The great outdoors and management development: a framework for analysing the learning and transfer of management skills

Abstract

Despite a rapid increase in the provision of outdoor management development courses, there is a lack of both empirical evidence and theoretical perspectives to support theories related to the efficacy of the learning process and its transfer to the workplace. This paper highlights the lack of research in the area of outdoor management development provision and proposes a framework for analysing the learning and transfer of managerial skills. Using skills in conflict handling as an example, the discussion links the role of knowledge in skill acquisition to the issue of learning transfer and proposes a way in which different approaches may affect learning outcomes. It is proposed that this framework may be used as an evaluation tool in respect of particular methodologies or course designs and that this may help to maximize the chances of focused learning and subsequent skills transfer.