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Clearly, the role of front‐line leader (often known as supervisor, team leader, foreman and so on) is a critical, challenging and often unappreciated role. However, the role must be performed effectively if work teams are to optimise their effectiveness. This paper argues that four practices, easily stated but difficult to fully implement, are required in order to fully develop the front‐line leadership function. The practices are: implement a well‐focused system of goals and feedback; employ rigorous leadership selection processes (including the removal of ineffective leaders); maintain well‐developed and evolving human resource management systems; and implement training and development as an ongoing process. The rationale for each practice is provided as well as examples from experience.

Corporate leadership development can no longer simply rely on planning the replacement of existing leaders. The function of leadership is moving from a transactional to a transitional mode and leaders will increasingly work to inspire knowledge era workers within a constantly changing organisation to embrace an unknown future. In order to meet this leadership development challenge, this article proposes a three‐track model of leadership development based on theory and practice. It is aimed not at individual leaders, but at the total leadership function. The three tracks are: a business track where individuals study the total enterprise and its business environment; a leadership track which teaches behaviourally‐based skills to influence individuals, teams and the total organisation; and a personal track where the individuals understand themselves and how to best manage their personal resources.

Describes a management development programme which has evolved to give middle and upper managers a “bird′s eye view” of their own organization as a total enterprise. Completed over ten to 12 months, the course employs a variety of action learning techniques including a pre‐course workbook (which can only be completed by interviewing key executives in the organization), syndicate teams, a week‐long residential workshop and project teams assigned to complete real‐life projects within the organization with recommendations presented to a panel of top executives.

Describes a three‐track process for executive leadership development (TTL) intended to develop a cadre of strategic business leaders for the next decade. TTL consists of three simultaneous tracks of activity requiring as much as 18 months, during which participants also perform their regular jobs. It has three objectives, corresponding to the tracks of activity: the business track ‐ solves real‐life business problems thereby supporting the business while providing each individual participant with increased expertise in an area previously unknown to him or her; the leadership track ‐ enables participants to lead individuals, groups and organizations more effectively; and the personal track ‐ helps participants appreciate and more effectively utilize their innate personal skills, values, predispositions and traits. Examines results to date and shows that this leadership development process has already provided substantial returns to many individuals and organizations.

Describes an action learning programme implemented at Pilkington UK to train supervisors in new and more complex aspects of their jobs. Moving away from a purely technical focus, the role had become much more proactive and focused on productivity improvement. Small groups of from four to eight supervisors completed a six‐month training programme during which they completed a process improvement project within their work area. Reports the outcomes which showed high satisfaction with the training, very high attainment of National Vocational Qualifications and the contribution of at least £1.5 million to the business.

Systems of pay have, appropriately, been the result of the demands of organisational structure. The complex hierarchical organisations of yesteryear were supported by the equally complex “factor analysis” system of pay administration. As organisational structures evolved into flatter, simpler designs, so pay systems became less complex. But now organisations are changing in a very fundamental way. They may appear to have little structure at all. They may just grow to meet the current needs; their structure has become organic. Likewise, pay systems will have to adapt. The author discusses traditional methods of pay for the job, pay for skills and incentives as well as team pay in light of the demands of the organic organisation. Ultimately it appears that pay, as a separate system within HR may disappear altogether. Organisations will move toward attracting, rewarding and retaining their employees through the design of a highly individualised “HR Environment”.

As a manufacturer of float glass in an international market, Pilkington Glass Limited begins a multi‐faceted approach to improving its quality and reducing its costs to cope with increasing competition. Explains how, with cost cutting, there inevitably came downsizing and a need for increased skill training of its workforce. A supervisory training programme was designed and implemented to increase supervisors’ skills in specific manufacturing‐related areas that support the main goals of increasing quality and cutting costs. Through a small‐group action‐learning design, supervisors completed projects which produced bottom‐line contributions to the organization which more than paid for the programme itself. Maintains that other evaluative indicators were equally positive, such as trainee responses to the training, the achievement of NVQs leading to pay‐grade increases and the acceptance of the approach by top management.

Many organizations now utilize action learning, and it is applied increasingly throughout the world. Action learning appears in numerous variants, but generically it is a form of learning through experience, “by doing”, where the task environment is the classroom, and the task the vehicle. Two previous reviews of the action learning literature by Alan Mumford respectively covered the field prior to 1985 and the period 1985‐1994. Both reviews included books as well as journal articles. This current review covers the period 1994‐2000 and is limited to publicly available journal articles. Part 1 of the Review was published in an earlier issue of the Journal of Workplace Learning (Vol. 15 No. 2) and included a bibliography and comments. Part 2 extends that introduction with a schema for categorizing action learning articles and with comments on representative articles from the bibliography.

Contains a review of the literature on research conducted to investigate organizational practices in downsizing after a restructure and the effects of these practices on the organization and its employees, in particular, and on other stakeholders in general. Based on the literature review, proposes a process model for the development and implementation of downsizing plans. The objective of the model is to provide a guide to be used by organizations when downsizing to ensure that the interests of all stakeholders are taken into account. The proposed model is tested through a field research in the form of case studies of five major organizations in Canada. Outlines the actual practices of these organizations and compares them with the proposed process model, both collectively and individually. Analyses the differences and proposes a new revised model that emphasizes not only the downsizing process itself, but also what organizations must do during and after downsizing to ensure that employees′ needs are met and that the new strategic goals that prompted the downsizing are achieved. Draws two conclusions from the research which are incorporated into the final proposed model.