Search results

The paper is practitioner-focused with a manager-as-coach applying experiential learning to aid an employee's learning and improve performance as well as helping to build employee commitment to both the job and organization. Reciprocity is intended as the learning and commitment of both the employee and manager are enhanced.

As a conceptual, not empirical, paper, the present study aimed at guiding manager behavior the methodology aims to examine the areas of manager-as-coach, efficacy of coaching, theoretical grounding of employee commitment and experiential learning processes. Study and coordination of information in these areas provided support for a detailed action plan for practical application.

It is possible to create a research results–driven practical guide/action plan for managers. The guide incorporates manager skills and commitment theory (investment) along with an experiential learning approach aimed at improving employee growth and building commitment.

There is clear evidence in empirical research that employee commitment positively relates to work performance, job engagement and job retention. This paper applies investment theory to build commitment as it is based on actual inputs and efforts of the employee.

There is very little research currently available that directly addresses manager-as-coach deliberately working to increase or build employee commitment to job, organization or the manager her/himself. This essay aims directly at how commitment may be enhanced.

Many groups in organisations are unsuccessful in problem solving. However, the principle of continuous improvement necessitates that organisations refine their employees’ problem-solving skills. In this mixed-method, field-based lab experiment, we explored the impact of a treatment to enhance the quality of group problem-solving processes.

We focused on the structured problem-solving process in Kaizen Events by differentiating six consecutive phases. About 16 Kaizen Event groups (101 members) participated in a field-based lab experiment that used a lean simulation game to establish a group problem-solving context. Data were collected via video, surveys and group interviews. We examined if a high-quality process is strengthened through group members’ elevated awareness of problem-solving preferences. About 11 groups received a treatment of tailor-made individual feedback to increase awareness of their problem-solving preferences. Additionally, we repeated the experiment in five control groups, where member preferences were not shared.

In the treatment groups, where problem-solving preferences had been shared, we observed a clear improvement in Kaizen Event process quality and higher problem-solving self-efficacy levels. Moreover, their self-reported Kaizen Event behaviour had changed. Within the control groups, the participants also reported that their problem-solving self-efficacy had improved, but this did not have a positive impact on the quality of the objectively measured Kaizen Event process.

By combining insights from operations management and organisational behaviour, we demonstrate that the structured Kaizen Event problem-solving process improves when group members’ individual problem-solving preferences are shared. We thus add an individual-level variable to the extant models of Kaizen Event success factors. Our results provide fresh insights into how to improve the continuous improvement process within organisations. Kaizen Event stakeholders and their facilitators are offered guidance on how to increase one’s awareness of own and others’ problem-solving preferences in group-based problem-solving events.

The ability to tell stories can be an important leadership attribute and skill to master in order to be a successful leader (Baldoni, 2003; Denning, 2004; Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Storytelling is a central component of effective communication for leaders and a skill to master for future leadership success. This paper supports active learning, group discussion and reflective practice as a way to teach storytelling as a leadership skill. Leadership educators need to help students understand how to develop stories, identity situations in which to tell stories, and also practice the art of leadership storytelling. This idea brief presents multiple pedagogical methods to teach storytelling as a leadership practice to college students in leadership programs.

In previous studies, outcomes of leadership training have varied, with some studies suggesting large effects and others small. Although the transfer of training literature suggests a number of factors that influence training outcomes, this knowledge has seldom been used when evaluating the outcomes of leadership training. The purpose of the present study is therefore to examine how factors related to transfer of training influence outcomes of leadership training.

In the present research, follower-rated outcomes of a leadership training program in Denmark (N = 298) was examined from a transfer of training perspective.

Using Baldwin and Ford's transfer of training model as a framework, analyses revealed that leaders' utility reactions (i.e. perception of usefulness) and learning were linked to transfer of training. In addition, leaders' perceptions of transfer were associated with post-intervention follower-rated transformational leadership and collective self-efficacy.

Making sure that leaders find the training useful for their everyday activities (i.e. positive utility reactions) and that they have time to learn the training content is important to enable transfer and for leaders to use trained skills back at work.

The findings indicate the importance of understanding how leaders' perception of training content influences leadership training outcomes and that these perceptions need to be a part of the evaluation of leadership training. In addition, the findings suggest that factors predicting transfer of leadership training differ from other types of training.