The management learning project

Much, if not most, of formal management education and development seems to have concentrated on ‘teaching’ managers or potential managers the theories and techniques assumed to be necessary for them to fulfill their roles effectively. Often the decisions as to what theories or techniques are necessary are made not by the managers themselves but by the teachers and trainers. In contrast to this situation there is a frequent assertion by many practising managers that one of the most important aspects of their jobs is personal judgement based, not on management theory, but on their own past experience. In other words there is to some extent a mis‐match between the practice of management education and much of management practice. It is to this mismatch that the Management Learning Project addresses itself.