Assessing the value of action learning for social enterprises and charities

ABSTRACT

In this paper we evaluate action learning for leaders of social enterprises and charities. Based on ethnographic research including participant observation, facilitator reflective diary notes and in-depth, qualitative interviews with participants of two action learning sets undertaken over eight months, analysed using Wenger, Trayner, and de Laat [2011, “Promoting and Assessing Value Creation in Communities and Networks: A Conceptual Framework.” Open universiteit, Ruud de Moor Centrum. http://www.ou.nl/documents/14300/23cd8044-ce98-48d3-8733-8fa0404380ab.] value creation framework, we show how the current and future value of action learning is perceived by the participants. We seek to give a deeper understanding of the perceived value of action learning in the context of the not-for-profit sector. We discuss how the value creation framework can be used to think about learning interventions such as action learning, the value of which is notoriously challenging to articulate both in terms of evaluating action learning and forward planning value.

KEYWORDS:

• action learning
• value
• social enterprise
• charities
• evaluation

Acknowledgements

We give our thanks to the Northern Leadership Academy which provided funding to deliver the action learning sets researched here and to the social enterprise, Shared Future CIC who recruited the participants and facilitated the sets.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Sue Smith is the Director of the Centre for SME Development at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom. Sue has extensive experience of leadership development for small businesses and social enterprises and is deeply committed to the role higher education can play in regional development.

Laurie Smith is a Director of the social enterprise, Shared Future CIC. Developing people and enterprises along a sustainable path is something that really excites him and he takes great pleasure in working with individuals and teams to create new opportunities. Laurie is also a visiting teaching fellow at Lancaster University Management School.