The Development of Management and Leadership Capability and its ...

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same as showing a link to actual performance. Little research has been done either to show the link between management development and changed behaviours in the workplace, or the further link to organisational performance. Indeed, there is some limited evidence to suggest that individual’s reported gains do not necessarily translate into business terms (see box). It is important for research to try and establish a better understanding of what does work and how learning can be translated back into the working environment. Measures of programme effectiveness A research study looking at assisted training programmes for MDs in SMEs (McMullan et al 2001) found no link between their subjective views of the programme’s effectiveness and business performance. Those who thought the programme had been effective were no more likely to show improved business performance after the intervention than those who did not think the course had been effective, although there was a link between the intervention and performance of the businesses overall. There are two possible explanations for these results. The programmes may be effective but individuals may be poor judges of what they have learnt and therefore judge the programmes inaccurately; or the programmes may be ineffective but because of self-selection bias (the fact that successful people may be more likely to undertake programmes) appear to be related overall to performance. More research is needed to find out what the causal relationships are. New methodologies are needed both to demonstrate the link between development and organisational performance and to demonstrate the intervening step, to show that development produces changes in management capability. The most common measure of the outcomes of management development is to use course satisfaction sheets or other selfreports of learning, but evidence relating course satisfaction to actual learning having been achieved is hard to find. New methodologies are needed to develop this line of research. One study of MBA and undergraduate marketing students used the methodology of customer satisfaction research and was able to show that learning was strongly related to course satisfaction (Guolla 1999). It may be that research using more sophisticated methods like this is needed in order for worthwhile results to be found. Similarly, a study by Warr et al (1999) of workers undergoing training (not managers) found that trainees’ reactions to training were actually related to learning outcomes, but not to changed behaviour at work. This may or may not apply to managers - there is insufficient research evidence here - but it does illustrate some strands in the literature which have sought to relate training outcomes to transfer of learning into the workplace. More work needs to be done specifically with managers on this topic. Our assessment is that there are promising new methodologies that are appropriate to this area, based on the position known as ‘critical realism’ in academic and social science circles (see Sayer 1999). This manifests as research and evaluation methodologies to deal with phenomena that deal complex networks of effect and the emergent properties of people and their behaviour, for example Pawson (2002), Pawson and Tilley (1997). 76
7: Priorities for Future Policy and Practice Research This Chapter, summarised in the overview, deals with the kind of research (in terms of outcome and method) that is needed for the future, and the issues that these could be most usefully focused on. In terms of management and leadership development these cover education, training, development and organisational development, processes that affect people prior to, in early and all stages of work and management/leadership careers and activities initiated and invested in by the state, employers and individuals. Overview Our recommendations on further and future research cover three general points on the kinds of research that will most effectively support policy and practice in relation to management and leadership development in the future. These are followed by a comment on what seems to be the most important gaps in our current understanding and some specific points on research opportunities that we see as a result of this review. The first three points are: • the need for more evidence based research in general (7.1), • the need for more research that helps us judge what leads to what (about effect) as well as how things are (description) (7.2), • the balance of research on corporate management and leadership development and the effect of education, training and development as provided external to organisations (7.3). The most important gaps in knowledge, as seen from this review, are reported in 7.4. 7.5 sets out some specific research challenges and opportunities that we see as a result of this review. The general argument for investing in research on management and leadership development is that the public, corporate and individual investment in this development is huge, and the intended benefit even greater. A general principle of evaluation is that spending 10% of a development budget on evaluation more than pays for itself by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the remaining 90% investment (this principle is currently being taken seriously by the National Health Service Leadership Centre and the National College for School Leadership). 7.1 The need for more evidence based research in general As mentioned in other sections of this report, (see for example the review on small business research – Chapter 6 on methodology and Perren 2003), a very large proportion of the literature and reports on management and leadership development is not, to any significant degree, evidence based. Where it is, it is so in a relatively weak form. In Chapter 6 we suggest that the most useful research is based on rigorous quantitative research to show initiative – impact effects, and qualitative research to show the processes 77
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The Development of Management and L
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report has be
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4.3.1 Impact of HRM and management
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1: Executive Summary The executive
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Although it is clear that performan
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initiatives like Investors in Peopl
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concerns the forms of management an
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3: The Nature and Current State of
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programmes or work and often staff
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qualities. It is important to think
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National Management Standards and g
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different levels and in different t
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there is a significant perceived op
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countries, such as Germany, rely on
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Development for senior managers and
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Page 35 and 36: Johnson and Winterton (1999) report
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Page 41 and 42: (Pfeffer, 1998). One of his seven h
Page 43 and 44: • Hoque's study (1999) of over 20
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Page 47 and 48: may make the organisational benefit
Page 49 and 50: Impact of business and management d
Page 51 and 52: Given that, on average, Business an
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Page 57 and 58: Simulations There are several kinds
Page 59 and 60: Managers report high levels of pers
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Page 89 and 90: Bibliography AGR (2001). Graduate S
Page 91 and 92: Burke M and Day R (1986). A cumulat
Page 93 and 94: Dunbar, R (1996) Grooming, Gossip a
Page 95 and 96: Jennings, D. (2002). Strategic mana
Page 97 and 98: NHS (2003). Leadership Qualities Ca
Page 99 and 100: Senge, P (1990). The fifth discipli
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