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To show how coaching of footballers has relevance to organizational life.

The paper is based on experience of coaching coaches in England for the Football Association.

Significant issues for coaches have been identified and this paper focuses on learning from mistakes.

Coaches need to consider what they are trying to achieve and how they go about it.

This is unique paper that provides real insight into sports coaching that have significance for all coaches.

This paper has two main aims: first, to outline the importance of an understanding of psychological theories of learning for coaches and managers; and second, to delineate the practical implications of adopting either of the two psychological theories presented for coaches and managers.

The main theoretical insights in this paper are derived from the work of the renowned philosopher, Sir Karl Popper, and especially his caricature of learners as active “searchlights” as opposed to passive “buckets” (Popper). The basic tenets of the “searchlight” and “bucket” theories are illustrated with the assistance of analogies from coaching football (soccer) and an argument is advanced in favor of adopting the former.

Following from the adoption of the searchlight theory of learning, the paper argues that managers and coaches should work to create environments that foster and support learning. In such an environment, people are treated as creative problem solvers and errors or mistakes are regarded as important learning events.

In conclusion it is argued that knowledge can only grow in organizations where mistakes are effectively managed rather than punished or ignored.

This paper advances important arguments from the field of epistemology about the nature of learning and the organisational environment. It will be of value to coaches and managers who are interested in how knowledge grows and who wish to foster this process in their organisations.

Export information acquisition has mostly been examined disparately as researchers have tended to focus on certain modes of information acquisition independently of others. Furthermore, past studies have typically employed single‐item measures to operationalize information acquisition. The present study attempts to redress these deficiencies by considering a comprehensive set of export information acquisition modes and by developing psychometrically sound measures for each. The results show the adequacy of considering three broad export information acquisition modes (export marketing research, export assistance, and export market intelligence), each of which is operationalized by means of a multi‐item scale. The latter are shown to be reliable and to possess content, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity.

Examines the market research activities of UK industrial exporters. First reviews the literature concerned with information for international marketing in general and export marketing research in particular. Describes the method of a research study, comparing the market research activities of exporters in the light of company size and export experience. Analyses the results, finding that companies, once embarked on export activity rely on personal contact with distributors, agents, customers and competitors to gather information concerning the markets they serve, and this information is used equivocally to modify decisions. Finally, discusses the implications for future research and management.

This study focuses on the use of export marketing information in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), an area that has previously attracted little academic research attention. It reports on the application of scales measuring instrumental/conceptual and symbolic export information use, using a random sample of UK exporters, to SME exporters of engineering and IT products. The results show that the scales are applicable within the specific context of the industrial SMEs surveyed and that levels of symbolic export information use are higher in these SMEs than in UK exporting companies as a whole. The latter is explained as a function of a shortfall in two areas: first, in available export marketing information, leading to greater dependence on “guesswork” and intuition; and second, in specialist marketing information‐processing skills on the part of SME export decision makers. The article concludes by appealing for an extension of export support for SMEs, to include the use of export information as well as simply its acquisition. It suggests that the scales tested here could be used both to diagnose the need for such SME support and to measure its effectiveness.

In addressing certain important gaps in the export marketing field, reports on a systematic study of the factors stimulating the current exporting activities of manufacturing firms from a small European country. Investigates potential differences in ongoing export motivators between two distinct groups of exporters differentiated by level of export development. Suggests that both proactive and reactive factors stimulate these firms’ decisions to continue and maintain exporting, and also identifies certain significant differences in export stimuli between the two exporter categories. Discusses the implications of the study findings for business practitioners and public policy makers, and considers future research directions alongside the limitations of the study.

The literature on forecasting makes hardly any distinction between domestic and export sales forecasting. Based on in‐depth interviews with exporting firms, suggests that companies face additional problems when preparing export sales forecasts compared to forecasts for the domestic market. More specifically, using a qualitative data analysis methodology, offers insights into actual export sales forecasting practices and forecast performance. Also links company and export characteristics to forecasting practices, developing a typology of the latter, and offers suggestions for future research in the area.