How Executives Learn

Abstract

Before we can begin to improve the quality of executive life, we must first understand the processes of managerial change, that is, how executives learn and under what conditions. This is important if we, as management educators, are going to be able to create organisational climates which enhance the quality of life for managers and others in the workplace. In this chapter, therefore, we will first examine the social psychological theories of learning and then outline our own dualistic theory of the processes of management learning, which highlights both the antecedent conditions and consequences of these different learning strategies.⁹