Sector level analysis of management development: The case of Scottish local authorities Available to Purchase

Studies of management development (MD) can be pursued at company, sector or national levels. “Sector” studies of MD are quite rare, despite providing a potential natural “laboratory” in which a variety of approaches to MD can be studied. The research here was concerned with MD in local authorities (LAs). It is based on a survey of MD policies, methods and practices in Scottish LAs, supplemented by case studies of five LAs. The analysis of this particular sector demonstrates a variety of approaches to planning for and providing MD. These are discussed with reference to a typology of MD “rationales”. The broader issues of the usefulness of, and problems with, sector studies of this kind are considered. They do offer a potential “natural laboratory” for comparative analysis, useful for exploring theories about MD; but there are practical difficulties with combining the survey and case study analysis involved.