The Role of Experiential Learning in Advancing Managerial Thinking

While a great deal has been written about the need for new managerial thinking to promote sustainable organizational performance in the face of today¿s turbulent business climate, relatively little guidance exists. This book addresses this need by examining the importance of experiential learning in promoting new managerial thinking that is more systemic than is traditionally witnessed in organizations. Further, this work tackles the challenge of sustaining new ways of thinking by placing experiential learning within a broader organizational context. Descriptions of management training in Toyota and application to promoting strategic alignment in supply chain management provide a practical focus to the advice. This book should be useful to anyone seeking to bring advances to organizational management, those involved in organizational change initiatives, managers seeking to promote more systemic organizational management, and to trainers and teachers seeking a better understanding of the strength and limitations of experiential learning.

Michael E. Smith is Associate Professor of Global Management and Strategy at Western Carolina University. Dr. Smith spent more than 15 years in executive management prior to completing his Ph.D. and turning to teaching and research aimed at promoting business performance through systemic management of inter- and intra-firm relationships.