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Keywords
Learning organizations, Self-managed learning, Management development, Employee development, Human resource management
Abstract
Argues for the importance of developing social capital in organisations. If training stays focused on the individual (human capital) level it may be missing out on important changes in developing organisational performance. The use of self managed learning (SML) is examined through reference to two cases where SML programmes have been carefully evaluated and shown to contribute to the development of both social capital and human capital.
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Now this is the Law of the Jungle - as old and as
true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but
the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law
runneth forward and back
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the
strength of the Wolf is the Pack "The law of the
jungle", The Second Jungle Book ("How Fear
Came") Rudyard Kipling.
Introduction
The rationale for the quote from Kipling is that we have to consider the mutual interdependence of the collective and the individual. Organisations are made up of individuals but are successful to the extent that the collective action of these individuals is greater than the sum of the parts. In this paper I will explore the role of training as developing individuals versus approaches that have focused more on the collective. I will first of all move rapidly over a simplified version of the history so far of these debates. I will then quote from two cases which address both individual and collaborative change. These are cases from a range of organisations that have taken action to develop individuals and the wider organisation at the same time. I will draw on the emerging theory around the development of human and social capital to explain how this latter perspective may prove to be important in the near future.
Background
Training and development activity has largely focused on change at the individual level. This is both its strength and its weakness. Helping individuals...