Using collaborative action learning projects to increase the impact of management development

This article aims to contribute to the field of human resource development by exploring the conditions that influence the organizational impact of action learning projects. Many organizations use such projects as an integral part of their management development programs. Past research on action learning projects has shown how balancing action and learning improves the organizational impact of management development, but we argue that the concern with such a balance is not enough. We argue that certain organizational conditions are likely to mediate this balance. Based on empirical material from a case study of one off‐site management development program, we identify three organizational conditions that seem to enhance organizational impact: clear reasons for enrolling managers on a development program, support from the manager's local superior throughout the process of the action learning project and local participation in the project work on the part of the manager's employer. These findings have practical implications for providers of management development programs as well as for organizations exploring ways of enhancing the impact of their investment in management learning and development. In terms of theory, the lack of organizational impact of action learning projects can be seen as part of the wider ‘transfer problem’ in training and development, and the results of the present study are consistent with the literature, which shows factors in the work environment to be important in facilitating or preventing transfer.