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There has been a significant reawakening of interest in the applicability of action learning as a paradigm for management development, particularly as a pedagogical device in both classroom and executive development contexts. This development has occurred against a background of a wider re‐examination of the theory and practice of management education and development. Fundamentally, this re‐examination has been stimulated by criticism of the static, content‐oriented approach as inappropriate to the changing environment of the 1990s. In particular, there is a shift required for effective management: business schools will have to focus on the day‐to‐day realities of the business world, develop communication and leadership skills and emphasise continuous attention to the links between theory and practice. The implications are twofold: first, the range of teaching techniques must be extended to include process‐oriented approaches; second, and more fundamentally, there is a need for an expanded definition of the learning arena itself, and of the role of management schools within that. Renewed interest in and attention to the concept of the learning company, and to processes of both individual and organisational learning, redefines the context within which these changes are taking place. Reviews a number of key developments in this understanding of contemporary management education and development, and presents a summary of a new programme built as an action‐ and implementation‐oriented approach to entrepreneurial senior executive development. This programme aims to support the development of leadership in both large and smaller, growth‐oriented, companies, in a partnership which breaches the conventional separation both between the encapsulated learning arenas of the university and the organisation and between management and entrepreneurship education and development. This partnership emphasises the impact of intra‐group and interorganisational learning on both the participants and on the context of their organisations.

This chapter focuses on spy action as a way to answer the question: where can we find queer female action heroes? The chapter will identify three films – D.E.B.S. (Advocate, 2005), Atomic Blonde (David Leitch, 2017) and The Spy Who Dumped Me (Susanna Fogel, 2018) – worth attention to highlight the potential and problems of the queer female hero in spy action. This chapter examines how each of these spy action films contributes to the ongoing yet uneven development of the female hero as a queer figure in post-millennial action cinema. The chapter will consider to what extent these queer female-led action films may pose a challenge to some of the dominant standards and conventions associated with the action hero, gender roles and the representation of sexuality, but also reinforce others. Some comparisons will be made to James Bond in recognition that the Bond franchise has played an important role in the spy action genre.

Despite a growing body of literature in the field, there is still considerable uncertainty as to whether entrepreneurs are born or made, which has led to an ongoing debate in the entrepreneurship academy about whether we can actually teach individuals to be entrepreneurs. With this in mind, this two‐part paper aims to address the question of whether or not entrepreneurship can be taught.

In part I the importance of entrepreneurship in a modern, constantly changing environment is outlined, and the various ways in which entrepreneurship programmes can be categorised are considered. Attention is given to the various difficulties associated with the design of programmes, as well as their objectives, content and delivery methods. Part II of the paper focuses on the difficulties associated with programme evaluation and the various approaches adopted to determining and measuring effectiveness. This leads to a discussion on whether or not entrepreneurship can be successfully taught.

Despite the growth in entrepreneurship education and training programmes, the paper reports that little uniformity can be found. Attention is drawn to the art and the science of entrepreneurship, with the consensus that at least some aspects of entrepreneurship can successfully be taught.

The authors highlight the need for evaluating programmes and for educators and trainers to have a fuller understanding of what they wish to achieve from their programme from the outset in order to ensure a more accurate assessment of the outcomes.

Despite a growing body of literature in the field, there is still considerable uncertainty as to whether entrepreneurs are born are made, which has led to an ongoing debate in the entrepreneurship academy about whether we can actually teach individuals to be entrepreneurs. With this in mind, this two‐part paper aims to address the question of whether or not entrepreneurship can be taught.

Part I of the paper dealt with the importance of entrepreneurship in a modern and constantly changing environment; the various ways in which entrepreneurship programmes and courses can be categorised, and the objectives, content and delivery of programmes. The second part of the paper, which is presented in this issue, deals with the topic of determining and measuring programme effectiveness.

Despite the growth in entrepreneurship education and training programmes, the paper reports that little uniformity can be found. Attention is drawn to the art and the science of entrepreneurship, with the consensus that at least some aspects of entrepreneurship can successfully be taught.

The authors highlight the need for evaluating programmes, and for educators and trainers to have a fuller understanding of what they wish to achieve from their programme from the outset, in order to ensure a more accurate assessment of the outcomes.

There had been many pieces of research on international expansion approaches, and they continued to grow. However, research about the firms belonging to emerging nations and that went global were still in the early stages. It had been argued that most theories on international expansion had focused on explaining the internationalization of large firms, majorly originating in developed countries. This case study offers an intriguing reading about an Indian MNC, successfully entering the developed markets and competing thereof amidst tough and complex world. Moreover, the leaders like Baba Kalyani met the stiff challenge from complexities and disruption successfully through entrepreneurial mindset. The case study offers insights into “Creating Value Through Entrepreneurial Leadership Framework”.

The case study has been developed through secondary data sources. The published online resources, the firm's annual reports formed the basis of the research work. Author accessed online news articles, auto component industry experts' views and reports from global consultancy firms, and auto industry body such as SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) reports helped the research. The views and interviews by promoters of the company are available online for deeper insights and analysis.

An Indian multinational, Bharat Forge Limited (BFL), was a shining example of achieving global manufacturing standards through perseverance and entrepreneurial leadership. For more than the past four decades, BFL faced complexities, uncertainties and disruptions multiple times, and every time, the business world saw a resurgent company, Bharat Forge. The company achieved growth through diversification, related and unrelated, acquisition, product innovation, portfolio expansion and expansion in domestic and global development. Competitive market, economic slowdown, innovation and technology disruption had not deterred BFL from growing into a worldwide auto component giant. BFL overcame all hurdles with grit and enterprise. It achieved a paradigm shift with over half the revenue from non-automotive sectors such as defence, electric vehicle components, e-mobility, power electronics and aluminium light-weighting.

This case is planned for MBA students, primarily in the second half of the course curriculum. It can be executed in marketing, strategic marketing and strategic management courses. The conceptual framework pertaining to corporate strategy, global expansion, diversification, product development, innovation, disruption, market development and entrepreneurial leadership can be taught through the case. The case is suitable for MBA executive students as well, in courses mentioned above in addition to courses such as strategic leadership.

While the concept of the learning company has now become a fairly well‐established idea within academic and practitioner circles, it is still a concept which is in emergence and thus a certain amount of ambiguity and confusion surrounds it. It is, therefore, necessary not only to develop an understanding of the concept to the point at which it is possible to begin to understand the implications for practice, but also to establish the relationship between the presence and the development of learning company characteristics and organizational performance. Reviews the application of learning company ideas in a primarily small to medium‐sized enterprise environment, and using a case study approach considers the training, development and learning potential of one company after the application of The Learning Company Project questionnaire, developed by The Learning Company Project in Sheffield.

This paper investigates the possibility of combining the fields of organisational learning and total quality to produce combined concepts, methodologies, tools and techniques, which will give increased business benefits and employee emancipation. To focus the study the field of organisational learning is primarily limited to that of the learning organisation and total quality is taken as an umbrella term for a range of mechanistic change initiatives. A critical review of the definitions, historical contexts through the lens of critical theory reveals the underlying mechanistic organisational assumptions of total quality and the more organismic or people‐related assumptions of the learning organisation. A conceptual case is then established for fundamentally integrating both methods to form a holistic framework from which integrated methodologies, tools and techniques can be devised. Two existing models are compared and contrasted to test the validity of the proposed conceptual case. The conclusion to the paper invites those working in the areas of the learning organisation and total quality to rise to the challenge and initiate the steps to create these transforming methods.

In the late eighteenth century, golf emerged as a men's game. Since then, women have striven to play, yet without success. A ratio of around 80 percent of male players against 20 percent female proves that women are far from being accepted in golf. This study, supported by qualitative analyses of women golfers' life stories, attempts to evaluate to what extent this prejudice exists.

The ecological system theory, the causal historical wave model, the intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural factors, and the constraints/facilitators paradigm were first used to support the theoretical model that was defined based on the literature. Second, the model was revisited according to textual data collected from 25 narratives of women in the nineteenth century. The present research applies this model throughout a set of six life stories of contemporary Portuguese women who excelled in golf, attempting to test the persistence of this discrimination.

The results highlight that structural and interpersonal factors persist across time. Some aspects of women's lifestyle did not change much since some cultural values are difficult to overcome. The research highlights that the exclusion of women, more than explicit discrimination, is a cultural factor engrained in their daily lives, meaning that women exclude themselves, tacitly accepting this discrimination.

The research focuses only on Portuguese women. Further studies should evaluate the pertinence of these factors amongst other nationalities and cultures.

The low participation of women in golf is acknowledged by golf stakeholders in Portugal, but this has not been the object of research; thus, to the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper about this subject in Portugal.

This chapter of exploratory nature aims to provide an account of the reviewed literature and presents some empirical cases to come to conceptualize dogs as social actors with different legitimate roles in the working, social, private, economic, and family life of human beings.

This chapter is the product of a research inspired by the great interest of the authors on rising awareness of the importance of dogs in human working lives. For this, a purposive literature review took place; we consulted scientific studies databases, and also gathered information from market research agencies, and other general media resources. To have a more comprehensive view, and to respond to a specific question on dogs at the workplace, a selection of cases is used to illustrate. For the case studies, secondary data research was used, and individual, structured interviews were conducted and analyzed.

This chapter reviews the relationship between humans and animals. It identifies attitudes and perception toward animals, highlighting the evolution of the intimate bond and the deep relationship between dogs and humans. It describes some cases of dogs as working beings at the service of human functions and dimensions of the pet care markets. Finally, it presents some cases of pet-friendly work environments.

The novel contribution of this chapter is putting dogs in the management of diversity academic literature. In this study, we find that the role, meaning, and purpose of dogs in people’s lives (and in many cases in organizations) are being underestimated. Including and making visible the presence of dogs in the personal, work, and well-being of people represents challenges to be addressed by managers. Additionally, it represents challenges to think about and investigate the welfare of dogs that interact with human beings in productive environments.

Despite the economic downturn, the Northern Ireland agri-food sector has remained resilient experiencing export growth, particularly in emerging economies. The sector recognises that to maintain its competitive advantage in both existing and new markets it will require a business strategy focused on product, service and process innovation. The purpose of this paper is to explore how firms within the sector consider how this will impact upon future skills and training needs and identifies where the industry considers the appropriate policy interventions are required.

A survey was undertaken to explore how innovation and technology adoption within the agri-food and drinks sector is impacting on educational and skills requirements. In total, 30 companies were interviewed, providing representation from all the food and drinks sub-sectors and covering at least 50 per cent of employee numbers in each sub-sector. The survey focuses on current and future skills requirements for specific cohorts of employees in the sector; specifically those who have undertaken further full-time training beyond minimum school leaving age. In addition, it aimed to seek employer feedback on those entering the labour market for the first time.

The results support the need for strong intermediate levels of educational attainment. In addition, the acquisition of work-related generic skills is essential for creating a more “flexible” and multi-skilled workforce. Up-skilling programmes, particularly for lower to mid-level management roles, will become increasingly important in the future. Experience gained through work placement and vacation and weekend work is viewed very positively. Companies expressed a greater need for engagement between the further and higher education sectors and industry in relation to the content, design and delivery of educational programmes to adequately meet the needs of the sector.

At a time when government is looking to growth in the private sector to stimulate economic growth in the wider economy, this paper highlights the skills and training challenges which have emerged within the Northern Ireland agri-food sector, in response to business strategies which are more focused on product, service and process innovation.