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Manufacturing companies increasingly have to deal with uncertainty and complexity without being sufficiently prepared for it. High-reliability organizations (HROs) successfully deal with dynamic and unknown situations. The authors ask the question whether learning concepts of HROs can be a role model for manufacturing companies and if their learning principles can be successfully applied there. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The authors’ research is based on high-reliability theory and former qualitative empirical studies on learning and development of mission-based HRO. The authors compare their learning practice with learning and development demands of the own empirical cases studies of three manufacturing firms.

Learning concepts in the manufacturing firms are disconnected from their practical demands. In HRO in contrast, learning and development follows a distinct choreography, with a focus on collective reflection. Manufacturing firms can learn from HROs about learning principles especially with respect to collective reflection-on-action in order to develop situational awareness. However, the HROs’ learning should not be seen as a strict role model as their work organization differs significantly from that of manufacturing firms.

The research is based on in-depth case analyses (e.g. interviews and observation). The outcomes are case specific and focus on manufacturing firms. Hence, only patterns or principles can be generalized. To gain a more complete picture, the authors suggest further case analyses in different industries.

Manufacturing firms can benefit from learning principles of HROs, like combining formal and informal learning and collective reflection on practice.

The paper connects previous research on HRO with original empirical research on manufacturing firms. Through the matching of data, the authors contribute to the discussion on whether the concept of HROs can be seen as a role model for learning and development in manufacturing firms.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the institutionalization of screening and metrics in conventional finance and reflect upon the implications for Islamic finance.

The study involves the analysis of archival data, interviews and fieldwork with current impact investors in North America and the European Union to trace the historical development of impact investing screening and metrics.

First, the paper explores how conventional investors have applied positive and negative screens in the creation of their values/mission-based investment strategies. This is followed by a historical analysis of the development and implementation of impact metrics and regulatory frameworks that influenced the growth of conventional impact investing. The possible benefits of learning from these experiences for the Islamic finance industry are then considered. The paper concludes with an analysis of the potential value of mission/values-based investing for the economic development of the Middle East and North Africa region.

Though not a comprehensive study of institutionalization, this study supports recent calls for more intentional use of capital for blended returns within Islamic markets. To support these initiatives, it provides scholars and practitioners with multiple recommended points of entry into this growing market.

There has been scant organizational research examining the development of best practices within the impact investment community and how these might be applied to other contexts such as Islamic finance.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and economic performance, with focus on social cooperative enterprises (SCEs) that work in non-profit sectors.

A survey was developed and administered in Italy. A final sample of 151 SCEs participated in the study. Data were collected on IC measures, social enterprise activities and economic and mission-based performance outcomes.

Two hypotheses that proposed a positive association between IC sub-components (i.e. human capital, structural capital and relational capital) and the economic and mission-based performance of SCEs were tested. Findings highlight that human capital contributes to explain economic performance which is positively affected by the presence of graduate employees and value added per employee. However, economic performance is negatively affected by the yearly training per employee. In addition, human and relational capital contribute to explain mission-based performance which is positively affected by yearly training, the value added per employee and the quality of relationships with customers. However, mission-based performance is negatively affected by the relationships’ quality with the reference territorial community. Therefore, relational capital would seem to affect only mission-based performance, and human capital influences both dimensions of corporate performance. Structural capital does not affect social cooperatives’ performance.

Some of the results in this study are particular to this research setting. It is therefore important for senior leaders of SCEs to take the results of general IC literature with a grain of salt. Whereas most of the academic literature generally supports the positive relationship of all IC sub-components (i.e. human, structural and relational capital) with performance outcomes, this is not the case in this particular study.

This is the first empirical study that has examined the linkages between IC sub-components and performance outcomes in SCEs in Italy.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study used in a strategic sales class that employs the use of work-based learning pedagogy to expose students to real-life cold calling experiences. This real-life cold calling experience involves students within the course building a target list of prospective students for a small liberal arts college. The students must then construct pre-call strategies, build rapport with prospective students and finally “close the deal” by having the prospective student visit campus.

This paper begins by describing work-based learning as a unique pedagogical method and the importance of cold-calling skills in the context of workplace skills in demand. Theoretical foundations in Lichtenstein and Lyon’s (1996) entrepreneurial skillset is analyzed, as is the application of “live” group projects. The case is then described in detail and focuses on the project itself, the personal and group incentives used in the course of the project, and finally, a review of the learning outcomes and desired skillset outcomes for the class.

The case shows that students can learn and implement the behaviors, attitudes and practices that make professional cold-callers successful. The impact on the university can also be seen since real contributions were made to the recruiting efforts of the college vis-à-vis higher matriculation numbers. The entrepreneurial skillsets and “live” group project literature is contextualized in light of the findings of the project. This research found that students engaged in varying levels of progress in their managerial, entrepreneurial, technical skillsets as well as levels of personal maturity. Finally, the authors provide guidance for future research to expound the findings of this project by testing the variables using quantitative methodologies.

The paper showcases an innovative pedagogic approach to exposing students to the best practices of cold-calling and allows them to exercise these tools real time as they make actual cold calls and work toward sales incentives. The focus on recruiting new students as customers of the college serves is not only active classroom learning, but it also serves mission-based outcomes to help the college achieve desired recruiting goals. This case study will provide a tool for small, liberal arts colleges to use which mobilizes faculty and students in the effort to recruit new students, in an environment where enrollment numbers are falling for this market sector in higher education.

The purpose of this paper – PART II – is to present the lived experiences of Sensuous Organisational Learning drawn from the educational practices and learning culture of the Norwegian Defence University College, Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy’s (RNoAFA) approach to growing (Military) leaders.

The paper reflects the co-creation of actionable knowledge between military officers, academics at the RNoAFA and international scholars engaged as research collaborators. The objective is to present the benefits of “practising knowing through dialogical exchange” (MacIntosh et al., 2012) as an approach to co-creating knowledge for responsible action. In this case, the authors present the conceptualisation and illustration of the idea of the New Learning Organisation they advance.

The Sensuous Organisational Learning – 8As framework explains how Attentiveness, Alertness, Awareness, Appreciation, Anticipation, Alignment, Activation and Agility form an integral part of the educational strategy that enables the RNoAFA to respond to the wider Educational Reforms and Modernisation programme of Norwegian Defence. The RNoAFA is presented as an illustration of how the New Learning Organisation serves the common good if Institutional Reflexivity and High Agility Organising were key aspects of the Learning Leadership it fosters.

Consistent with MacIntosh et al.’s (2012) dialogical exchanges the authors present the relational and intersubjective nature of meaningful dialogue between the co-authors that provides scope for integrative stories of practice. The resulting illustrative example of the New Learning Organisation, is an account of the learning experienced. Hence, this paper is presented neither as a traditional empirical paper nor as a self-disclosing or even auto-ethnographic account. Instead, it is one of a series of research outputs from innovative research collaboration between the authors all committed to “practising knowing”.

The New Learning Organisation promoted here focuses on responsible action to serve the common good. Investing in Institutional Reflexivity becomes critical in continuing to broaden the ways of being and becoming. As individuals, communities and organisations, that comprise the institution (in this case Norwegian Defence) grow and elevate their practical judgements to serve the common good the capacity to engage in reflexive critique heightens organisational agility and leadership.

Embedding care as the essence of learning not only enables accepting mistakes and owning up to these mistakes, but reinforcing the strength of character in doing so demonstrating what it means to be resilient, flexible and ready to respond to the VUCA. This is what permits High Agility Organising to foster learning on an ongoing basis driving the commitment to continually renew operational and professional practices. By focussing on how the common good can be better served, the New Learning Organisation cares to pursue the higher purpose that social actions must serve.

Advancing leadership as a personal, relational and organisational quality supported by an orientation towards practising goes beyond single, double and triple loop learning. In doing so, the Learning Leadership that drives the New Learning Organisation energises Attentiveness, Alertness, Awareness, Appreciation, Anticipation, Alignment, Activation and Agility. This paper marks a new chapter in Organisational Learning research and practice by demonstrating the value of sensuousness as a foundation for improving the practical judgements across professional practices.

Universities engage people in a process of learning. During the past decade, there has been increased interest in assessing the quality of students’ learning. This paper presents the need for developing a method of systematically assessing disciplinary knowledge applied in a cross‐functional team environment. Partnering with business is stressed as a critical link in developing and assessing the learning skills needed to function in today’s knowledge‐based learning organizations. An integrative assessment process for a college of business is proposed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the multidimensional nature of social and nonprofit organisations' accountability and performance measurement systems (PMSs). It further considers how these systems help in defining outcome performance indicators downward to beneficiaries

The paper discusses participatory action research (PAR) within an Italian social enterprise. In order to increase dialogue, participation and engagement, the researchers adopted focus groups as a preferred method of investigation and conducted a broad documental analysis from July 2016 to March 2018. The paper discusses the gathered data in light of the social impact value chain as well as the multiple-constituency approach.

The findings support the idea that social and nonprofit organisations lack the expertise and resources to evaluate outcomes and impact; however, through PAR, the organisation defined their desired outcomes and ascertained which internal output measures were most likely to be correlated with these outcomes. Moreover, the findings highlight that nonprofits develop outcome measurements less frequently because they have more control over their immediate activities and outputs.

This research suggests the need to reinforce lateral and downward accountability based on mission and mission-based activities in order to make the performance management system of social and nonprofit organisation linked to the organisational strategies.

This paper innovates methodologically in two directions: 1) it adopts action research as a qualitative method, allowing the researcher to generate solutions to collectively-identified problems and 2) the paper's arguments are strongly supported by rich empirical exploration that occurred over a period of 20 months in an Italian social enterprise.

Many changes taking place in the nonprofit sector have created an environment in which organizational learning could be regarded as representing a high-profile notion with strategic importance for nonprofit organizations (NPOs), but its application in the nonprofit sector has not received adequate research attention. The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical test of the relationship between learning orientation and NPO performance.

Literature on organizational learning is briefly reviewed and a marketing-focussed perspective on learning is adopted. Then drawing from resource-based theory and relationship marketing, a conceptual model is developed that links learning orientation to NPO performance, predicting that noneconomic performance would mediate between learning orientation and economic performance. Using Baron and Kenny’s mediation regression procedure, this prediction is subjected to an empirical test with survey data collected on 118 NPOs operating in Ghana.

The paper finds a general support for the view that noneconomic performance is the primary organizational feature that drives economic performance and that learning orientation is an outgrowth of this characteristic.

This study addresses the important question of whether paying attention to their mission helps NPOs acquire critical resources from their funding entities, discussing this issue in the context of organizational learning to respond to RBT scholars’ call for more research that highlight the underlying processes through which strategic resources (such as organizational learning) contribute to the organization’s financial outcomes.

Scholars of leadership education have recently called for more “practice fields” that combine leadership experience with deliberate instruction, reflection, and feedback. The value of experience and reflection toward leadership development is widely espoused; yet, few studies assess best practices for their integration within leadership education. Through an assessment of a curricular-based peer mentor program, this article offers a potential model for a successful leadership practice field. Based on an analysis of student feedback, several features of the program are noted for their correlation with leadership learning and developmental gains.