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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of role playing as an applied learning technique for enhanced classroom experiences as compared to traditional lecture methods.

This study uses the pre-test/post-test design to conduct experiments with several control and experimental groups. Subjects are graduate students in an MBA program at a private, non-profit university in a traditional classroom setting.

Students in the experimental group gained significantly more knowledge (post-test minus pre-test scores) – 45 percent higher – through participation in the role playing exercise as compared to the control group.

This study represents only a single educational discipline explored using a single role playing learning activity. Impacts on the long-term retention of the knowledge should be studied further.

Educators should enhance their classroom experience with more applied learning activities such as role playing in order to increase knowledge gain and potentially longer knowledge retention.

This study uses a customized role playing activity within a business curriculum as one of many applied learning techniques. The value to students was shown by significantly higher gain in knowledge while simultaneously enhancing their enjoyment of the classroom experience to potentially encourage further lifelong learning.

The purpose of this paper is to show how work-based and work-applied learning (WAL) can enhance the intellectual capital of organisations.

The paper draws organisational learning- and work-based learning literature and case study illustrations.

To achieve major strategic change in organisations requires working at senior level within the organisation to develop the capability of the organisation to learn and apply that learning strategically. WAL is explicitly geared to bring about change and enhance the learning capability within the organisation.

There is a need for further longitudinal studies of organisations that have used the work-based and WAL approaches.

The conclusions reached have implications for higher education and non-award bearing executive education.

The alignment of individual learning with organisational objectives positions learning as a co-operative part of working life rather than just individual preparation for employment.

The paper positions work-based learning and WAL as appropriate responses to the learning needs of organisations as well as individuals.

Methodological pluralism in consumer research is usually confined to post‐positivist interpretive approaches. Argues, however, that a positivistic stance, radical behaviourism, can enrich epistemological debate among researchers with the recognition of radical behaviourism′s ultimate reliance on interpretation as well as science. Although radical behaviourist explanation was initially founded on Machian positivism, its account of complex social behaviours such as purchase and consumption is necessarily interpretive, inviting comparison with the hermeneutical approaches currently emerging in consumer research. Radical behaviourist interpretation attributes meaning to behaviour by identifying its environmental determinants, especially the learning history of the individual in relation to the consequences similar prior behaviour has effected. The nature of such interpretation is demonstrated for purchase and consumption responses by means of a critique of radical behaviourism as applied to complex human activity. In the process, develops and applies a framework for radical behaviourist interpretation of purchase and consumption to four operant equifinality classes of consumer behaviour: accomplishment, pleasure, accumulation and maintenance. Some epistemological implications of this framework, the behavioural perspective model (BPM) of purchase and consumption, are discussed in the context of the relativity and incommensurability of research paradigms. Finally, evaluates the interpretive approach, particularly in terms of its relevance to the nature and understanding of managerial marketing.

Industry skills council (ISC) in Korea is at an earlier stage in terms of its formation and incubation. As a governance model similar to sector councils in Canada and UK, it still requires training and development of talents who work for ISCs. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of training programs that are currently provided to personnel of the ISC to foster their learning systematically and to develop measures for effectiveness of the training programs.

This study evaluated the training program for the staff of the ISC secretariat as a tool to activate the councils’ main functions. In terms of methodology, we developed an effective training model to measure the training transfer and used it as an analytical framework for evaluation. Success case method was applied to identify the best case of training transfer that reinforces the role and function of ISC.

Learning transfer can help not only the transfer of the learning contents but also the role of the organization that the members belong to and strengthen the function of the ISC. By transferring the content matter of the learning, it can help strengthen the capacity of members to carry out the roles and functions of the ISC, and further strengthen the functions of the council and the role of key players in labor markets.

An effective training model for the personnel of national sectoral bodies or non-profit organization can be further investigated.

The learning transfer evaluation model for ISC staff has unique characteristics that are different from previous studies. ISC has the characteristics of public goods that are established with government support and are active in developing human resources in each industry sector.

Incubating ISC in South Korea is at an earlier stage in terms of research and policy practice. The research findings in this study lay the foundations for further empirical explorations.

To connect students with the real world of management practice, the purpose of this paper is to extend and operationalize the situated cultural learning approach (SiCuLA) through five learning processes occurring within communities of practice. These include integration of cultural contexts, authentic activities, reflections, facilitation, and the construction of a collaborative learning community.

To investigate the complex processes and principles of cultural learning, a multi-method approach is applied to an extensive comparative study of default and intervened cases within three management classes. Evidence is drawn from multiple sources of qualitative data including class observations, meeting minutes, focus groups, and group interviews with students and instructors.

Results indicated that in default cases, little explicit attention was given to a situated perspective of culture, or to the rich sources of cultural knowledge available among members of the classroom community. In contrast, following the intervention cases where SiCuLA was applied, there was strong evidence that much more attention was given to enhancing student contextual knowledge. Nonetheless, there were some challenges in applying these processes within the classroom context.

This is the first study to extend and operationalize SiCuLA in a classroom setting. More importantly, the evidence forms the empirical basis for deriving theoretical principles for cross-cultural management (CCM) education and training. It contributes to studying cultural contexts as sources of knowledge for learning through active co-participation. It also contributes to positive CCM learning with an emphasis on human agency that encourages students to take more responsibility and ownership of their cultural learning.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how action learning can be practically applied to quality and safety challenges at a large academic medical health system and become fundamentally integrated with an institution’s broader approach to quality and safety.

The authors describe how the fundamental principles of action learning have been applied to advancing quality and safety in health care at a large academic medical institution. The authors provide an academic contextualization of action learning in health care and then transition to how this concept can be practically applied to quality and safety by providing detailing examples at the unit, cross-functional and executive levels.

The authors describe three unique approaches to applying action learning in the comprehensive unit-based safety program, clinical communities and the quality management infrastructure. These examples, individually, provide discrete ways to integrate action learning in the advancement of quality and safety. However, more importantly when combined, they represent how action learning can form the basis of a learning health system around quality and safety.

This study represents the broadest description of action learning applied to the quality and safety literature in health care and provides detailed examples of its use in a real-world context.

The business engineering (BE) methodology is used to design process-oriented and customer-centred companies in a systematic and holistic way. However, BE demands a high learning effort with regard to the logical flow, instruments and supporting software. The purpose of this paper is to explore which elements of action learning are most useful regarding BE.

To enable students to learn BE, a graduate-level course based on action learning is designed. Within a one-week schedule, participants are guided through the three phases of BE covering 31 learning elements. A post-test measures the learning experience. Regression analysis identifies elements that lead to high learning performance.

Results from five courses with 79 students reveal that action learning is useful to obtain declarative and procedural knowledge of BE. Learning elements delivering theoretical input and the use of an exemplary case could be reduced, while more time should be devoted to group work on a self-developed case study.

The paper is based on a specific course design for the topic of BE, which might limit the results’ transferability to other business process management (BPM) teaching areas. However, it provides implications about the decisive elements for learning how to design process-oriented companies.

The results can be used by instructors to design more meaningful courses on BE.

The paper delivers new insights into how issues of BPM should be taught. This area, particularly regarding BE, has received little research attention.

Discovery learning is a teaching strategy instructors can utilize to increase the engagement of and content relevance to students involved in library instruction. There are five learning “architectures” which discovery learning comprises: Case‐based learning; Incidental learning; Learning by exploring; Learning by reflection; and Simulation‐based learning. Alone, or in combination, they can be applied to activities and the teaching of skills across the spectrum of complexity, curricular format, and class size. These architectures are not intended to supplant established and more traditional methods of instruction; rather, they serve to enhance the effectiveness and the likelihood of mastery and application of skills and concepts. Though perceptual and attitudinal barriers can create obstacles to implementing discovery learning, these can be overcome. The authors recommend a gradual application of discovery learning activities to instruction.

The aim of this paper is to present a holistic approach to training, that clearly demonstrates cost savings with improved effectiveness and efficiencies that are aligned to business objectives.

Extending Kirkpatrick's evaluation framework with Phillips's return‐on‐investment (ROI) concepts, the paper conveys a number of successes; including trainee satisfaction and the capturing of improved knowledge and skills.

The paper includes case studies of how, and to what extent this knowledge has been applied with examples of resulting efficiency savings. The paper shows that there is growing agreement that one of the primary drivers, if not the key driver of long‐term organisational effectiveness, is the ability of an organisation to learn effectively. The methodology requires some additional assessment and course preparation to establish a basis from which to demonstrate learning effectiveness. The financial benefits of the applied learning are far greater than the additional preparatory costs.

Learning organisations that anticipate, react to change and learn, are likely to maintain a competitive advantage. These organisations are constantly looking for more effective and efficient ways of training. Paradoxically, other organisations will often slash training budgets in times of hardship, as training departments are unable to demonstrate the effectiveness of their programmes.

The paper presents a practical example of how training should be applied to truly demonstrate its value in the workplace

This study aims at integrating two teaching approaches to enhance Lean manufacturing (LM) learning at a graduate course level and verify its effectiveness through comparing students’ performance and learning preferences.

The proposed methodology incorporates problem-based learning (PBL) approach based on real problems of companies undergoing a lean implementation into traditional teaching methods. The methodology was applied with graduate students from a Brazilian public university, whose learning preferences were subsequently identified. The verification of effectiveness is undertaken through a comparative analysis of students’ performance after each course.

The findings indicate that PBL may be an effective complementary method for LM learning, especially because it exposes students to actual problems when implementing LM. The proposal may improve problem-solving ability and provide a more fertile environment to promote better learning experience. The results are also positively related to the current body of the literature. Finally, because of different students’ learning preferences, PBL alone may not fulfill all students’ cognitive requirements, and hence, traditional teaching methods should not be eradicated from the LM learning process.

Because of an increasingly worldwide competition regarding business performance, LM has been an emerging and relevant subject among engineering and management postgraduate courses. Nevertheless, the practical character inherent to the understanding of LM may undermine learning and development of students. Therefore, studies that verify the effectiveness of the teaching approach may contribute to better prepare students for such demanding context.