Joseph KK Ho e-resources: A practitioner guide on managerial intellectual learning

A practitioner guide on managerial intellectual learning

Joseph, K.K. Ho

Dated: December 19, 2017

Preface

The management education is a dynamic fertile subject domain; at the same time, many management practitioners and students are willing and have been spending tremendous time and money to learn management subjects of all kinds. As a researcher and teacher on systems thinking and a number of management disciplines, the concern of how to effectively learn management knowledge to develop managerial competence has been the life-long one for this writer to address. A major research project taken up by the writer in this regard is the multi-perspective, systems-based (MPSB) research that was launched in 1992 as his Ph.D. thesis. Based on this early work on the MPSB research, the writer began in 2013 to examine and publish academic articles on managerial intellectual learning (MIL). Now, it is considered ripe to produce a practitioner guide on managerial intellectual learning. To do so, the writer organizes the published works on MIL and presents the ideas in a much less academic tone so that it is more comprehensible to practitioners who are not academically sophisticated in the academic field of management. Therefore, the book makes much reduced use of academic referencing and academic jargon. It does include a reading list at the end of each chapter, so that more serious readers can gain a more in-depth grasp of the content by studying the relevant academic works. The overall aim of the book, then, is to provide an accessible guide to readers to learn management knowledge via a personal, informal, sustainable, engaging and fruitful pathway. This guide intends to represent and promote the writer's accumulated experience and research findings on MIL to intellectually unsophisticated readers who are nevertheless interested in building up managerial competence via effective and enjoyable learning of the broad subject of management.

Contents

*Chapter*	*Title*	*Page*
Chapter 1	The objectives and overview of managerial intellectual learning	4
Chapter 2	Securing the conditions and resources for managerial intellectual learning	6
Chapter 3	The process framework on managerial intellectual learning	8
Chapter 4	Literature review practice for managerial intellectual learning	11
Chapter 5	Managerial intellectual learning for managerial practices	15
Chapter 6	Coaching and e-learning support for managerial intellectual learning	16
Chapter 7	Managerial intellectual learning for scholar-practitioners	19
Chapter 8	Concluding remarks	22
References		23

Chapter 1: The objectives and overview of managerial intellectual learning (MIL)

The objectives

Today's business environment is dynamic and complex. Management education and training, both done within and without companies, is prevailing. Nevertheless, management education and training programmes can be expensive and not necessarily effective. Management knowledge from the academic sources is valuable and sophisticated. Learning it, i.e., intellectual learning, is vital for developing managerial competence for practitioners, e.g., managers in commercial and non-commercial organizations. However, there is additional pitfalls of this form of management education and training: academic management knowledge is not always relevant for enhancing managerial practices; even if it does, academic management knowledge, for many learners, is uneasy to comprehend and time-consuming to study. All these concerns, among others, need to be coped with reasonably well for effective intellectual learning on management knowledge to be carried out. This guide is written to respond to this intellectual learning need of practitioners in the field of management. This type of learning is called managerial intellectual learning (MIL), though the kind of MIL dealt with here takes on a narrower scope of learning activity. In particular, this practitioner guide primarily elucidates on a specific way to pursue managerial intellectual learning, which promotes certain characteristics. These characteristics are engaging, self-directed, informal, effective, enjoyable, life-long, agile, enlightening, affordable, and systems thinking-based.

The overview

The elaboration of the managerial intellectual learning in this guide covers the required conditions and resources for MIL (chapter 2), the process framework on MIL (chapter 3), literature review practice for MIL (chapter 4), MIL for managerial practices (chapter 5), coaching and e-learning support for MIL (chapter 6) and MIL for scholar-practitioners (chapter 7). These topics indicate the overview of MIL for practitioners as well as delineate the scope of guidance coverage of this practitioner guide.

As a practitioner guide, it avoids the academic writing style that uses quite some quotations and referencing and academic jargons. The guide does include an ending section of further readings on each chapter for readers who want to take a closer look at the associated academic writings.

Further readings

Ho, J.K.K. 2013. “A Research Note: An exploration on the intellectual learning process of systems thinking by managers in the digital social media ecosystem” European Academic Research 1(5) August: 636-649.

Ho, J.K.K. 2015. “An examination on the study scope and theoretical principles of managerial intellectual learning (MIL)” European Academic Research 3(4) July: 4602-4618.

Ho, J.K.K. 2016. “Using mind mapping literature to enrich the subject of managerial intellectual learning (MIL): an exploratory exercise” European Academic Research 4(4) July: 3483-3497.

Chapter 2: Securing the conditions and resources for managerial intellectual learning

Managerial intellectual learning (MIL) is an engaging activity; inevitably, it also takes time as well as external support to do so. The following two types of conditions and resources are the major ones:

1. Related to mindset: To pursue managerial intellectual learning as an engaging and life-long activity, the learner has to be convinced that it is worthwhile to do so. Specifically, such learning should be conceived as important to a learner for pursuing his/her life-goal, including career goal, and cultivating his/her self-image. One aspect of this required mindset is intense intellectual curiosity. Moreover, it is highly desirable to have a low level of mental distraction and noises as they weaken a learner's ability to be mindful and critically reflective in managerial intellectual learning. To keep the level low of them and to effectively cope with them, emotional intelligence, social networking skills and a noble mindset are also much required. These psychological conditions are also highly relevant for a learner to respond to other external environmental matters, such as work-life balance and the attention paid to mental, physical and financial health.

2. Related to external environment: External environmental conditions such as the political, economic, social and technological trends do affect the quality of life, including work life of a person pursuing MIL. The mindset of a learner enables him/her to cope with these external factors that have an impact on learning, but there is a limit of what a learner's mindset can do in this regard. Beside these macro-environmental conditions, a learner's immediate external environment, such as his/her social network, infrastructural (e.g., e-learning infrastructure), and corporate support, e.g., human resource development policy, also influence a learner's ability to take up engaging and life-long MIL.

Factors on the two types of conditions/resources are inter-related, dynamic and, to a large extent, perceptual in nature. They interact and evolve over time in a somewhat stochastic mode. It is vital that the learner be sensitive to them and manage them as best as he/she is able to so as to create a favourable MIL environment as well as gaining the necessary resources and motivation to propel the learning.

Further readings

Ho, J.K.K. 2014. “On Plagiarism-Dissolving: a Research Note” European Academic Research 1(2) February: 4274-4290.

Ho, J.K.K. 2014. “A Research Note on the Managerial Intellectual Learning Capabilities-Building Mechanism (MILCBM)” European Academic Research 2(2) May: 2029-2047.

Ho, J.K.K. 2014. “An empirical study on managerial intellectual learning and managerial intellectual learning capabilities-Building Mechanism (MILCBM)” European Academic Research 2(8) November: 10564-10577.

Chapter 3: The process framework on managerial intellectual learning

The managerial intellectual learning (MIL) process, as an idealized reference framework comprises a set of four inter-related activities, as embedded in an array of mindset and external environmental factors (re: Figure 1):

Phase 1 (Data Management) comprises securing and searching for study materials, notably academic readings, for leisure reading as well as problem-driven study purposes. Storing, indexing, coding, browsing and making study notes of the readings and ideas from them are the main activities for this phase. Also, learners need to make the e-learning infrastructure, notably, e-library, available to them for this kind of activities.

Phase 2 (Absorbed reading) involves more serious comprehension of the ideas from the academic domain so as to gain a more broader, deeper and, sometimes, focused understanding of management themes, both to develop more sophisticated managerial intellectual competence as well as to obtain a more complicated understanding of management topics. Such activities very often are prompted by on-hand research works and managerial problem-solving tasks. Often, it is carried out as literature review, though a light-weight and agile one for this. Chiefly, it feeds on the input from Phase 1(Data Management). The review very often involves explicit reflection on the study materials, as facilitated with the construction of conceptual diagrams. These diagrams are also called theoretical framework.

Phase 3 (The multi-perspective, systems-based (MPSB) knowledge compilation is a specialized form of literature review that makes use of critical systems thinking to critically reflect on the discussion in the academic literature on a specific management topic. This literature review exercise consider the values of the purpose-serving tools, the range of possible subjective perceptions on the management topic and, finally, the hidden, marginalized and suppressed assumptions underlying the mainstream views on the chosen management topics under examination. The review is encouraged to be done with the construction of conceptual diagrams, called the MPSB frameworks, both to facilitate critical reflection on the academic literature on the selected management topic under investigation and to convey the resultant findings to other people.

Phase* (Practice-based intellectual learning) is learning that takes place in the practice environment, e.g., a specific work setting. This kind of learning involves both tacit and explicit reflection on observation and management concerns, primarily out of real-world managerial problem-solving or planning activities. This kind of intellectual learning is particularly interested in generating insights with actionable value to address management concerns that exist in the real-world problem-situation.

By linking up these four types of learning activities as a web of managerial intellectual learning activities, one obtains an evolutionary MIL process framework. The MIL process framework is embedded in a learning context with various influencing mindset and external environmental factors.

Further readings

Ho, J.K.K. 1995. “An Example on the Operation of the MPSB Filter” Systems Research Vol. 12, No. 4. Chichester: Wiley: 297-308.

Ho, J.K.K. 1995. “MPSB Frameworks Explained” in Ellis, K., A. Gregory, B. Mears-Young and G. Ragsdell. (editors). Critical Issues in Systems Theory and Practice. Plenum Press: 487-492.

Ho, J.K.K. 2015. "An updated research note on the key multi-perspective, systems-based (MPSB) concepts in the multi-perspective, systems-based research" American Research Thoughts 1(11) September: 2693-2704.

Chapter 4: Literature review practice for managerial intellectual learning

Managerial intellectual learning (MIL) relies heavily on literature review. In this regard, some literature review is a leisure reading activity, sometimes to intellectually explore management topics to make an overall grasp of them, while at other times to gain a deeper understanding of a specific management topic. More often than not, the literature review exercise is carried out as an agile literature review for specific applied business research projects or managerial problem-solving to address a particular management concern in the real-world setting, see Table 1. The literature review exercise is attentive to developing a sophisticated understanding of a chosen management topic, see Table 2:

Table 1: A practice guide on the agile literature review approach

The steps	Tasks and deliverable	Relevant resources and support
Step 1 - ideas search	Tasks · Identify relevant key words on the formulated management topic statement that responds to the management concern statement made Literature search · · Browsing and screening contents found · Ideas snowballing Deliverable A folder for storing the relevant literature, primarily in pdf form	· Suggestions of relevant academic ideas for key word search from academic advisors and supervisors · Library facility, notably e-library for accessing academic publishers' websites
Step 2 - ideas collection	Tasks · Collect ideas from the literature and save them into one or more documents on different topics · Quick reading of the literature materials collected from Step 1 Deliverable A set of study notes on a chosen set of topics	· Computer · Brief evaluative comments and advice on the content of the study notes from academic advisors and supervisors · e-resources on study notes [for illustration]
Step 3 - ideas categorization	Task · Review ideas on each study note on a particular topic and group the ideas from the study note into a number of categories that are relevant for addressing one or two management concerns under examination Deliverable A set of categories for grouping the ideas in each study note	· e-resources on cognitive mapping-based literature review · e-resources on mind mapping-based literature review · e-resources on coding in qualitative research
Step 4 - ideas systemic diagramming	Task · Link up idea categories to produce a theoretical framework/ ideas systemic diagram Deliverable A theoretical framework/ ideas systemic diagram	· e-resources on theoretical framework · e-resources on systemic diagramming · e-resources on coding in qualitative research

Table 2: Examples of statements on management concerns and associated management topics

Management concern statements Characteristics · Concerns/ issues-focused · Expressed in the language of the client system's world · Felt by one or more stakeholder groups in an organizational setting	Management topic statements Characteristics · Solutions/evaluation-focused · Expressed in the language of the academic world · Felt by the researcher to be relevant for working out some recommendations with good actionable value
Examples on management concern statements	Examples on management topic statements
Example 1: Product range of the company too narrow and mature [felt by the senior management of the company]	To evaluate and strengthen the innovation capability of the company.
Example 2: Company's staff in low morale due to the poor organizational atmosphere associated with the upcoming business process outsourcing [felt by the senior management and the employees of the company]	To evaluate how the organizational atmosphere of the company affects its employee morale and the resultant employees' job performance.
Example 3: Salesmen unwilling to share customers' information with their colleagues in their company [felt by the owner of the business]	To evaluate and strengthen the teamwork of the company so as to improve customer satisfaction.
Example 4: Some managers considered too harsh to their subordinates [felt by some of the company's middle managers]	To evaluate and improve the management styles and leadership styles found in the company.
Example 5: The middle managers and their subordinates of the company are considered unwilling to learn and adopt innovative ideas [felt by the top management of the company]	To evaluate how the existing corporate culture of the company affects its innovation capability.

There are a number of four distinguishing characteristics of the literature review practice for MIL, however. They are:

1. Strongly rely on using diagramming techniques to construct theoretical frameworks in the literature review exercise.

2. Strongly prefer to underline the systemic nature of the theoretical frameworks constructed via the literature review exercise.

3. Willing to construct an array of theoretical frameworks, some primarily as an academic exercise focusing on the management topic per se, while others as knowledge structure with actionable value to address specific management concerns in a particular organizational setting.

4. Favour to conduct the literature review based on critical systems thinking.

In short, literature review in MIL serves the twin purposes of (a) intellectual learning to build up managerial competence and (b) applied business research and associated managerial problem-solving. Its time-frame can be short-term or long-term.

Further readings

Ho, J.K.K. 2014. "A Review of the Multi-perspective, Systems-based (MPSB) Research with an MPSB Knowledge Supply Chain Framework" European Academic Research 2(1) April: 705-729.

Ho J.K.K. 2017. "On the agile literature review approach for practising managers: a proposal" Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley [to be published].

Ho JKK. 2017. "Cognitive mapping for literature review ebook 2017" April 16, Joseph KK Ho publication folder (URL address: http://josephkkho.blogspot.hk/2017/04/cognitive-mapping-for-literature-review.html). [visited at July 28, 2017].

Ho, J.K.K. 2017. "Some additional conceptual clarification of the recently proposed agile literature review approach (ALRA)" Joseph KK Ho e-resources October 28 (url address: http://josephho33.blogspot.hk/2017/10/some-additionalconceptual.html).

Chapter 5: Managerial intellectual learning for managerial practices

One of the primary goals of managerial intellectual learning is to build up the learner's managerial competence. This in turn, enables the learner to improve his/her managerial practices. The MIL impact on managerial practices in this regard play out in four ways:

1. Via MIL, the learner's intellectual cognition on management topics and concerns is enhanced. The learner is able to develop a more complicated understanding of management concerns and topics that he/she has to consider in his/her managerial practices in his/her specific work setting. In particular, MIL offers a diversity of guidelines to conduct literature review for the long-term goal of professional development and short-term managerial/ applied business research performance.

2. In MIL, specific guidelines are provided on (i) how to conduct appropriate literature review, (ii) how to explore a specific problem-situation to come up with useful literature review themes that are promising for generating management knowledge with high actionable value.

3. Via MIL, a learner is sensitive to the mindset and external environment management issues which can subsequently affect his/her MIL effectiveness. And MIL effectiveness influences short-term and long-term effective managerial practices.

4. MIL promotes effective learning from managerial practices, which, in turn, improves a learner's managerial practices over time.

More generally, MIL has been employed to study functional management disciplines that, in turn inform managerial practices in both strategic and functional managerial domains. Lastly, MIL sensitizes a learner to align intellectual learning with his/her life-goal and career aspiration. More often than not, MIL learners are interested in pursuing the life-goal to become competent scholar-practitioners in one or more management disciplines. Being a competent scholar-practitioner implies more competent managerial practices.

Further readings

Ho, J.K.K. 1995. “An Example on the Operation of the MPSB Filter” Systems Research Vol. 12, No. 4. Chichester: Wiley: 297-308.

Ho, J.K.K. 2014. "A Review of the Multi-perspective, Systems-based (MPSB) Research with an MPSB Knowledge Supply Chain Framework" European Academic Research 2(1) April: 705-729.

Ho, J.K.K. 2017. "A systems thinking-based review of the topic on an applied business research project background (ABB)" European Academic Research 5(8) November: 4021-4040.

Ho J.K.K. 2017. "On the agile literature review approach for practising managers: a proposal" Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley [to be published].

Chapter 6: Coaching and e-learning support for managerial intellectual learning

Managerial intellectual learning is expected to be a self-directed and inner-driven journey for the learner. It does not mean that there such learning is done in an isolated mode. On the contrary, MIL requires e-learning supports of various types. The essential one is access to academic resources, notably from academic publishers' e-libraries. Study materials available on the public domain, e.g., public libraries, YouTube, and Google Scholar, are also important for MIL. The second category of support is advisory support from coaches, mentors and teachers from universities. This advisory support can be informal, e.g. from the learner's social network, or offered on a paid-for basis by the learner's employing organization. Another type of academic advisory support could come from teachers on an educational programme that a learner has enrolled in. Apparently, the knowledge domains covered in the coaching and e-learning support for MIL are broad. They include knowledge domains in various management disciplines. More importantly, academic advisory support to learn contemporary systems thinking is critical since MIL is systems thinking-based. Novice MIL learners are especially reliant on the coaching and e-learning support to start off on this learning journey. Over time, as a learner gains more intellectual competence, he/she becomes more capable to learn how to learn by himself/herself. When this more mature stage of learning is reached, the learner is more capable to carry out MIL on his/her own. Nevertheless, being able to access academic study materials, in particular from some e-learning platforms and portals, is still crucial. This writer recommends learners not to spend too much money on formal education as a pathway on continuing MIL and related continuing professional development.

Further readings

Ho, J.K.K. 2013. "A Research Paper: Providing E-Learning Support to Part-Time Students in Business Disciplines Using Facebook from the Multi-Perspective, Systems-Based (MPSB) Perspective" Systems Research and Behavioral Science 30: 86-97.

Ho, J.K.K. 2015. "A brief research note on coaching and mentoring practice guidelines and principles for the Multi-perspective, Systems-based (MPSB) managerial learning" European Academic Research 3(7) October: 7291-7303.

Chapter 7: Managerial intellectual learning for scholar-practitioners

The continuing intellectual learning to develop managerial competence, being the aim of managerial intellectual learning, is a highly relevant personal developmental pathway for the learner with a life-goal to be a scholar-practitioner. In this case, it can also be said that the learner's life-goal to become a scholar-practitioner constitutes the motivator to pursue MIL. This is, however, not necessarily the situation because MIL is a special version of managerial intellectual learning in that it has unique learning characteristics, notably its embrace of critical systems thinking and multi-perspective, systems-based research, among others. Therefore, not all scholar-practitioners in business management adopts the specific learning route of MIL for continuing professional development. Notwithstanding this fact, an understanding of the professional development process of scholar-practitioner in business management (re: Figure 2) also improves comprehension of the nature of MIL.

Briefly, the professional development process to become a scholar-practitioner in business management recognises five related sets of considerations:

A. The supportive infrastructure: The infrastructure enables information, knowledge flow as well as intellectual dialogues with other people in both physical and virtual ways.

B. Learning process and motivators: The learning process involves the inter-related activities of writing, research, teaching, sharing and praxis.

C. Impacts on skills: Specific skill impacts include improved managerial skills, improved teaching skills and improved intellectual skills.

D. Professional identity: The professional identity is that of a scholar-practitioner.

E. On personal well-being: A number of favourable impacts on personal well-being are identified on work-life balance, self-actualization and employability.

The professional development process enriches our understanding of the MIL process by taking in consideration of professional development factors specific to a scholar-practitioner. And to be a scholar-practitioner is an important MIL motivator.

Further readings

Ho, J.K.K. 2014. "A Theoretical Review on the Professional Development to Be a Scholar-Practitioner in Business Management" European Academic Research 1(12) March: 5393-5422.

Ho, J.K.K. 2014. "Mapping and explaining the Multi-perspective, Systems-based Research sub-Systems Movement" European Academic Research 2(9) December: 11880-11900.

Ho, J.K.K. 2015. "A survey study of perceptions on the scholar-practitioner notion: the Hong Kong case" American Research Thoughts 1(10) August: 2268-2284.

Chapter 8: Concluding remarks

Academic articles published in several journals over times on managerial intellectual learning (MIL) have cumulatively articulated at some length on MIL. By organizing and expressing the MIL ideas in a condensed and less academic style, this guide serves for the induction purpose for learners interested in pursuing MIL. Interested readers who are willing to spare more time to study the readings listed in this guide will gain a deeper understanding of it. Nevertheless, being engaged in MIL is crucial.

Further reading

Facebook page on Managerial intellectual learning, maintained by J.K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/managerial.intellectual.learning/).

References