Researching and developing practice traditions using reflective practice experiments

Building a science on the foundations of practitioners’ experimentation was one of Donald Schön’s abiding interests. This paper outlines a method of reflective practice research on which this kind of science can be built. Its basic elements are: (1) A focus on the “sense” practitioners make of their situations. This allows for a much richer explication of practitioners’ understanding. (2) Formally differentiating between kinds of reflective thinking to demonstrate rigorous reliance on our practice, as experienced, as we reflect. (3) Use of a non-standard logic and a distinctive grammar in describing the “sense” we make of our practice situations, as this enables a much more faithful rendering in models and theories of our sense of orientation. (4) A method of combining these in an experimental practice that enables models of practice traditions to evolve, taking in insights from innovative practice, and experiences from diverse cases.     

The effects of the PDCA cycle and OJT on workplace learning

In the present article, we examined the effects of the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle and on-the-job-training (OJT) on workplace learning. We defined workplace learning based on the concept of an organizational learning cycle. Using survey data from a Japanese fire and marine insurance company, we found that PDCA, OJT (empowerment), and reflective communication had positive effects on workplace learning. These results suggest that quality management, empowerment and reflective practice may help to significantly improve workplace learning. We also discuss theoretical and managerial implications of this study.     

Organizational Learning in Project‐Based Companies: A Process Thinking Approach

Although a traditional project model is clearly useful for laying out the patterns of relationships surrounding a project, it does not provide the temporally embedded accounts that enable us to understand how organizational learning takes place. The process thinking perspective offers a means to solving this problem. This article provides an analysis of how different processes interact dynamically in order to benefit project‐based companies' organizational learning. Two findings from this study are: (1) organizational learning is a dynamic concept that emphasizes the continually changing nature of a project‐based company and (2) sensemaking and negotiation of meaning are ongoing processes in project‐based companies.     

Perceptions of educational managers on reflective thinking,strategic thinking and entrepreneurship

The aim of this study is to investigate Educational Managers’ perceptions of reflective thinking, strategic thinking and enterprising. An interview technique, one of qualitative research methods, was used in this research. 9 participants, 3 directors from the Ministry and 6 directors from the Special Education of the National Ministry of Education. The factors, to specify reflective thinking, strategic thinking, and enterprising, specified on the interview form, were referred to in preparing authentic interview questions. The same questions were asked to all educational directors. The researcher met individually and received answers through interviews. The number of women participants were higher. The directors had 21–30 years of service and the ones in their present institution had 10–15 years of service. Among the participants, the number of the ones who decided to be directors was bigger. The number of participants who had a positive opinion about the sufficiency of the directors of the Ministry and the school directors was higher. All the participants stated that they developed their communication and were more patient in terms of their positive way of living specified in the interview questions. As for the strength of the institution, the participants stated that the directors of the Ministry disagreed with the power of the institution, but the school directors stressed that there was a strong working group at schools which reflected the power of the institution. For the weakness of the institution, the involved in the Ministry expressed the negative outcomes of political appointments and applications. On the other hand, the school directors complained that their demands from the Ministry for teacher shortage and the physical structure of the school building are not met. The authorities expressed that the institution did not have long-term strategic visions. Whereas, the school directors stressed that the vision of the institution has been explained in detail and the staff were well aware of it. In addition, it was explained that they had both long-term and short-term strategic plans. It has been noticed that all the participants exhibited enterprising skills and added a lot of innovations to the institution. The findings of this research indicated that there was a significant difference between the Ministry and the school directors in terms of strategic plans, visions, missions, positive–negative experiences and expectations. At the same time, the Ministry admitted that, although not institutionally, they benefited from reflective thinking, strategic planning and girişimcilikten, they were in a dead-end as an institution. On the other hand, the school directors, both as individuals and institutions, benefited from reflective thinking, strategic planning and enterprising, and expressed that their pessimism was related to their expectations from the Ministry. The Ministry stressed the need for radical changes in terms of administration and expected the government to study on this issue. The school directors stated that they had expectations from the Ministry, but they tried to find solutions to their problems from outside.

     

Becoming an evidence‐based HR practitioner

Evidence‐based HR (EBHR) is a decision‐making process combining critical thinking with use of the best available scientific evidence and business information. We describe how to get started as an evidence‐based HR practitioner. Actively managing professional decisions is a key aspect of EBHR. Doing so involves making decisions, especially consequential or recurring ones, using practices supported by high‐quality research. We present a step‐by‐step set of approaches to becoming an evidence‐based HR practitioner: from getting started, through everyday practices and continuous learning to integrating EBHR into your organisation. In offering guidance for evidence‐based practice, this article underscores the connection between effective practice and organisational research.     

反思性教学——ESP教师自我发展的有效途径

为适应社会发展的需求,我国高校应大力发展专门用途英语(ESP)教学,而其中首要的问题是ESP教师质量问题。开展反思教学研究是ESP教师的自我发展的有效途径。实施反思性教学的教师需借助课堂观摩、课程报告、教学日记、行动研究、问卷调查等方法探讨与解决自身教学问题,不断提高教学实践的合理性。     

A Holistic View on Learning in Project‐Based Organizations

Although researchers have over the years highlighted the importance of managing and supporting learning in project‐based settings, it still seems to be problematic. New project management capabilities are needed, such as systems thinking, which will allow project‐based organizations to better cope with learning in the organizations. This article explores how Swedish project‐based organizations within an engineering and construction context manage and support learning activities today and discusses, with the support of process management literature, how an “organizational‐wide project learning process” could improve the prerequisites for learning in project‐based organizations. Our findings from three project‐based organizations indicate a lack of a holistic perspective on project learning. A conceptual model is proposed, with the aim of validating and promoting process thinking by introducing, for example, new roles responsible for intra‐ and inter‐project learning, respectively.     

基于互生理念的系统工程创新教学模式研究

系统工程是一门综合性、交叉性、实践性非常突出的学科。针对系统工程课程的目的与教学内容,以培养学生的创新思维为目标,文章提出了基于互生理念的系统工程课程创新教学模式。在这个理念指导下,将给教师和学生提供一个引发思考、发现自我的教与学的平台。互生理念是在学生、教师、环境三个要素相互依存、互生互动的情景下产生的,创新教学的实现和创新人才的培养需要借助这样一个互生链条得以实现。通过教学目标设计的创新与教学环节的创新,从而培养出一大批具有批判性思维和系统思维的创新型人才。     

非电类专业《自动控制原理》理论教学的探讨

为适应新形势下教育发展的需要,提高工科非电类专业"自动控制原理"课程的理论教学水平,从教学内容、教学方法和教学手段方面进行探索与改革。通过教学实践表明:提高了学生学习的积极性、主动性,加深了对基本理论与基本概念的理解,培养了学生的创新思维能力,为后续课程的学习奠定了坚实的基础。     

基于立体思维的企业VI创作与设计

企业VI设计既是一门学问,也是一门艺术。尽管人们在企业VI计实践中总结出许多技巧,但这些技巧的运用仍存在很大难度。文章在对企业VI内涵进行分析的基础上,提出了基于立体思维的设计理念,将企业VI设计划分为表音维、表形维、理念维和情感维,实现VI设计的科学性与艺术性有机结合,对激发设计者创作灵感、提高设计效果和效率具有重要意义。     

人力资源管理引入高校学生管理的探索

人力资源开发与管理理念自引入后,不断在各企业进行实践,产生了积极影响。伴随企业引入后的巨大成功,其适用范围进一步拓展,公共管理部门和行政机构开始尝试,并已取得成效。将人力资源管理理念引入高校,特别是在学生活动和组织管理层面的应用是推动高校学生工作有效开展的重要途径,也是学生管理科学化的重要手段,本文旨在对这一过程进行探索,希望提出思路,引发思考。     

Learning in a competitive field: MBA students' improvised case studies of IHRM

Recent management research on improvisation has sought to identify ways that unplanned change and structure are linked when novel solutions appear and develop during action. This article examines an improvised learning approach to the traditional case study method, in which Master of Business Administration (MBA) students learn through preparing and delivering their own case studies. The process of improvised learning is explained within the context of teaching international human resource management/organizational behaviour and analysed by applying Bourdieu's theory of practice which understands the participants' learning to be situated within a competitive social field.

It is concluded that MBA students learn from this improvised approach provided that the professor's role accommodates being a case study expert with the roles of teaching and learning consultant. The concept of competitive field is recommended as a tool for management educators' reflection upon enabling MBA students to develop their capabilities in designing and delivering management learning sessions.     

How Useful Are the Strategic Tools We Teach in Business Schools?

Strategic tools are indispensible for business and competitive analysis. Yet we know very little about managers' internal logic as they put these tools into practical use. We situate our study in a business school context using action learning prior to the manifestation of practice to complement our understanding of practice. Using Personal Construct Theory and Repertory Grids, our mid‐range theorizing showed that, contrary to current thinking about strategic tools, managers think in dualities (often paradoxically) and have a preference for multiple‐tools‐in‐use, tools that provide different perspectives, peripheral vision, connected thinking, simultaneously help differentiate and integrate complex issues, and guide the thinking process. These findings are important for designing better tools and the nurturing of critical managerial competencies needed for a complicated world. Our study's focus also has wider implications for scholars as we see our own material evaluated by those who will put these lessons into practice.     

基于现代信息技术条件下高职教学模式改革的探索——以广州工程技术职业学院为例

在思考工学结合等教学模式的实现策略时,不能脱离当下的时代背景,要处理好信息技术条件下职业教育理论的共性与个性的问题,通过坚守共同性、突出个性化的过程,来凸显信息技术条件下教学模式的特色。本文主要阐述了利用现代信息技术探寻校企合作点的思路规范实践教学模式改革。具体是将“生本”核心培养理念渗透入教学模式中,其实施基础是相对成熟的校园数字化系统、虚拟仿真工作室和优势专业。     

关于完善综合性医院口腔科实习教学体系的思考

临床实习是培养合格医学生的关键时期,是医学生们将书本所学理论付诸于实践和培养良好临床思维的重要阶段,同时是对医学生进行综合训练的重要环节,而高水平的临床教学质量则是医学生在临床实习过程中发生蜕变的保证。临床实习教学体系是理论学习体系的延伸,两者相辅相成、互相包容、相互渗透,所以实习教学应该像理论课一样,对其制订完整的实习教学计划和大纲。目前综合性医院口腔科实习教学过程中的"教"与"学"仍存在诸多问题,严重滞缓了口腔科实习生向合格临床医生转变的过程,因此进一步思考完善综合性医院中口腔科临床实习教学体系至关重要。     

Expatriation and repatriation in MNCs: a taxonomy

The challenge of the management of expatriates and repatriates has never been more timely nor urgent: globalization has forced expatriation into the corporate agenda, confronting us with an array of questions on HRM strategy and practice. We propose that a wide range of current thinking and practice may be conveniently grouped into a taxonomy of five organizational options, each advancing a different set of expatriation relationships: Global, Emissary, Peripheral, Professional, and Expedient. A framework outlining the main configurations of these options generates a generic model for expatriation at the organizational level. This forms the principal part of the article, followed by a comprehensive discussion and implications for practice. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

面向团队合作训练的供应链管理课程实践教学改革探讨

文章在分析供应链管理课程实践教学难点的基础上,探讨了面向团队合作训练的该课程实践教学过程、教学方法以及注意事项,以期把培养大学生团队合作能力融入到课程实践教学中,为高校大学生团队合作能力的培养寻找一种新的思路。     

Public servants’ workplace learning: a reflection on the concept of communities of practice

Workplace learning is not only for the purpose of improving work skills, but also of establishing linkages between different social resources. Scholars such as Lave and Wenger (Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, 1991) suggest that a community of practice (CoP) is formed by members’ common interests with a friendly informal atmosphere, within which the participants may feel free, to sharpen their skills and broaden their horizons. The concept of CoPs actually highlights the importance of using social resources to optimize the knowledge within the context of organization. However, because the learning situation is very informal, some scholars suggested that learning within a CoP may be too scattered to manage it well. For this study, the researchers use the concept of CoPs to examine public servants’ workplace learning and lay the focus on shared practices in the public sector in order to reflect on the concept of CoPs. The semi-structured interview method was employed, and most of viewpoints in this study were derived from 10 personnel departments in the public sector in Taiwan including 22 interviewees. The research supports the view that shared practices which are derived from the public servants’ daily official tasks are an important key to members’ informal learning. The concept of official tasks implies a compulsory atmosphere which enables related interactions to be compelled to happen. This will hopefully provide a solution for the loose discipline learning in CoPs.     

Negotiating Acts of Citizenship in an Era of Neoliberal Reform: The Game of School Closures

In Ontario, the landscape of public education has changed quite rapidly during the past decade. Critics argue that neoliberal policies concerning privatization and marketization in the education system have produced different outcomes for different groups. One of the most sensitive issues during these years has been the closure of schools. Over three years (1999–2002) nearly 200 schools were closed in Ontario. These many changes, however, have not gone uncontested and communities have adapted to these circumstances in different ways. Acts of citizenship range from coping independently to challenging these changes collectively. This article examines the failures and successes of various acts of citizenship in challenging neoliberal governmental rationalities. More specifically, it traces the difficult process of school closure negotiations using examples from Toronto. Based primarily on participant observation carried out over a year, it examines the politics of the community consultation process among a heterogeneous ‘family of schools’ amid mixed incomes and varying capacities and needs. Through these case studies it explores whether these acts are inclusionary or exclusionary, homogenizing or diversifying, positive or negative. The evolution of the planning process is examined at three different periods (1998, 1999, 2000), demonstrating the slow and steady construction, advancement and legitimization of neoliberal policy, and correspondingly the spaces and citizens it makes and unmakes through this process. The article concludes with a framework of collective action highlighting relational aspects of citizenship that lead to positive or negative consequences for civil society.     

Learning through grafting in ventures in new areas

Organizations can increase and change their knowledge base both through the learning of their members and through the acquisition of new members and the knowledge that they possess. This last, which Huber (1991, Organization Science, 2(1), 88–115) terms learning through grafting, is a very important vehicle for learning in Western firms. This article presents a model of learning in ventures in new areas, where grafting has been an important means. It is based on interviews with senior management involved in 13 major ventures intended to renew and reorientate mature firms, and on their view of the learning process. The article shows how the companies concerned acted to acquire new knowledge and to develop new competence, and the factors affecting their learning process. At the same time it represents one way of thinking about learning through grafting in new ventures.