This paper focuses on how service-based organisations establish and sustain incremental performance improvement. A review of existing continuous improvement (CI) evolution theory provides a model for comparison with the observations from the case study organisation. The research employs a longitudinal, embedded case study, involving two units of analysis and multiple research cycles. The use of narrative enquiry provides a means of understanding the evolution of CI over almost a decade of activity. It allows the testing of Bessant et al's (2001) Maturity Model against real world situations, specifically in the service sector, via comparison of the impact of differing approaches, actions, obstacles and achievements within the two units of analysis, all the while operating under the umbrella of a common organisation that was evolving in reaction to market challenges.
The purpose of this paper is to consider some issues in the uses of what we have termed 'creative' action learning in a business education context, and to review some aspects of its practice. A review of the literature, including its use in higher education, is followed by a case illustration of its use in a UK business school with predominantly international students. Action learning is principally thought of as a human resource development practice and is widely used in a variety of public and private sector organisations. The focus here, however, is on the use of action learning in a business school setting and the application of specific creative thinking tools, in order to explore its potential for developing collaborative peer learning and support.
Nowadays, organizations pursue their aims in a context of distributed collaboration, creating a need not only for supporting work systems, but for a human-centred focus in which individual and group sense-making and learning are supported by appropriate toolsets. The authors argue that development of such toolsets requires an open systems approach. This paper discusses examples of such approaches, including non-competitive benchmarking (NCB), as a vehicle for knowledge transfer, leading to process improvement and potential for enhanced organizational performance. The paper goes on to discuss tools and techniques that may be used to support desire to reflect upon ‘best practice' in socio-technical design, without losing contextual relevance in design. The authors use these examples to explore ways in which engaged actors may be supported to create and share their contextually-dependent tacit knowledge. The foundation of open systems approaches is discussed, showing how socio-technical approaches continue to have relevance today.
This account reports on the preliminary findings of a study of experiences of facilitating action learning with international business students. Interest in international student learning and the student experience is significant and increasing with a considerable literature on the subject. Some of this literature is concerned with the perceived 'problems' or 'deficits' which international learners are said to bring to the UK university experience. Elsewhere the benefits which international students bring to the learning process are highlighted. This paper describes some of the experiences derived from implementing action learning with six groups (sets) of international postgraduate business and management students in an HE setting. Specifically, it considers how educational, learning and cultural differences, expectations and assumptions influence the student experience, and how collaborative learning can be developed.
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