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Despite their fairly widespread use among large companies, little information is available to those interested in designing, managing, or evaluating high‐potential (fast‐track) management development programmes. In an attempt to fill this void, three sources of programme ineffectiveness are examined: participants′ dissatisfaction, the negative attitudes of non‐participants, and cultural misfit. Also examines ten ineffectiveness‐avoiding lessons for programme design and implementation learned during an in‐depth assessment of one company′s formalized, entry‐level high‐potential management development programme

This study explores policy and practice in relation to a peripheral rural region food support programme for small (micro) food enterprises and the impact on business development and innovation.

An exploratory case study methodology is employed focusing on the effectiveness of a local support programme for micro business development in the food sector, in a European Union peripheral, rural location.

The effective integration of policy and practice in the design and implementation of a public/private partnership programme can enable micro businesses to benefit from Government aid in a collective manner that would not have been possible in a Government–micro enterprise dyadic relationship.

The study focuses on one region and on one particular support programme. However, the research highlights the potential benefits that can accrue to micro food producers, and micro companies more generally from participation in such a programme, and identifies the types of support that are particularly effective for these types of organisations. The research identifies the possibilities and challenges of applying the South Eastern Economic Development type programme to other regions.

The success of such support programmes depends on identifying the needs of the participants at an early stage in the programme and in tailoring training and support accordingly. There are benefits from local government working closely with private consultants as brokers for micro enterprise business development and innovation.

Micro enterprises play key economic, social and cultural roles within their local rural community. Collectively they offer opportunities for rural employment and tourism development.

The chapter addresses a major gap in knowledge around the role of policies and supports in assisting business development and innovation in relation to micro size enterprises, and more specifically food micro enterprises based in peripheral, rural regions.

The difficulty of getting busy executives to focus their attention during management and executive development programmes is discussed. The experience of programmes conducted at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) from 1986 to 1988 is built on. A set of behaviours and attitudes is identified which blocks and creates resistance to learning in programme sessions. To deal with these attitudes and behaviours, a general principle can be useful in programme design: a development programme has to provide a level of stimulation and learning equal to or greater than the experience one is getting in the workplace or from work. Analysis of programme evaluations and follow‐up discussion with participants reveal that three factors can be used to overcome resistance to management development and significantly influence overall programme performance, and these are described and discussed.

BUSINESS SCHOOL GRAFFITI is a highly personal and revealing account of the first ten years (1965–1975) at Britain’s University Business Schools. The progress achieved is documented in a whimsical fashion that makes it highly readable. Gordon Wills has been on the inside throughout the decade and has played a leading role in two of the major Schools. Rather than presuming to present anything as pompous as a complete history of what has happened, he recalls his reactions to problems, issues and events as they confronted him and his colleagues. Lord Franks lit a fuse which set a score of Universities and even more Polytechnics alight. There was to be a bold attempt to produce the management talent that the pundits of the mid‐sixties so clearly felt was needed. Buildings, books, teachers who could teach it all, and students to listen and learn were all required for the boom to happen. The decade saw great progress, but also a rapid decline in the relevancy ethic. It saw a rapid withering of interest by many businessmen more accustomed to and certainly desirous of quick results. University Vice Chancellors, theologians and engineers all had to learn to live with the new and often wealthier if less scholarly faculty members who arrived on campus. The Research Councils had to decide how much cake to allow the Business Schools to eat. Most importantly, the author describes the process of search he went through as an individual in evolving a definition of his own subject and how it can best be forwarded in a University environment. It was a process that carried him from Technical College student in Slough to a position as one of the authorities on his subject today.

The economy of the Palestinian Territories (PT) is small, poorly developed, and highly dependent on Israel; at the same time, the land is limited, Israel controls 80‐85 per cent of the Palestinian water, and there is large‐scale unemployment. Faced with this situation, small and micro‐enterprises have come to play a critical role in the economy of the PT. Donors, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and UNRWA have recognised that many of the managers suffer from managerial weaknesses, and training is one of the long‐term keys to promote the development of small and micro‐enterprises and alleviate the problem of persistent unemployment in the PT. To support the peace agreement, the International Community promised to support the Palestinian economy. Part of this aid has been spent for small and micro‐enterprise development, and for establishing managerial training programmes. These programmes aim to encourage economic development of the PT, through supporting small business education and entrepreneurship training. These programmes suffered from various problems, such as lack of professional trainers, the majority of the managers did not attend the training programme courses, some of these programmesmissed funding. Therefore, some training programmes were closed during the last two years. On the other hand, the managers of small businesses still suffer from various managerial problems. However, this article presents a description of the current situation in PT. Especially, the economic and managerial situation, particularly for the SMEs and TPs in the PT.

The purpose of this article is to explore career development programs for the sales force including benefits, implementation and managerial implications.

Career development programs are viewed through a conceptual model consisting of assessment, direction and development.

This paper provides a comprehensive list of the benefits of a career development program for sales forces.

The conceptual model can serve as a checklist for sales managers to evaluate, add to or modify their programs. The conceptual model also provides a framework for tying together many disparate areas of career development that have been handled separately or ignored in the sales management literature.

This paper provides a comprehensive conceptual model of career development that has not been present in the sales management literature. This should be useful to sales managers in evaluating their own career development efforts. The framework should also be useful to sales management scholars who teach and do research in this area.

This paper is a descriptive case study which seeks to outline how leadership development is being utilised across Queensland Health (Queensland Department of Health, Australia) to achieve improvements in workplace culture and ultimately improvements in clinical care and patient outcomes.

Queensland Health has been implementing a comprehensive organisation‐wide suite of leadership development programs since 2006. This includes a range of specific leadership development programs conducted over a period of time for clinical and non‐clinical staff. It also includes specialist leadership development workshops of shorter duration, online leadership modules, web‐based support, executive coaching and 360‐degree feedback. The programs are based upon experiential learning which engages participants in critical thinking and self‐reflection based upon in‐context experiences relevant to themselves. Ongoing leadership program development has been evidence‐based and identified through 360‐degree feedback outcomes, staff opinion survey outcomes and program evaluation outcomes.

The 360‐degree feedback survey results of participants have improved. This demonstrates that the leadership development programs have impacted positively on participants' workplace behaviour. The culture and climate survey results have improved which demonstrates positive cultural change has taken place. The programs have been evaluated very highly by participants.

This is one of the most comprehensive and innovative leadership development initiatives ever undertaken within the Australian health sector, with over 10,000 participants to date.

This paper highlights the potential value of “return on investment” analysis for leadership development investment methods to better providing research informed decision regarding improving organisational outcomes.

Working with published research on leadership dimensions with greatest impact on student outcomes, return on leadership development formula, and empirical research on Australian university‐based educational leadership programmes, this paper demonstrates an illustrative example of estimating the return on leadership investment.

Using an illustrative example of Australian university‐based educational leadership programmes, this paper argues that methodologies for estimating the return on leadership development offers a powerful tool for making research informed decisions at the individual, organisational and systemic levels.

This paper provides the basis for substantial further work on the measures of impact of leadership preparation and development such as matters of duration of effect, instrumentations of quality, costing and causal models of effect.

The methodology demonstrated in this paper provides a basis for individuals, organisations and school systems to make decisions regarding the resourcing, or not, of school leadership preparation and development.

The methodology demonstrated in this paper provides a basis for individuals, organisations and school systems to make decisions regarding the resourcing, or not, of school leadership preparation and development.

The application of return on investment analysis has been rare in educational leadership preparation and development programmes and its value opens up information for rigorous debate on the resourcing, or not, of programmes by systems, government and individuals.

Based on an ongoing series of research initiatives, this article profiles eight major trends in executive education and leadership development: the emergence of an increasingly competitive marketplace for providers of executive education and leadership development; a growing focus on customized programs; a trend toward shorter, large‐scale, cascaded programs involving staff throughout the organization; a continued trend toward increased use of action learning; a perception that technology and distance delivery will play a more critical role in the future; a significant shift toward experience‐based methodologies like job rotation, task force assignments, action learning and coaching/mentoring; an increased level of importance attached to performance feedback in the development process; and a shift in perspectives toward leadership competencies for the future, with flexibility and adaptability heading the list of critical developmental needs.

This paper aims to fill a void in existing research by focusing on in-company efforts to develop supply chain (SC) talent, with a specific focus on the role that executives can play in this process. This study uses the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and theory of training motivation as theoretical background for the exploration. In addition to that, this paper provides meaningful information for executives aspiring to contribute to the development of supply chain management (SCM) talent including the primary drivers, benefits, barriers and bridges (Fawcett et al., 2008). Using this framework will lead to the development of a conceptual model to facilitate future research efforts.

This paper studies three case companies where there was an active executive engagement in the recruiting, on-boarding and ongoing development of SC talent.

In all three case companies’ executive engagement was high and the executives acted as champions of the SC talent development program including designing and stewardship of the program. They also got personally involved in recruiting, training and mentoring. In alignment with the RBV of the firm, all three case companies were strongly driven by a need to improve the competitive advantage of their firm through the SC competencies and capabilities. This strategic directive is driven by the executive suite and typically involved a combination of goals including improving functional capability development, internal stakeholder relationships and growth in business value contributions. This leads to the need for attracting new talent, due to talent shortages and developing more future-proof capabilities of the SC talent. Talent that is future-proof can effectively handle the current scope of work and successfully implement changes that the SCM strategy aspires to. Hence, the executive ownership is very much driven by a strategic imperative to improve the knowledge, skills and abilities and critical realization of the importance of talent recruitment and development. This study also finds that there are very specific SCM drivers, benefits, barriers and bridges in play making it important for SCM executives and teams to engage and not rely on generic human resource (HR) processes and frameworks only.

We found that in the three case companies’ executive engagement in talent development had a positive impact. We also identified specific roles of the executives such as, the benefit of engagement across multiple hierarchical layers of the organization and, the risk of programs being shorter lived when focused on a narrower talent issue. Our research focus contributes to the existing supply chain literature involving talent management. It also suggests actions for supply chain executives, for the educational provision of universities and multiple research opportunities.

There is no evidence of prior research in fields of HR management, talent development or SCM related to the impact of executive engagement in this process. This paper studies three case companies where there was an active executive engagement in the recruiting, on-boarding and ongoing development of SC talent. Findings show the critical impact of personal and extended engagement of senior-level executives and their leadership teams, in SC talent development. This paper offers specific techniques and approaches, generates suggestions for further research, managerial action and university implications.