Reflective transformation: making the classroom work for organizations and their managers

Few descriptions exist concerning how MBA students and organizational agents learn within a team context and whether or not such team learning is transformational as opposed to adaptive. This paper addresses the issues of individual and group differentiation, integration and identity reconstruction from participation in transformational learning. Conceptual frameworks taken from complexity theory, developmental psychology, group processes and adult learning are interwoven to construct a premise for transformational team learning. Academic and practitioner considerations are raised in creating the right environmental conditions. As a conceptual framework for future research, this paper explores change at the individual and teamwork level. Insights from the complexity sciences are used to underscore the notion of teams as complex responsive processes and complex communication networks that operate within multi‐faceted environments. It is our contention that teams and the agents who comprise them, may offer an opportunity for organizational transformation that goes beyond other strategic change strategies. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.