ABSTRACT
Allied Distillers Limited (ADL) is based in Scotland and is part of the international Allied Domecq group. Its main business is the production of whisky and other spirits-based drinks. In particular, there was a perceived need to achieve an effective mix of formal and informal training, with an emphasis on learning through doing, and an integration of people development policies with other human resource management (HRM) and operations policies. ADL provides us with a lesson in perseverance – the radical changes they have achieved do not occur overnight, and there has been a longitudinal commitment to change. The project team included people from many levels in the organization, and they visited other notable developments in the UK. The organization has exhibited double-loop learning through its adoption of recommendations and solutions which have emerged from the project work, and there has been upward learning.
