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This paper aims to focus on professional development in the education sector. Its goal is to understand team leaders’ roles in teachers’ professional learning. Second, this paper seeks to understand the influence that team leaders have on teachers’ learning path strategies.

Following from van der Krogt’s (2007a) Learning Network Theory (LNT), this paper presents a qualitative study of teachers’ preferences for specific learning path strategies. Interview data were collected from teachers (N = 24) and team leaders (N = 5) at an intermediate vocational school in the Netherlands. Research questions ask to what extent teachers learning path strategies align with the learning path strategies that their team leaders think they should use, and about the influence team leaders have on teachers’ professional development.

Findings suggest that teachers and team leaders’ beliefs about learning path strategies differ greatly, and that team leaders have limited influence on the learning path strategies that teachers adopt. On the other hand, team leaders appear able to create conditions in which teachers can pursue professional learning because they do have influence on learning facilities.

These findings add to the scarce empirical evidence regarding LNT, learning path strategies and team leaders beliefs about teachers professional development. They also imply practical changes for team leaders who want to influence teacher professional development.

Employees are increasingly expected to organize their own human resource development activities. To what extent and how exactly employees in various organizational contexts manage to shape their individual learning paths however remains largely unclear. The purpose of this present study is to explore, leaning on the empirical Learning-Network Theory (LNT) research and its findings, how employees in different occupations create learning paths that are attuned to their specific work context.

The paper reviews 23 MSc theses based on 14 distinct data sets collected between 2005 and 2015, containing approximately 1,484 employees from some 45 organizations and across various professions. The teachers, nurses, postal, software, telecom, railway and logistics company employees were mostly based in the Netherlands. The analysis focuses on learning-path types and learning-path strategies found in the 23 studies.

Motives, themes, activities, social contexts and facilities were found to be instrumental in explaining differences among individual learning paths. A total of 34 original learning-path types and strategies were found to cluster under 12 higher-order labels. Some of these were based on learning motive, some on learning theme, some on core learning activities, some on social learning context and a few on a combination of these elements. Overall, the socially oriented learning-path strategy was the most prevalent, as it was found among nurses, employees of software/postal/telecom, railway and logistics company employees, as well as teachers in two schools.

The paper presents the first overview of empirical studies on employee learning path(s) (strategies). In addition, it strengthens the empirical basis of the LNT.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

In today’s workplace, employees are taking responsibility for their own learning and development. The learning paths they take are often strategically motivated and directed, as opposed to simply provided and planned by human resource professionals. Some learning-path types can be found specific to certain occupations, while learning-path strategies and motives can be found in employees regardless of occupation. For successful learning, individual learning paths must be recognized and it is also necessary to consider a specific occupational context.

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The purpose of this study was to explore how customer-facing professionals (CFPs) created learning paths to adapt to changing customer needs in a digital environment.

Two groups of CFPs were created from a previous single-case study to examine the learning paths of the two groups. Both groups were digitally competent yet differed in their ability to adapt to the increased usage of digital technologies by their customers: adaptive or conservative CFPs. Research questions addressed perceived learning needs, learning strategies to meet needs and factors that helped or hindered success. Transcripts were coded based on the five elements of a learning path, described within the learning network theory (i.e. motives, learning themes, learning activities, social context and facilities), using the Dedoose coding software. Group findings were compared to identify similarities and differences in their learning path elements.

CFPs learning path elements varied individually and between adaptive and conservative CFPs. Individually, they varied in learning themes: digital or traditional customer-facing competencies and learning activities such as learning from experience, self-directed learning and learning from others. Drive and ambition emerged as a learning motive for several CFPs in both groups. Although small samples, adaptive CFPs saw a need for digital competencies and engaged in self-directed learning (e.g. solving problems and using digital technologies), more so than conservative CFPs. A positive work environment (e.g. healthy relationships and support from others) was perceived as necessary for success for both groups.

This study sheds light on how one’s approach toward technology influences the creation of one’s learning path. It shows the increased importance of digital competencies for CFPs in a digital world and how CFPs who embrace technology develop technological savviness, solve problems using online resources and experiment with technology and systems, strive for self-sufficiency and rely on self-directed learning.

Human resource development (HRD) is an important field within management. Developing employees is often regarded as an instrument to improve the internal labor market and support organizational change. Organizing HRD to these ends, however, is frequently a problematic affair, in terms of training effectiveness, participant motivation and added value. This study, which consists of two parts, aims to investigate the question of why this is the case. In this second part, two specific aspects of the learning-network theory are elaborated: multiple experiences in organizations forming the basis of employee learning and development, and different actor strategies for organizing HRD.

The paper presents a conceptual framework to argue that one of the main reasons why organizing HRD is problematic lies in the limited and one-sided conceptualization of organizing HRD that is often used.

Organizing HRD is mostly viewed as designing training courses and instruction sessions for employees; it is also predominantly understood as a tool of management. The paper proposes a network perspective on organizing HRD, which is better able to guide organizational actors than other approaches can, by taking into account a broader set of HRD practices and viewing employees (besides managers) as key stakeholders.

The study argues that organizing HRD needs to take into account learning experiences that employees can gain from participating in work and career development as well (besides formal training); moreover, that employees’ HRD strategies are at least as important as those used by line managers and HR practitioners.

The purpose of this study was to explore what agile learning strategies businesses need to develop agile core competencies to respond to the uncertainty of the rapidly changing business environment and sustain their competitive advantage. Technology advances and unexpected crises have created an ever-changing environment in which traditional static corporate training methods have failed to continuously provide employees with the ability to listen to and interpret the rapid changes and respond accordingly.

This qualitative exploratory multi-case study was useful to explore what agile learning strategies businesses need to develop agile core competencies to sustain their competitive advantage. Snowball sampling enabled the discovery of 15 participants who represented 10 different industries. Participants represented both management and non-management roles. Data were collected from multiple sources such as interviews, observations, researcher notes and document reviews. A thematic analysis model was used to analyze the collected data.

The findings substantiated that organizations are operating in a fast-changing environment where agile learning strategies are vital to surviving. The data also showed that agile learning strategies must include individual learning paths to continuously develop employees’ agile skills to build their organizations’ agile core competencies.

This study underlined the importance of adopting agile learning strategies to help employees listen and accurately interpret their organizations’ external environments to enable quick responses to changes. Without agile learning strategies, organizational agile core competencies and competitive advantage will progressively decline.

The research question is how can a company implement a circular innovation in a supply network context? Leveraging the main conceptual and interpretative models of the industrial marketing and purchasing thinking, this study aims to investigate the interplay between the process of circular innovation development and the changes in the structure and dynamics of the supply network in which innovation takes place.

This research applies a case study design focusing on participant interaction dynamics. The case relates to an industrial company producing an innovative coating solution for compostable packaging. The data used to develop the case study came from multiple sources but primarily from semistructured interviews that cover the implementation of the circular innovation and the configuration of the circular network.

The dynamics of interconnected relationships can configure a circular network that interconnects business and non business actors through vertical, horizontal and heterogeneous relationships. The network configuration is supported by the new mobilizer actor that facilitates the sharing of circular knowledge within the circular network, together with the sharing of a market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation within the supply network, through the educational learning path.

This paper aims to contribute to a new understanding of how circular innovation can be developed, adopted and diffused. In a network, when circular innovation takes place, the focal issue is not the new product or technology in itself but how such innovation is developed and implemented by and through the reconfiguration of the business and non-business relationships into circular network.

The purpose of this research is to provide an insight into the learning process leading to the integration of company responsibility, in companies that are moving from a generic approach of Corporate Social Responsibility towards a holistic approach of stakeholder management. The analysis of a case study of a multinational Italian company, Autogrill Group S.p.a., will be explored as an organizational learning process using the framework of a recent approach of Total Responsibility Management.

The method of qualitative research is based on the analysis of the theory of the subject and through the use of various techniques to study the case to give a longitudinal perspective.

The use of the case study suggests that the path from a CSR perspective toward a stakeholder management model of responsibility is a “gradual” learning process that requires vision, commitment, integration, innovation, competence, management systems and resources. This learning process is also very important as a “catalyst” of innovation and for the continuous improvement of the company.

In this research the aim is to inquire: How do companies learn to integrate their responsibilities in the process of management, moving from a generic approach of CSR toward a holistic approach of stakeholder management?

The stakeholder management model of Total Responsibility Management in this research is used to assist understanding the importance of managing the company responsibly and to show a way of reading the progress of a multinational company, which is on the path towards a more stakeholder‐oriented model of responsibility.

The aim of this paper is to present an inventory of expert opinions on the factors that influence the participation of registered nurses in continuing professional development (CPD) activities.

A Delphi study was conducted among 38 Dutch experts (nursing employers, managers, education institutions, and professional associations). Data collection comprised three rounds: experts completed two consecutive rounds of questionnaires and participated in a discussion meeting.

Main influencing factors were: a CPD registration system, the attractiveness of the nursing profession, nurses ' identification with the nursing profession, opportunities for workplace learning, the line manager as role model, and attractive education programs.

Being part of a larger study, for the present paper only nursing experts were asked their opinion about shaping CPD for nurses. Further research should bring in the views of nurses themselves and investigate how the wider environment influences CPD participation.

As all stakeholders were found to have their own roles in the CPD process, collaboration among employers, managers, education institutions, and professional associations will be crucial to create a conducive learning climate for nurses. HRD practitioners in healthcare can use the study findings to advise hospitals about implementing the right conditions to support CPD for nurses.

A qualitative study using the Delphi method to discover factors influencing CPD in nursing had not been conducted before. Unlike many studies looking essentially at formal education, the present paper takes into account workplace learning among nurses as well.