Executive Training and Strategic Renewal: Theory and Historical Evidence

The literature remains ambiguous on the impact of corporate-specific executive training programs on organizational performance. Instead of considering economic and learning performance, we study executive training programs as platforms that political coalitions can use to promote or block strategic renewal processes. In our comparative historical study, we look at executive training in three different organizations. The findings suggest that the transformative results of executive training programs hinge on the interplay of four potential mechanisms: program organizers’ entrepreneurial skills, the characteristics of the organizational architecture, degree of ambiguity of strategic goals, and educational content of the training program. Extended to similar cases as studied here, skillful organizational actors may use executive training programs as vehicles in broader programs of strategic renewal. However, organizational architecture and/or strong political coalitions may block such attempts and marginalize executive training programs as ritualistic symbols of modern management.