Editorial

This edition of the Journal features a rich array of international learning and development cases and issues from Europe, Asia, America and Australasia. There is something of a strand about integration, connections and linkages in most of the articles. For instance Joan Marques makes a case for her model, with the nemonic of “CHANGE”, that change processes and organizational learning need to be closely connected.

Tracey Brandon argues for “A learning partnership between Learning and Development and the business” and she uses the case of AXA to demonstrate the value of an internal academy in the organization. Michael Clements, on the other hand, discusses the very practical use of “Role Play” as a way of linking and integrating disparate elements of the supply chain.

Phallapa Petison and Lalit Johri explore the issue of “Developing local talent in international subsidiaries” via the case of Toyota in Thailand. They give useful evidence on how Thai and Japanese managers needed to learn with and from each other in order to initiate needed changes in the company. Penny Tamkin provides another view on international comparisons in her piece on“UK managers”. Don’t be put off by the title – her research has been across a number of countries to compare management development practices and other related issues.

The review articles kick off with a piece on Bollywood, entitled “All glitter, no reflection”, which raises interesting issues about learning and innovation. “Learning from experience” makes the case for the use of mentoring in SMEs and “Getting the best out of training” has its main focus on evaluation issues. The last review article is “Be structured in managing talent”, though it is broader than that in also making a case for the use of competencies as an example of structured HR practice.

The Viewpoint article in this edition makes some comments about the linking of learning and experience – and it warns against the “hot-stove”effect. Read the piece to see what this means.

As always we welcome seeing draft ideas or fully formed articles. Please send all original contributions to the Deputy Editor, Anne Gimson, at: anne@stratdevint.com

Ian CunninghamUniversity of Sussex.E-mail: ian@stratdevint.com