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This paper sets out to reveal the extent to which the experience of senior managers as organizational change leaders in a time of contemporary crisis may be discerned to reflect strands of earlier globalization theories; to consider any implications for leadership and management learning.

The authors proceed from the colloquium model for knowledge exchange outlined in the editorial introduction to this special issue. In the spirit of reflexive management research the authors bring an epistemological subjectivism – the context of indicative globalization literature (“research”) – to bear upon and interpret ontological realism as revealed by the experiences of senior managers through a contemporary survey of global firms (“practice”). This methodology enlists an ontology informed by critical theory; it proceeds through process denaturalization to potentially transformational knowledge development.

The authors interpret globalization literature to reveal one strand as historically predictive of the insecurity and complexity we have recently experienced in the global economies. An informal and experimental survey along with a range of interviews with senior managers in global firms is undertaken in the wake of a market meltdown (September 2008). Interpreting the experience of these managers in the light of selected globalization literature, we find economic reasoning is more implicit in managers' experiences of globalization, while sociological experience or feeling is more explicit in the same discourses. This epistemological distinction – vocalized as a performance gap – has profound implications for leadership and management education and learning.

The empirical survey was exploratory in nature and not designed to test any particular hypothesis. The theoretical framework and interpretive account were reflexive afterthoughts – an informal, initial take on some results from a survey. Such methodological bricolage is envisaged in reflexive management research and not limited by compliance with normal standards of academic rigor. Beyond the similarities in conceptualization as between selected readings and selected practice, the authors suggest that management learning and education will need to be organized more structurally and systemically if we are to reproduce a more sustainable organizational future.

Senior managers are clearly aware of the problems resulting from systemic failure – they may need to consider a systemic and not a linear solution. This has consequences for management learning and the business school.

This is the first empirical in‐crisis survey interpreted through lenses of economic and sociological dimensions of globalization.

What is it about academia anyway? We profess to hate it, spend endless amounts of time complaining about it, and yet we in academia will do practically anything to stay. The pay may be low, job security elusive, and in the end, it's not the glamorous work we envisioned it would be. Yet, it still holds fascination and interest for us. This is an article about American academic fiction. By academic fiction, I mean novels whosemain characters are professors, college students, and those individuals associated with academia. These works reveal many truths about the higher education experience not readily available elsewhere. We learn about ourselves and the university community in which we work.

The main purpose of the article is to contextualise the potential contribution that experiential learning may offer to those engaged in academic and professional management development, pedagogy and education. It has consequences for a range of applications in this field from curriculum design and teaching to individual/personal development and the recruitment and retention of talent in professional and commercial organisations.

The article suggests an original, conceptual framework for experiential learning that draws on both scholarly and experimental management.

While under‐represented in the scholarly pedagogy of management this article precedes a demonstration of an evidently powerful if methodologically challenging articles on a powerful approach to management development.

This article limits and delimits experiential learning theory and practice. It offers a framework for an empirical mapping of this important area of management practice which is currently under‐represented in academic writing and practice.

This article suggests an array of interdisciplinary applications for the principles of experiential learning.

This paper suggests an original context for our initial EABIS Experiential Learning symposium and the articles that came from it.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of simulations in strategy teaching. The authors’ conceptualization is built upon the benefits and limitations of simulations by establishing a link between the skills required to be a competent manager and the capacity of simulations to develop them.

Using deductive theory building, the authors pinpoint the shortcomings of simulations, and offer a framework categorizing managerial skill development using simulations to teach strategic management.

The authors propose a new perspective on the use of simulations to teach strategic management by elaborating on their effectiveness in developing soft skills related to social issues often overlooked in simulations’ learning outcomes. The framework provides propositions concerning the ability of simulations to develop both soft (societal and human) and hard skills (technical and conceptual) needed by managers.

Literature shows that computer‐based platforms significantly increase the learning process. While such tools are widely used in teaching hard skills for decision making, they are relatively absent from teaching soft skills for decision making. Future studies should empirically explore the extent to which computer‐based platforms help cultivate soft skills.

Simulations are one of the most praised learning tools by management students. MBA administrators and strategy instructors would benefit from improved simulations that take into account the social environment surrounding managers. Expanded simulations, then, might lead to better preparation of management candidates for their tasks. In addition, simulation developers may find guidance in the authors’ conceptualizations to construct more effective teaching aids.

Contrary to the mainstream literature that focuses on hard‐skill development through simulations, this study calls attention to simulations’ capacity to foster the soft‐skills required to be a competent manager.

This submission aims to set out a new conception of value creation. In examining the impact of the downturn on notions of business success, and contemplating potential scenarios for new measures of corporate value, it is proposed to examine the implications for business in adapting to the new economy.

The paper is based on Accenture's unrivalled access to business leaders around the world, both through work with leading multinational companies and a survey of over 800 global CEOs conducted on behalf of the United Nations Global Compact – the largest CEO study on sustainability to date.

In the wake of the financial crisis, significant implications are seen for conceptions of corporate value creation. In examining four potential scenarios for the development of the new economy, it was found that changing notions of business success will demand new capabilities for companies. New skills will be required in creating, measuring and communicating value, from the mechanics of performance management and complex negotiations with stakeholders, often utilising new technologies (such as social networking).

The paper, based on extensive conversations with an unprecedented set of leading global CEOs, posits a new conception of value creation for business in the new economy. By examining the forces shaping businesses' response to societal demands, there are set out some of the ways in which business could respond – and some of the capabilities that will be required to make the transition to a new era of sustainability.

This paper seeks to make a contribution to debate regarding the place of sustainability in the management education curriculum with data regarding the opinions on this question of business leaders across both developed and emerging markets.

The analysis in this paper was conducted at the invitation of the secretariat of the UN PRME, led by a team from Ashridge and EABIS, supported by Accenture, and presented for the first time at the 2nd Global Forum for Responsible Management Education convened by the UN in New York in June 2010. The analysis draws on data collected by Accenture as part of the UN Global Compact‐Accenture CEO Study 2010, which included in‐depth interviews with 50 CEOs, Chairpersons and Presidents of UN Global Compact member companies and an online survey of 766 Global Compact member CEOs.

Among CEOs of those organizations that have begun thinking in a sophisticated way about trends relating to sustainability, there is a growing consensus across both developed and emerging markets, and across different industries and organization type, that management education is one of the most important elements in stimulating the kind of organizational change required to effectively address those trends.

The data suggest that debate in business schools about whether or not sustainability is a real issue deserving of their consideration is becoming less relevant. Questions that become more important include: how to do management education for sustainability well? And how can we effectively stimulate the kind of organizational change that needs to occur in business schools for sustainability to be embraced across the faculty?

Areas for further research include empirical research on both the most effective pedagogical approaches for management education for sustainability, and the most effective strategies for organizational change for sustainability within business schools themselves.

This paper presents a snapshot of business leader opinion from the first part of 2010, and thus complements earlier similar surveys of business leader opinion on the question of the place of sustainability in the management education curricula. This will be of particular interest to administrators and teaching faculty within business schools across both developed and emerging markets.

As a multi‐speed recovery from the downturn accelerates progress towards a multi‐polar world in which economic power is more widely dispersed, the emerging markets will play a critical role in the future success of multinational companies. The imperatives faced by companies seeking to secure their future competitiveness can be better appreciated through an understanding of the sustainability landscape, and this paper seeks to examine perspectives on environmental, social and governance issues from CEOs in the emerging markets.

The paper is based on extensive conversations with business leaders, both through the authors' work with leading multinational companies and their survey of over 800 global CEOs conducted in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact – the largest CEO study on sustainability to date. In the spirit of contributing to the debate on corporate sustainability, the paper presents the findings not as an academic submission, but rather as a reflective practitioner paper based on the authors' applied research. Their intention throughout is to faithfully report the views of the CEOs interviewed and surveyed, offering in places the beginnings of their own explanation of their results, and highlighting areas for future research and engagement by academics and educators.

As one looks towards the next decade, and new waves of growth, it is clear that CEOs are beginning to recognize the scale of the challenge they face in aligning sustainability with core business. They also recognize, however, that this transition will depend on the economy's most powerful force, business – and that, with immediate and sustained action, individual companies can play a critical role in building the foundations of a more sustainable economy. From the wide‐ranging set of interviews and survey responses, it seems that nowhere does this seem to be more keenly felt than in the emerging markets, and it is hoped that this is a timely and useful contribution to advancing the debate, with a unique insight into the views of CEOs and global leaders on what it will take to reach a new era of sustainability.

This paper, based on extensive conversations with an unprecedented set of leading global CEOs, presents perspectives of leading CEOs in the emerging markets. By examining the forces shaping businesses' response to societal demands and the challenges of corporate sustainability, the authors set out some of the ways in which business is responding – and some of the capabilities that will be required to secure companies' competitiveness on the journey to a new era of sustainability.