| The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of action learning in the business education and development context. The conceptual goal was to examine how action learning is designed and applied in practice and discover the critical design elements and their relationships. The intent was to build theory by uncovering the patterns and relationships in the practice of action learning program design.;This qualitative research study involved the synthesis of insights from the literature and interviews with selected human resources development professionals. This study purposely sampled six expert practitioners, four consultant practitioners, and six co-designers to examine their practices in designing and implementing action learning in the business education and development context.;The researcher concluded that designing and implementing organizationally focused action learning is a highly variable and complex learning and problem solving activity. It is influenced by the organization's context, involvement of key stakeholders, the action learning model applied, the design elements, and the management of people, processes, and risk during design implementation. When implementing action learning in this context, program designers must: (1) assess the context, (2) plan the intervention using a systems approach, (3) involve and manage key stakeholders, (4) design from the basic models of action learning and adapt them to their program context and goals, and (5) manage the program planning and implementation process.;Several critical action learning design elements were uncovered in this study that are required to achieve success with organizationally focused action learning in this context. They included: (1) a real workplace problem, (2) a learning coach, (3) a sponsor, (4) senior management involvement, (5) appropriate program content, (6) diverse groups of participants, (7) program time, (8) presentation of results and (9) clear goals. The power of action learning is derived from the process of combining and managing these elements and processes.;During implementation, action learning generates risk for the stakeholders and organizational resistance to the intervention. Risk increases in the absence of goal clarity, involvement of top management, readiness of the organization to change, and program time and resources. It is essential for designers and practitioners to uncover the sources of risk and resistance, recognize their presence, and plan to reduce or increase its effects depending on their purpose and design.;The conclusions from this study offer guidance for co-designers and practitioners based on the wisdom of sixteen practitioners, consultants and co-designers. This study provides empirical evidence about the design process, the design structure, and management of the implementation process. The researcher suggests two models to assist human resource professionals as they approach both program planning and design decision-making. |
