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Action learning and critical thinking: a synthesis of two models

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  • Stephen M. Soffe
  • Michael J. Marquardt
  • Enoch Hale

Abstract

Recent scholarship and the news media have identified a lack of critical thinking and ethical behavior in the business world. These deficiencies have led to faulty decision-making, ineffective planning, and frequent organizational dysfunction. This situation has focused attention on both practitioners in the field of business and on the university programs that educate them. A number of upper-tier universities have begun to address these important issues by exploring ways of revising their Master of Business Administration programs to place greater emphasis on their graduates' ability to think critically and consider ethical implications before and after taking action. The authors propose a potential means of addressing these issues in both the business and academic environments through a synthesis of two well-established models based on the constructs of critical thinking and action learning. This synthesis has the potential to produce symbiotic and synergistic effects that may provide educators and practitioners with a new tool for encouraging critical thinking and ethical behavior. The implications for future research and practice are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen M. Soffe & Michael J. Marquardt & Enoch Hale, 2011. "Action learning and critical thinking: a synthesis of two models," Action Learning: Research and Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 211-230, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:alresp:v:8:y:2011:i:3:p:211-230
    DOI: 10.1080/14767333.2011.614927
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    1. Rakesh Khurana, 2007. "Introduction to From Higher Aims to Hired Hands The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession," Introductory Chapters, in: From Higher Aims to Hired Hands The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession, Princeton University Press.
    2. Jeffrey Pfeffer & Christina T. Fong, 2004. "The Business School ‘Business’: Some Lessons from the US Experience," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(8), pages 1501-1520, December.
    3. Pfeffer, Jeffrey & Fong, Christina T., 2004. "The Business School "Business": Some Lessons from the U.S. Experience," Research Papers 1855, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
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