategic profit emphases differentially influence employee engagement, and that organizational and job engagement differentially influence service climate.

Data comprised of individual service employees' perceptions of their firms' strategic profit emphases and service climates are utilized. Although it is conceivable that some respondents' perceptions of these variables may be misguided, the study findings are based on a large sample of experienced service employees from multiple service industries.

The findings suggest that the most effective approach for promoting effective service climate is to hire service employees with a track record of job engagement and then focus on encouraging organizational engagement by creating working environments that support, value, and reward service quality.

Managers increasingly realize that how firms treat service employees critically affects customer service quality. However, relatively few studies examine service employees' perceptions of their own engagement and their organizations' working environments. This research incorporates social exchange theory and concepts from the fields of strategy and organizational behavior to assess service employees' perceptions of their organizations' strategic profit emphasis and its influence on engagement and service climate.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of, and the relationships between, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, and individual‐level innovation performance.

Questionnaire data were collected from 268 senior R&D project team members (response rate 64.58 percent) along with 83 R&D managers who evaluated their employees' innovative behaviors in one science park in Taiwan.

The results show that an individual's self‐efficacy, prior knowledge, social networks, and perception about the industrial environment on opportunities all had positive effects on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Also entrepreneurial opportunity recognition contributed significantly to individual‐level innovation performance.

The findings show that perception about the industrial environment on opportunities variable was the most important predictor among all four of the antecedents of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. That is, individual characteristics and traits cannot fully explain the entrepreneurial opportunity recognition process. Because the data were limited to high technology industry, future studies need to validate these findings in other industries.

Findings of this study suggest that to increase R&D employee's innovation performance, it is critical for high technology firms to invest in developing and enhancing employees' entrepreneurial opportunity recognition ability.

The process of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition has been viewed as a black box. Although the literature has explored various antecedents that influence entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, there is limited empirical research that has examined the linkage between entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and potential outcome variables.

The purpose of this study was to examine the antecedent, perception of the external environment, and its relationship to organizational learning, as well as explore the relationships between organizational learning and innovation performance at two levels, including individual and organizational‐level innovation performance.

Questionnaire data were collected from 268 senior R&D project team members who reported their perception about the external environment and organizational learning along with 83 R&D managers who evaluated their employees' innovative behaviors.

The results indicated that the antecedent of organizational learning, perception of external environment, was significant to organizational learning, and organizational learning was significant to both individual and organization‐level innovation performance and contributed more to the individual‐level than organizational innovation performance.

The value of the study lies in its contributions to the scholarly literature on organizational learning and innovation because examining the antecedent perception of the external environment and the relationships between organizational learning and innovation performance as well as the relationship between individual and organizational‐level innovation performance have not received considerable empirical attention.

To examine warehouse worker development associated with managerial coaching in the logistics industry.

Examine the efficacy of this developmental approach in a logistics context, a survey method was used to provide an overview of supervisors' coaching behavior at 18 distribution centers in the United States. Warehouse workers answered questions about their interactions with their supervisors and their own job satisfaction while supervisors answered questions pertaining to the job‐related performance of warehouse workers for whom they were directly responsible.

The study findings indicate that warehouse workers at these distribution centers encounter low levels of supervisory coaching behavior. However, despite these low levels, significant positive associations were found between supervisory coaching behavior, warehouse worker job satisfaction and supervisors' perceptions of their subordinates' job‐related performance.

The findings are based on the perceptions of respondents at the specific distribution centers in our study and therefore should not be interpreted as being generalizable. However, we hope that they will stimulate further empirical research on the growth, development and retention of front‐line logistics workers – an important, but relatively under‐researched, area of supply chain management.

The logistics industry is becoming progressively more service‐oriented and technologically‐driven and greater front‐line worker competence in these areas will be required for many firms to survive.

As the greatest aggregation of labor in the supply chain is in distribution center operations, our findings may encourage logistics organizations to evaluate the feasibility of adopting more people‐oriented supervisory approaches like coaching that focus on personnel development and the provision of more intrinsically‐rewarding work environments.

The purpose of this paper is to increase insight in the mechanisms of feedback processes by investigating what kind of feedback characteristics lead to what specific kind of informal learning activities (ILAs).

The 31 persons participated were recruited by the snowball method, and work in education, healthcare or profit sector. They filled out a learning log. The respondents wrote down feedback incidents that occurred and the ILA they carried out in response. A total of 367 feedback incidents led to 913 ILA. Quantitative analyses such as correlations and regression analyses are conducted.

Feedback led to ILA, especially to reflection, and communication with colleagues. There is no pattern found in the relation between outcomes. Timing aspects seem irrelevant for ILA. Feedback consisting of discussing possibilities for personal improvement leads to ILA. Precise, positive and helpful feedback leads to ILA.

Because of the aim and design of the study, the outcomes are not generalizable and individual characteristics (e.g. motivation, attitude) were not measured. A few ILA are mentioned only a few times.

Feedback that consists of discussing possibilities for personal improvement can be used to increase ILA. Feedback can be used to increase reflection and communication at work. Creating a work culture that fosters learning from feedback is important. The quality of feedback providing competences is important.

This paper gives in-depth insight into the relation between specific characteristics of feedback and the ILA. It also assesses to what ILA a specific feedback incident (directly) leads.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether oral feedback by inspectors of the Dutch Inspectorate of Education is an adequate method to support the professional development of teachers in primary education. This study aims to examine the impact of short feedback training for inspectors (focused on effective feedback conversations) on feedback quality and on teachers ' feedback perception. In addition, it aims to study the relation between immediate perception and the delayed perception of that feedback.

In an independent sample experimental design, 15 inspectors provided feedback to 40 teachers in primary education. Nine inspectors received short feedback training (the experimental group), while six others did not receive this training (the control group).

The results indicate that feedback provided by trained inspectors can foster professional development of teachers in primary education and that short feedback training has added value. The quality of the feedback by inspectors was related to teachers ' immediate perception of the feedback and the delayed perception of the feedback.

A limitation of this study is the small group of inspectors and the limited number of feedback conversations they could provide. Further research could be aimed at examining the impact of feedback of trained inspectors on the professional development of underperforming teachers.

This paper contributes to research that examines effective ways to use feedback conversations in workplace settings for the professional development of teachers.