Previous studies examining coaching outcomes generally rely on cross-sectional data which limits our understanding of the enduring and long-term effects of coaching. To address this issue, this study, based on longitudinal data, explores several popular variables associated with coaching outcomes. The study is underpinned by Lambert's [(1992). Lambert, M. J. (1992). Psychotherapy outcome research: Implications for integrative and eclectic therapists. In J. C. Norcross, & M. R. Goldfried (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy integration (pp. 94-129). Basic Books] four-factor model of common factors and recognises them as variables which are customary to all coaching approaches contributing to coaching outcomes. The study considers stress, wellbeing, resilience, goal attainment and coaching effectiveness as coaching outcomes. Working alliance mediates the impact of self-efficacy, outcome expectations; and perceived social support which are regarded as the predictors of the coaching outcomes. The results indicate that social support predicts working alliance, and working alliance in turn predicts wellbeing and coaching effectiveness over time. The findings suggest that it is vital for coaches to monitor changes in the coachees' social networks and their working alliance since these have a significant bearing on the effectiveness of the sessions and the coachees' wellbeing.

Purpose-This study examines employees' learning preferences in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at different life-cycle stages. Design/methodology/approach-The study has two phases. Phase I classified a sample of 30 Hong Kong SMEs into three different life-cycle stages (inception, high growth or maturity). Phase II then explored/compared their employees' learning practices in terms of importance using a mixed-method design through an online learning questionnaire followed by face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Findings-Based on a list of 32 learning practices common to SME workplaces, the study identified how SME employees perceive the importance of a learning practice. The top 5 and the bottom 5 learning practices in SMEs across life-cycle stages are presented to promote best interests for SME executives. Research limitations/implications-While SME learning is highly varied, this study sheds light on some traceable context about it as an SME grows. Similar studies with additional SMEs, including SMEs in other locations, are encouraged to strengthen the findings. Practical implications The findings help SME executives understand what learning practices are most important (or least important) for their employees, given the life-cycle stage of the firm. Aligning a business with employees' learning preferences in a timely fashion is a managerial decision to be made for driving organizational effectiveness. Originality/value-It is among the first studies connecting employee learning in SMEs and organizational life cycle to address a critical but missing inquiry.

Grounded in actual research and supported by the author’s 25 years of experience teaching business and management students, this book is designed especially for students and researchers in business looking to do practical research, and introduces them to the reality of conducting research for the classroom or the boardroom. The reader is guided through each step of the research process including all the tools they need to collect, analyse and present data and given advice on how to identify, design and complete appropriate projects, enabling them to develop their own research and maximize its impact. Global examples are included throughout from international markets and across the Business and Management discipline. Packed full of learning features and complimented by a free interactive eBook that includes author video chapter introductions, top tips and skills, real world advice, templates and examples of published research, real world data sets, MCQs, PowerPoint slides, student exercises and journal articles, as well as employability advice and guidance on different types of assessment and dissemination, allowing access on the go and encouraging learning and retention whatever the reading or learning style. Suitable for anyone intending to conduct research in a variety of business contexts such as Management, Marketing, HRM and Organizational Studies.

Executive coaching is widely used as a tool to develop leaders and organizations. However, despite the popularity of coaching, the effect of coaching on relevant leadership performance measures remains unclear. We report on the development of a model for coaching effectiveness predicting that aspects common to all approaches are the main active ingredients, mediated by the working alliance as the single-best predicting common aspect. To test this model, we conducted a (waiting-list) randomized controlled trial within a global healthcare corporation, involving 180 coachees, 66 coaches, and 140 line managers of the coachees, which we contend is the largest randomized controlled trial in executive coaching to date. The study demonstrated substantial impact with effect sizes up to d = 1.1. We also tested several aspects that are common to coaching contracts and found more evidence for the central importance of the strength of the working alliance as seen from both the coachee and (to a lesser extent) the coach perspectives, which mediated the effects for coachee well-being and perceived social support. In addition, we found some significant impact for coachee self-efficacy, resilience and "bright side" personality aspects. Finally, we found some first significant indications that personality and career derailment aspects may show demonstrable improvement through coaching. We discuss the implications of these findings for coaching theory and practice. Overall, our study demonstrates the effectiveness of coaching in an organizational setting, the importance of the working alliance, and that coaching may mitigate the risks of leaders derailing in large organizations.

In this quasi-experimental, longitudinal mixed-methods research study we examine the nature of career coaching and frame it as a type of developmental tool that can enhance students’ personal and professional development. We investigate the effectiveness of career coaching in increasing students’ career-decision self-efficacy and in turn, their employability efforts. We also examine what aspects of the coaching relationship are most effective in changing students’ career-decision self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations and employability efforts. We argue that the role of Higher Education is to empower students and to address the issues of gender, ethnicity, perceived social support, socioeconomic status, cultural influences and gender role models in their employability strategy. We position coaching as a strategic employability enhancing tool. Our findings suggest that the career coaching intervention has a lot of benefits and an overall positive effect.

PurposeGender differences in leadership and issues around differential progression of male and female leaders are receiving more attention in the fields of human resource and leadership development. However, little is known about how interventions designed to support female leaders are being experienced within real-world contexts of global organizations. There is limited research and discussion on how such interventions are experienced at a more systemic level. This study aims to contribute at this very level.Design/methodology/approachThis study reports on a predominantly coaching-based development program that was designed to further the careers of female leaders within a complex multi-national organization. The study was conducted in a large, global health-care corporation employing 100,000 people based in over 120 countries. The qualitative research design for this study was exploratory, involving a reflexive process at each of the two stages.FindingsThe findings from this qualitative research take the debate on “the gendered organization” further by including the voices of female leaders. They demonstrate that whilst theoretically the concept of the “ideal worker” may inhibit progression, this is not necessarily a barrier to career advancement. Coaching, both individual and group, is shown to have a powerful effect on promoting reflection, self-confidence and focus.Research limitations/implicationsThere are two research limitations. While confidentiality was promised, the responses of some interviewees were nevertheless still guarded. Other limitations relate to the extent to which this study can be generalized to other contexts, as it was conducted inside a single global corporation.Originality/valueThe study addresses the complex and urgent topic of differential progression and makes a broader contribution by offering a systemic perspective on gender and development in global organizations.

While the issue of gaining access to survey respondents is often considered in the research methods literature, the focus is usually on gaining cognitive access within a single organisation. In this chapter, based on our own experiences of conducting a UK national survey, we focus on difficulties associated with gaining physical access to respondents holding a particular role in a large number of organisations. Based on the challenges we eventually overcame, we make a number of key recommendations for researchers.

The concept of communities of practice has become increasingly influential in management literature. Yet, many scholars regard the term as too homogeneous and lacking in empirical support. Our study explores the Silver Academy, a project involving over 100 unemployed and self-employed managers over the age of 50, who came together with the purpose of sharing knowledge and experience in starting up their own businesses. The study shows how the Academy matches the notion of community of practice, including mutual relationships, shared engagement and a common consensus of membership. However, applying Bion’s theory of groups, we challenge the homogeneous and consensual notion of a community of practice, illustrating how, through unconscious group processes, some group members exhibit work-group mentality and the capacity for realistic hard work (and leadership), while others are caught in a basic-assumption mentality, prone to feelings of anxiety, guilt and depression. This is particularly so for a group that has gone through the recent trauma of unemployment.

Gaining physical access to potential respondents is crucial to human resource development (HRD) survey research. Yet a review of the HRD, human resource management, and best-selling business and management research methods texts in the United States, and United Kingdom reveals that, even where the process of gaining access is discussed and its cruciality stressed, inside accounts and insights regarding the daunting and problematic nature and its impact on data collected are rarely emphasized. More specialist methods literature, although outlining some potential issues, again offers few insights into the actual realities likely to be faced in the real world. Consideration of recent articles in HRD journals highlights also that, despite the widespread use of surveys, often via the Internet, such issues of physical access are rarely mentioned, reporting at best merely summarizing from whom and how data were obtained. We speak to this problem by offering two inside accounts of multiorganization research studies utilizing a survey strategy and Internet questionnaire, where gaining access to people across a large number of organizations threw up many challenges. These accounts offer clear insights into the issues and implications for rigor associated with gaining access when undertaking Internet surveys using both purchased lists (databases) and volunteer panels. In particular, they highlight the importance of recognizing that gaining access is often problematic, and provide a context for our recommendations for research practice, thereby assisting the mitigation of potential problems.

Although theoretical and applied work has emphasized the critical role of coachee personality in the coaching process, little quantitative research has identified specific personality traits as moderating variables. Drawing from social psychological theories, we examined coachees’ ability to modify self-presentation, a major facet of the self-monitoring construct, as a moderator of the relationships between executive coaching and coachees’ satisfaction with the coaching relationship, career-related self-exploration and self-esteem. Using a sample of managerial coachees who were either unemployed or at risk of becoming unemployed and who participated in a series of executive coaching sessions, we found support for most of our hypotheses. Overall coaching as well as specific coaching factors, particularly goal development, were significantly and positively associated with relationship satisfaction and self-exploration. Overall coaching and transformative learning dimensions of coaching (goal development and past reappraisal) related more strongly and positively to self-exploration among coachees high in self-presentation ability, whereas overall coaching and psychosocial dimensions of coaching (confidence enhancement and relationship building) related more strongly and positively to relationship satisfaction among coachees low in self-presentation ability. Therefore, our theoretical considerations and empirical results suggest that coachees differing in self-presentation ability respond differently to coaching in general and to specific coach behaviors in particular.

As can be seen from its website, and reiterated in numerous editorials (e.g., Anderson, 2017; Nimon, 2017; Reio & Werner, 2017), Human Resource Development Quarterly (HRDQ) provides a central focus on human resource development (HRD) issues as well as the means for disseminating empirical research across the breadth of the discipline. Furthermore, the listing of keywords on its website indicates the importance HRDQ places on knowing more about learning in workplace settings as it includes words and phrases such as workplace issues, workplace learning, organizational studies, and workplace performance. This is in line with general increased interest in organizational learning in recent years (Higgins & Aspinall, 2011). Therefore, it is concerning that HRDQ seldom reports on an area of workplace learning in a sector that, in many countries throughout the world, encompasses approximately 99% of all businesses, provides over 50% of employment, and can generate around 50% of national turnover (Chartered Institute for Personnel & Development [CIPD], 2015; Coetzer & Perry, 2008; European Commission, 2016; Federation of Small Businesses, 2015; Hamburg, Engert, Anke, & Marin, 2008; Matlay, 2014; Mellett & O'Brien, 2014; U.K. Parliament, 2014; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). If you have not yet guessed, this area of learning, which is vital to economies across the globe, occurs in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Consequently, in this editorial, we seek to explore the extent of this omission, not only in HRDQ but also in other journals, and then investigate possible reasons for this. We hope that by emphasizing both the importance of and the lack of reported research into HRD in SMEs, we will encourage further dialogue and submissions related to this important topic.

Until recently, there has been little published systematic empirical research into business coaching. This article reports on a systematic, critical review of 111 published empirical papers investigating business coaching theory, processes, and outcomes. The present article identifies a significantly larger body of empirical research than covered in previous reviews and uses a Systematic Review methodology (SRm) to conduct a comprehensive review of the available empirical evidence into business coaching effectiveness focusing on implications for theoretical development, practice (within human resource development) and further research in this area. This review identifies convergence around factors that contribute to perceived effective coaching practice but nevertheless highlights a number of issues to be resolved in further research. These include determining the primary beneficiaries of coaching, the factors that contribute to coach credibility, and how the organizational and social context impacts on coaching. Weaknesses in coaching research methodology and research gaps are also noted.

In the world of business and management, the practice of workplace learning is deemed important for firms to survive or stay competitive. However, firm characteristics such as business priorities, management styles, and limited internal resources and capabilities are always organizational factors that affect how firms may practice workplace learning. According to organizational life cycle (OLC) theory, during the firm’s growth from inception, to high-growth, to maturity, firm characteristics differ and the internal resources and capabilities of the firm develop. The literature has discussed the dynamics of organizational life cycle, but little is knownabout how it possibly relates to workplace learning. The paper synthesises the OLC literature and draws the characteristics of three common stages for firms (large or small) to conceptualize different patterns of workplace learning practices, promoting a new page of empirical research potential.

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to relate the practice of organisational learning in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the organisational life cycle (OLC), contextualising the differential aspects of an integrated relationship between them.Design/methodology/approach– It is a mixed-method study with two consecutive phases. In Phase I, 30 Hong Kong SMEs identified through theoretical sampling were classified into three life-cycle stages – inception, high growth and maturity. In Phase II, their employees’ learning practices (grouped by learning levels) were statistically compared using the analysis of variance and then followed up for confirmation with qualitative semi-structured interviews.Findings– This study uniquely suggests the nature of a relationship between SME organisational learning and the OLC. Empirical results show that three of the four learning levels (individual, group, organisational and inter-organisational) practised in SMEs are varied in importance between life-cycle stages.Research limitations/implications– Comparative studies are encouraged in other parts of the world to strengthen the findings – with either SMEs or large organisations.Practical implications– The study informs SME owner/managers about what is important for employee learning at different business stages so that appropriate learning strategies or human resource development policies can be formulated in a timely fashion to promote competitiveness.Originality/value– It is among the first studies to connect SME learning with organisational growth. The relationships found serve as a sound foundation for further empirical investigations.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore how employees in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) practise and view workplace learning at three different life-cycle stages.Design/methodology/approach– It is a qualitative study using a sample of 30 Hong Kong SMEs classified into inception, high-growth or maturity stage, from which firms in each stage were randomly selected and interviewed until data saturation was reached. Snowball sampling was adopted during interviews and data were examined through thematic analysis.Findings– Consistent themes (patterns) from 134 semi-structured interviews are identified, addressing both similarities and differences in the nature of the practice of workplace learning in SMEs between life-cycle stages.Research limitations/implications– More similar comparative studies in other parts of the world, including quantitative surveys on larger samples, with either SMEs or multinational corporations, are encouraged to enrich the current findings.Practical implications– If organisational growth is a priority, SME owner/managers should support employees’ work and learning in a timely fashion. As the study finds, individual learning and inter-organisational learning are considered “a must to have” for employees, regardless of which stage the firm is at. When an SME enters high-growth, however, more opportunities for group learning are particularly beneficial. For mature SMEs, it is essential for learning to move towards systemisation and include a professional development component to meet employees’ career expectations, not just their work demands.Originality/value– The results advance the body of knowledge in SME learning from the life-cycle perspective. As one of the first studies in bridging these areas, it brings new implications to academic researchers and SME practitioners.

The economic crisis of 2008/2009 has increased unemployment among managers, particularly older managers, a group under-researched empirically. This longitudinal study assesses the efficacy of executive coaching for a group of unemployed professionals who participated in an intensive coaching programme aimed at reintegrating them into the economy. Results suggest that the majority were positive about coaching, a process that helped them to reflect on and learn from their new circumstances. Findings also contradict other studies, indicating cautious, cool and even hostile responses to coaching. The study highlights the mental fragility of previously successful, now unemployed managers. From a policy perspective, interventions should start earlier (before employees leave an organisation) and finish later. From a social science perspective, executive coaching represents a modest but sometimes effective initiative to help unemployed professionals to re-write their life stories to make sense of their experiences.