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The purpose of this paper is to introduce and develop the argument that e‐learning technologies and techniques can play a pivotal role in encouraging and facilitating organizational learning, by transforming tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge and diffusing it throughout the organization.

By synthesising the evidence in organizational learning, information technology (IT) and e‐learning research domains, this paper challenges the assertion that tacit information cannot be effectively transformed or diffused by technological means. The notion of organizational learning is examined, particularly in relation to the applicability or otherwise of anthropomorphic models. The cyclic nature of individual and organizational learning models is then discussed and a synthesized construct is offered. The importance of tacit knowledge expression and transfer in this cyclic model is examined, and the role of IT and e‐learning techniques is considered as a means of encouraging tacit knowledge transformation and flow.

Topics of reflection, independence, creation of “safe” learning spaces and the importance of collaboration in learning are demonstrated as being some of the most synergistic issues. These are under‐researched topics, though. There is significant potential for effective collaborative research amongst the organizational learning, IT and e‐learning pedagogy research communities, addressing issues such as the effective extraction and communication of tacit knowledge.

This originality and value of this paper lies in the synthesis of evidence from research and practice domains that have traditionally been disparate, demonstrating that the information technology and e‐learning pedagogy fields can offer effective means of enhancing organizational learning.

Distance learning (DL) programmes are becoming increasingly popular in higher education. Overcoming feelings of isolation that may occur due to the reduced support available, the few possibilities of social interaction and the non-existent campus atmosphere in online courses, have become one of the major challenges of designers and instructors of DL programmes. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper provides an example of how the authors can create and use virtual world (VW) learning spaces that not only match the face-to-face learning experience, but also enhance it. Innovation@UWE Island in Second Life, home of the MA education in virtual worlds, is an example of pedagogical innovation that capitalises on what VWs have to offer to social aspects of teaching and learning. In this programme the authors use a three-dimensional virtual space to provide postgraduate students – physically located in diverse geographical areas of the world – with a sense of community and connectedness that matches the sense of belonging that often accompanies the on-campus learning experience.

The paper provides examples of students engaging in an environment where traditional conceptions of both “teaching” and “learning” do not apply, where the four-walled classroom is not the only setting where learning happens, where everyone in the group can potentially be an instructor or a peer, an expert or a novice, and learn from each other in a meaningful way.

This paper introduces the rationale behind the choice of architecture of the learning environment as well as the instructional design of the programme to enhance co-presence and place presence, to build a true community of practice and to foster collaboration for reflective learning.

This paper aims to examine factors which influence how tacit knowledge is built and applied by client-facing consultants.

Qualitative methods (interviews, thematic analysis) were used to gather and analyse data from 15 consultants in an agricultural extension context.

Twenty-six factors about how tacit knowledge is built and applied to action emerged, and are presented grouped into four areas: tacit knowledge needed to be successful; how tacit knowledge is presently built; challenges in turning knowledge into action; and ways that building tacit knowledge might be better supported by the organization.

How the building of tacit knowledge can be accelerated for new organizational members will be of interest to those not only in agricultural extension, but more generally to those managers in organizations who must design and implement training and mentoring programmes for those who support customers and users of their products and services.

The findings provide insight into the mechanisms of building tacit knowledge in client-facing consultants. The experience-based perceptions about effective knowledge-building processes and strategies may contribute to more effective intake and training programmes for consultants.

This article explores the law relating to the sexual abuse of people with learning difficulties and proposes a number of key changes that need to take place in order to offer people with learning difficulties greater protection from abuse.

The purpose of this paper is to review some of the learning technologies associated with teaching and learning in higher education (HE). It looks at e‐learning and information technology (IT) as tools for replacing the traditional learning experience in HE, i.e. the “chalk and talk” lecture and seminar. HE is on the threshold of being transformed through the application of learning technologies. Are we on the brink of a new way of learning in HE after a tried and tested formula over 800 years?

Adopting a case based approach, the fieldwork for this research took place at two UK Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). A number of units that included IT‐based learning were identified. All units included a web site that was aimed at supporting students' learning. The data were collected through unstructured discussion with the lecturer and a questionnaire to students.

This paper considers and highlights the key findings from the sample linking them to the literature with the purpose of testing the aim/title of this paper. Evidence suggested the implications for HEIs are they cannot assume that presenting new technologies automatically makes their institutions “youth friendly”; this new generation would like to see some concrete benefits of technology.

From this small‐scale investigation this paper attempts to investigate in which direction HE might go. Is this generation wanting a step change? Evidence from this research suggests not – new technologies will only play a bit part. They can help free up time in order to engage and support students in new and interesting ways.

The objective of the pilot study reported on here was to identify some of the more elusive “costs and benefits” of work‐based learning (WBL) placements. This was addressed by exploring the views and experience of a small number of human resource development (HRD) professionals who currently offer supervised work‐based learning placements to full‐time post‐graduate HRD students.

The small qualitative study outlined was a pilot, focused initially on the perceptions of one set of stakeholders within the placement process, the HRD professionals. By means of questionnaires and interviews the participants were invited to reflect on their interpretation of the tangible and intangible costs and benefits to the organisation, the supervisor/mentor, the student and the university.

The findings imply that there are a number of non‐financial costs and benefits that may not be widely recognised but which may have significance when seeking/agreeing placement opportunities.

This is a small‐scale study, and may have limited transferability.

In due course the study will be extended to examine the perspectives of other stakeholders.

Evidence from the literature suggests that obtaining and sustaining good quality WBL placements can be difficult. A reflection on potential “non standard” costs and benefits may assist organisations to weigh up these more ephemeral but potentially important factors and aid decision‐making about the viability and desirability of offering WBL placements and at the same time develop awareness of non‐standard costs and benefits amongst those seeking to set up placements for their students.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

New Public Management-informed pay-for-performance policies are common in public sectors internationally but can be controversial with delivery agents. More attention is needed on contingent forms of bottom-up implementation of challenging policies, in emerging market economies, for professionals who face tensions between policies and their codes of practice. Street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) mediate policy implementation through discretionary practices; health professionals have enhanced space for discretion based on autonomy derived from professional status. The authors explore policy implementation, adaptation and resistance by physicians, focusing on payments for health workers in Turkey.

The researchers conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with 12 physicians in Turkish hospitals and thematic analysis of interview transcripts, using a blended (deductive and inductive) approach.

The policy fostered discretionary behaviours such as cherry-picking (high volume, low risk procedures) and pro-social rule-breaking (e.g. “upcoding”), highlighting clinical autonomy to navigate within policy restrictions. Respondents described damage to relationships with patients and colleagues, and dissonance between professional practice and perverse policy incentives, sometimes leading to disengagement from clinical work. Policymakers were perceived to be detached from the realities experienced by SLBs. Tensions between the policy and professional values risked alienating physicians.

This study utilises participant self-reported perceptions of discretionary behaviours. Further work may adopt alternative methods to explore the relationship between self-reporting and observed practice.

The authors contribute to research on differentiated, contingent roles of groups with high scope for discretion in bottom-up implementation, pointing to the potential for policy-professional role conflicts between top-down P4P policies, and the values and codes of practice of professional SLBs.