Rick Holden

• Liverpool John Moores University

A key attribute of reflective practice is its capacity for ongoing purposeful learning in relation to changing and demanding professional work. The teaching of reflective learning techniques in management education is intended to promote deep-level learning and the application of critical thinking to oneself, personal experience and the work enviro...

Reflection and reflective practice are much discussed aspects of professional education. This paper conveys our efforts to problematise teaching reflective practice in human resources (HR) education. The research, on which the paper is based, engages with stakeholders involved in the professional learning and education of reflective practice in thr...

Reflective practice enjoys a prominent position in management education in the West. However, its ‘export’ raises questions about both positioning and effective delivery. This paper reports on exploratory research in relation to the teaching of reflective practice as part of a Masters management programme delivered in two sub-Saharan African countr...

The study explores the nature and mixture of push–pull factors in the journey from higher education into graduate entrepreneurship. Using longitudinal data from 15 graduates of a British university, it compares graduates who started their own business with graduates that did not. Importantly, both groups had initially indicated a strong desire to s...

The challenges of teaching reflective learning, whilst not peculiar to the HR profession, assume a poignancy given HR's claim to be the natural custodians of ‘all things learning’. The paper discusses the impact of attempts to enhance the reflective learning curriculum within one professional HR programme. Tensions in terms of the positioning of re...

This article presents the findings of an evaluation of an ADAPT funded project, which sought to develop innovative approaches to transforming the rhetoric of lifelong learning into practical ideas to enhance the quality and quantity of learning in Small and Medium Enterprises. At its core was the establishment of learning centres, located within an...

This paper examines the process of transition from student to graduate entrepreneur. The aim is to develop a typological framework that captures the key person–environment dimensions involved in this transitional journey. This paper draws upon interview data from 15 graduates, all of whom had established their own business within five years of grad...

Purpose This paper aims to address the need for a re‐focused research agenda in relation to graduate entrepreneurship. An important theme for some years has been the effort to monitor attitudes and intentions of students towards starting up their own businesses. It is timely, however, to raise some questions about both the impact of this research a...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an introduction to the special issue on the subject of innovative practice in the teaching and learning of HRD. Design/methodology/approach – The paper positions the special issue within a context of issues and dilemmas facing those who teach and train HRD. Ten papers are introduced which reflect a...

Addressing organisation politics is problematic in all parts of the management curriculum. It alludes to the dark side of organisational life and requires engagement with contentious issues of power and interest. Yet, at the same time, it potentially provides a critical perspective or window through which a richer understanding of management can be...

Purpose – This article proposes the development of a conceptual model to help understand the nature of management learning in the micro business context and to inform research and policy discourse. Design/methodology/approach – The model is developed on the basis of a literature search and review of academic and grey literature. Findings – The mode...

The main purpose of the exploratory research discussed in this paper was to generate insights into the complexity of the career-making processes involved in the transition from being a student to starting up a business. Using story-telling interviews, data were collected from fifteen graduates based in the Yorkshire region of the UK. Qualitative th...

Purpose – The paper's purpose is to present an introduction to the special issue is that positions and explores some of issues and challenges in the field of graduate entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines a range of issues and themes and introduces papers of six authors/author teams. The introductory paper is divided i...

Purpose This series of papers aims to explore the transition from higher education into work. It reports on research undertaken over a period of two years and which sought to track a number of young graduates as they completed their studies and embarked upon career of choice. Design/methodology/approach The approach adopted is defined and discusse...

Purpose – A report conducted for the Government in 2002 concluded that public policy, although rising to the challenges presented in stimulating a stronger relationship between supply and demand in the SME graduate labour market, was essentially “running blind”. SMEs were clearly playing an increasingly important role in the wider graduate labour m...

At the heart of the United Kingdom Government's vision of the ‘Learning Society’ in the 1998 ‘Learning Age’ Green Paper is the individual citizen, equipped for employment in the ever-changing, ‘knowledge-based’ economy of the future. Integral to this is the need for individuals to have responsibility for their own learning throughout life. It is pa...

Purpose – The UK Government policy for the training and development of its workforce reflects a desire to move towards a more flexible, “demand-led” system. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the outcomes and impact of two, publicly funded initiatives, designed to stimulate and enhance “demand-led” training within the UK's small business sect...

Purpose The purpose of this article is to provide a selective review of literature on the career‐related decision‐making processes in terms of the transition from student to business start‐up, and the nature and influence of support and guidance. Design/methodology/approach Primarily, a critical review of a range of recently published literature (...

In the context of the UK government's target of 50% participation by young people in higher education, issues relating to the use of graduates in firms assume renewed significance. Increasing attention is paid to the potential for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to absorb a larger number of new graduates. With reference to the hospitality...

This article provides a critical evaluation of demand-led training in practice. It focuses on the policy of workforce development and, in particular, on one workforce development pilot project. At the heart of the pilot is the notion of a ‘learning broker’ whose role is to stimulate demand for training in companies with little history or tradition...

If a key purpose of higher education is the development of students into ”critical lifelong learners” then first destination employment for graduates choosing professionally-oriented careers provides the initial ”testing ground” for its application/practice through ongoing “professional development“. It is principally the workplace that provides th...

Organisational learning practice within the public sector is relatively under researched. This paper draws on case study data from a local authority committed to the creation of a “learning organisation” culture; data generated through the evaluation of two programmes implemented as part of this strategic objective. The article contends that tensio...

In the context of a somewhat turbulent graduate labour market, attention is being focused on the employment of graduates in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper takes an initial “sounding” of our understanding about the transition of graduates into such organisations. While research data provides some insight into the barriers whi...

Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) represent a key tenet of the United Kingdom Government's lifelong learning strategy. They purport to be an innovatory response to the problems of adult participation in learning. Their design seeks to enshrine principles of individual choice and responsibility over the direction learning takes, and to be a vehicl...

Explores the impact of the establishment of a learning centre, within an industrial estate, on the development of lifelong learning in the workplace. It draws on data generated as part of an evaluation of a European social fund project to establish information and communication technology (ICT) based learning centres on each of three industrial est...

The article explores the growth of EDAP-style employee led development (ELD) schemes in the 1990s and critically appraises the arguments offered in their support. The dominant claims for ELD sit with equal comfort in the discourse of trade unionists promoting “bargaining for skills”, and managerialists promoting populist notions of the “learning co...

Discusses the second phase of a project on graduate employment in small hospitality firms. It explores the data from the first phase of the project using the concept of graduate identity. The views of both graduates and their managers are examined. The reflections on the data suggest that a complex relationship exists between graduates, their manag...

This paper discusses a pilot research project on graduate employment in small hospitality firms. It examines the transition and utilisation of the graduates within these firms. Findings from interviews suggest that these graduates and their managers were satisfied with levels of performance. However, much of the graduates' time was spent on relativ...