Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the practices used by organizations to develop the strategic thinking ability of their leaders, managers, and other employees. Design/methodology/approach – A basic interpretive study was conducted with human resource (HR) executives across a broad range of large organizations. Participants were interviewed, and general information about their organization and its programs was reviewed. Findings were verified via member checks and triangulation. Findings – Organizations make limited use of the range of approaches to develop strategic thinking, many indirectly supporting its development via general leadership programs. Most approaches are experiential and focused on elites. Use of the literature, evaluation, and ties to competency models are very limited. Research limitations/implications – The study only provides indications of potential generalizations, but offers access to issues that cannot be identified without an in-depth analysis. Practical implications – The findings identify major gaps in the practices utilized to develop strategic thinking and the related competency framing and evaluation processes. As such, the study exposes opportunities to extend what is known about effective leadership development programs specifically to the development of strategic thinking. Originality/value – The study fills a gap in the literature regarding specific ways organizations formally and informally develop the strategic thinking of their leaders, managers, and other employees. In so doing, it provides a catalyst for strategy and HR executives and scholars to come together to improve the development of this often absent ability.
Although service-learning is clearly a social phenomenon involving interactions between people in social environments, little scholarly attention has been given to the ways in which sociological theories illuminate how service-learning is enacted and sustained in schools. This conceptual article takes a fresh (and perhaps overdue) look at academic service-learning (both K-12 and higher education) through three sociological lenses: Anthony Giddens' structuration theory, Bruno Latour's actor-network theory, and Henri Lefebvre's theories on the production of space. The article describes each theory as it relates to the understanding, initiation, implementation, institutionalization, and study of service-learning. The theories highlight important aspects of academic service-learning, including areas that other theories have missed such as how service-learning actors must exploit enabling aspects of school structures and spaces to overcome constraints, the importance of non-human agents in service-learning programs, and challenges service-learning advocates face in reconfiguring school spaces for service-learning. The author also describes and examines limits of each theory as well as implications for research and practice.
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