Does management development improve organizational productivity? A six-country analysis of European firms

Citation

Mabey, C. (2006), "Does management development improve organizational productivity? A six-country analysis of European firms", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 20 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2006.08120baf.004

Does management development improve organizational productivity? A six-country analysis of European firms

Does management development improve organizational productivity? A six-country analysis of European firms

Mabey, C., Ramirez, M.The International Journal of Human Resource Management, (UK), July 2005, Vol. 16 No. 7, Start page: 1067, No. of pages: 16

Purpose – Studies how organizations use and benefit from investing in management development, using a European cross-national study to investigate how management development is conceived and organized in a range of organizations and how this affects organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of the literature, draws up hypotheses concerning the link between management development and organizational productivity. Predicts that organizational productivity will be better if there is a link between human resource strategy and business strategy, if the organization uses “best practice” management development policies, if there is a organizational ethos favourable to management development, if managers believe that management development is important, if there is significant investment in management development, and if a diverse range of management development methods are used. Tests this out by surveying the human resource development managers in 179 firms from Germany, Denmark, France, Spain, the UK and Norway. Findings – Reports that study found that the importance given by managers to management development and the seriousness with which it was taken were shown to differentiate between high and low productivity organizations, but that the other hypothesized factors did not do so. Overall, concludes that this result is in line with other studies that have shown the importance of line manager support for the success of human resource management practices. Research limitations/implications – Considers the limitations of the research, including the sample used.Originality/value – Points out few studies have analysed how management development affects organizational performance.Style: Research paperISSN: 0958-5192Reference: 34AW975

Keywords: Europe, Management development, Organizational performance, Productivity