ABSTRACT

This chapter highlights some of the distinctive issues associated with the development of senior managers in medium to large-sized organizations. It shows how a well-designed Self Managed Learning (SML) programme, supported by a consortium of organizations, is a powerful way of tackling them. The chapter draws from an evaluation study of a programme of this kind designed and run by Strategic Developments International (SDI) for the Management Development Consortium (MDC). Specifically the issues will be discussed with illustrations drawn from the outcomes of the study. These illustrations will both highlight the issues and demonstrate how a consortium SML approach provides the means to address them successfully. The primary purpose of the study was to enable consortium members to evaluate this method of developing senior managers by providing a systematic account of the experiences and learning of those involved. It was also seen as a potential contributor to the growing wisdom about designing and running consortium and other SML programmes.