Exploring the influence of Outdoor Management Development (OMD) program on leadership and teamwork competencies

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to ascertain: whether (1) there were any immediate effects on managers’ leadership competencies, leadership outcomes and teamwork as a result of the Outdoor Management Development (OMD) program and (2) there were any differences among managers’ competencies in relation to demographic variables. Specifically, a sample of 51 Greek business managers participated in a 2-day low-ropes course were assessed before and after training, using questionnaires and observation instruments. The most significant aspect of this study was that business managers, were found to reconsider their perceptions on adapting more transformational either transactional type of leadership when necessary, or trying harder to achieve business success and increasing their teamwork level. There were also significant differences of managers’ leadership and teamwork competencies based on gender, age and tenure. The results of this study strengthen the support of the effectiveness of applying OMD in the corporate sector, where existing research is still limited.

KEYWORDS:

• Outdoor management development
• leadership
• teamwork
• competencies
• corporate sector

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anna Kourtesopoulou

Anna Kourtesopoulou received her Ph.D. in Sport Management from University of Peloponnese and her M.S. in Outdoor Recreation from University of Thessaly.  Her current areas of research interest include human resource management, leadership development, sport and tourism management and service quality. Dr. Kourtesopoulou also has extensive experience in the outdoor education and recreation as an instructor in Greece and USA. 

Athanasios Kriemadis

Athanasios Kriemadis received his Ph.D. with specialization in Strategic Planning in sport organizations and Business Management from University of New Mexico. He currently teaches in the Department of Management Science and Technology at University of Peloponnese as a Professor, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Strategic Management, and Human Resource Management courses. Dr. Kriemadis also has extensive experience in Quality Assurance as a qualified EFQM assessor and lead auditor for ISO 9001:2015.