Experiential learning through applied theatre in corporate training: a qualitative approach

Purpose

Experiential learning pedagogy has been an increasingly popular mode of learning in educational and training programs. While there have been methods such as role plays which have been popular in training and educational programs, applied theatre in corporate training (ATCT) is gaining popularity because of its great potential in connecting intellect and emotions, to meaningfully challenge norms and assumptions. This article aims to present empirical and “participant-centric” evidences to posit ATCT as a potentially powerful participant-centric pedagogical tool in corporate training programs that is likely to make the learning process more engaging for participants and more fruitful for the organization.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper used qualitative approach. Focused group discussion (FGD) and author's first-hand experience of observing ATCT helped gather data for further analysis. Review of related literature from management, organizational behavior and training and development was done to identify the major themes.

Findings

The findings suggest that ATCT is a novel, innovative mode of enhancing individual learning and development by utilizing all the four modes of experiential learning as conceptualized by Kolb. ATCT also helps in developing organizational aesthetics (OA) among participants that help businesses to better execute their strategies.

Research limitations/implications

The application of ATCT could enable greater involvement of employees from across different levels and of different backgrounds in looking at organizational issues. ATCT helps participants gain greater insights and understanding of organizational situations beyond technical nuances by establishing deeper connections between intellect and emotions and collectively contributing to resolving them.

Originality/value

The study points to the possibility and potential of using participant-centric ATCT in organizational learning which goes beyond basic skill development. It also draws attention towards a participatory form of organizational development via ATCT by improving OA among participants.

Hierarchy’s subordination of democracy and how to outrank it

We hear much about the “democratic ideal” as if it were unreachable within the walls of the organization. Of late, apologists have begun suggesting that there is no need to worry; democracy exists; it is just that it is often hidden from view right within the requisite hierarchical structure. Top managers are sharing their leadership roles with others in the organization. This provocation will take the opposite position that hierarchy and democratic leadership are predominantly incommensurate and that closer inspection would show that hierarchical conditions largely persist and that when democratic leadership occurs, it does so only with the conditional permission of those in control. The essay goes into detail regarding plural models of leadership, shows where they fall on the hierarchy–democracy continuum, and outlines how leaderful development might be able to prepare learners for real democratic experience.

Open strategy: role of organizational democracy

Purpose

A core premise of the paper is that participative, democratic organizational forms have a direct effect on openness. A key proposition is that organizational forms that promote inclusion, transparency and shared decision-making more broadly as part of their structure and culture would enhance greater openness. However, democratic forms are not a panacea when it comes to openness, there are inherent paradoxes, leading to inevitable tradeoffs that democratic organizations must manage.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical framework in the study explores the interaction between open strategy making and organizational democracy. This paper reviews the literature on open strategy and organizational democracy and presents propositions linking openness and elements of democratic organizations.

Findings

Open strategy requires a level of inclusion and transparency not typically associated with hierarchical organizations. This paper proposed that an organizational context where there are institutionalized processes that promote both transparency and inclusiveness, shared decision-making and a supportive organizational culture would promote openness. At the same time, these organizations need to manage key paradoxes associated with organizational democracy to benefit from its positive effect on openness. The idea is not that hierarchies cannot be open; they may simply need to be more creative and work harder at providing the scaffolding for participation.

Research limitations/implications

This is a conceptual paper and we cannot make any claims of causality. It is also possible to refine the framework by adding or eliminating some of the conceptual variables.

Practical implications

Opening up the strategy process to non-traditional stakeholders can improve the strategy formation process. Non-traditional stakeholders can bring new insight, and be motivated and prepared for strategy implementation when they are part of the strategy formation process. Organizations need to focus on creating a climate that supports openness by emphasizing structural forms that promote openness. Sharing decision-making, profits and creating a democratic culture are important for successful openness. In addition, organizations need to manage the tradeoffs that arise as they link organizational democracy to openness.

Originality/value

This paper discusses the link between open strategy and organizational democracy. The research sheds light on how organizational forms, specifically structure affects openness, as well as the limits to structure and openness.

The End of Managerial Control?

This article has the aim of considering whether managerial control, no matter its form, has outlived, its usefulness in postbureaucratic society, and if so, whether it can be replaced by a more emancipatory discourse among local practitioners as they confront the immanent requirements of social interaction within their own practices. The article initially reviews the limitations of bureaucratic control and considers postbureaucratic or “soft” alternatives as sources of empowerment. Seen as ideals, postbureaucratic options are not thought to overturn the imposition of control in organizing, but the relocation of the positioning of work to the practice setting offers management a new role as the facilitator of the critical discourse required to sustain and enhance local activity.

Dissemination of management into politics: Michael Porter and the political uses of management consulting

The article contributes to the literature on management dissemination by looking at how management fashions are diffused into and circulated in politics. The ideas of management have been increasingly disseminated into the realm of politics during recent decades. To illustrate how this takes place, this article examines the spread of Michael Porter’s ideas on national politics. Porter’s work is considered a management fashion that has been skilfully packaged; a new form of the 20th-century tradition of state-led social engineering which takes the form of management fashion-style packaging. For this he is seen as a global guru in national politics, and this development is regarded as a new form of consultocracy in the realm of democracies. In consultocracy, the ideas of management consulting are often adopted into politics as a common justifying rationality of power for the political elites. Thus we call for further research on the underlying dynamics of the power involved as management fashions are disseminated into the realm of politics.

Political Leadership, Bureaucracies and Business Schools: A Comfortable Union?

One of the central issues in reconciling pluralistic and bureaucratic forms of organizing lies in the absence of a coherent model of leadership. The intention here is to stimulate debate about the notion of political leadership as a contribution to this analysis. This approach to political leadership prioritizes the explicit acknowledgement of power relations as being central to the reconciliation of diverse interests, and to the building of moral communities in organizational settings. In developing this idea we explore the organizational context for the emergence of political leadership and consider its distinguishing features with reference to both theory and practice. Consideration is given to its utility in building moral organizational communities and how this approach to conceptualizing leadership might be furthered through business school education.

Other Possibilities? The Contribution to Management Education of Alternative Organizations

Business education tends to reinforce the neo-liberal view that the best, perhaps the only desirable model of organization is the managed corporation. Furthermore, in competing to attract students, business schools frequently stress that lucrative careers and personal success can be achieved through management qualifications. All this arguably encourages the competitive and individualistic pursuit of wealth, status and power that reflects the dominant values underpinning much of contemporary western society. Our article suggests an antidote to these developments by proposing the more prominent study of `alternative organizations' within business schools. Alternative organizations pursue very different ends, in different ways from mainstream business corporations, so studying them has the potential to stimulate debate and raise questions about the individualistic and instrumental attitudes implicit in much business education and research. Importantly, the study of alternative organization also suggests a range of possibilities for radically rethinking organization(s)—including business schools—and the place of managers, along with others, within them.