Susan M. Schor

Knowledge‐related skills and effective career management

This study addresses recent changes in the career development climate in the USA in which individuals have ultimate responsibility for managing their own careers. We examined empirically the relationship between a relevant set of skills relating to self‐knowledge, interpersonal knowledge, environmental knowledge and effective career management. Data were gathered from 446 students and graduates who had completed a 28‐week, two‐semester managerial skills course within the past five years. The correlation and regression results provide strong support for the hypothesized relationships. The findings reveal that reported acquisition and utilization of skills relating to self‐knowledge, interpersonal knowledge, and environmental knowledge are associated with personal learning, goal setting, career strategies, and career decision making. Implications and directions for future studies are discussed.

Management Skills in Action: Four Teaching Models

Business schools across the country have demonstrated an increasing interest in teaching management skills in undergraduate and graduate programs. This article describes four models for skills courses based on existing courses. It includes for each course (a) an overview, (b) a statement of philosophy and pedagogy, (c) unique features, and (d) facilitator and student responses. The four models are then discussed as a group, and issues related to skill learning are raised.

Caring, Voice and Self‐reflection

Presents a case description of a non‐profit educational agency whose organizational culture is based on the feminist values of caring, voice and self‐reflection. Grounded theory analysis of intensive interviews, focus groups, observations and organizational documents reveals how these values are embodied in the organization′s management practices and change processes. The case strongly suggests that a commitment to feminist values can prove highly generative of a wide range of desirable organizational competences.

Three women′s stories of feeling, reflection, voice and nurturance

Presents three autobiographies to show the link between personal experiences and consulting. All are stories of personal change and involve the processes of feeling, reflection, voice and nurturance (FRVN). Gives an example of a consultation to show how FRVN became an underlying process. Presents definitions of FRVN and shows how these relate to personal involvement. Stresses that authenticity is central to effective consulting and that it is through the process of FRVN that this can be achieved.

T-Groups in the Classroom: Some Examples of Current Practice:

As an effective pedagogical tool for teaching interpersonal skills, leadership, and group dynamics, the T-group will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year. T-groups have been used to train managers, executives, consultants, and other professionals since the late 1940s. They have also been included in business school curricula. By the mid-1970s, about half of all MBA programs accredited by the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business integrated T-groups into their programs (Hunsaker, 1978). Business school use of T-groups waned during the 1980s but has revived in recent years because of the growing awareness that interpersonal and team leadership skills are critical to personal and organizational success (Porter & McKibbon, 1988). Many business schools are changing their curricula to include courses that improve student behavioral competencies. Affecting changes in student behavior is best accomplished when experiential teaching techniques are included with normal pedagogical routines (Kolb, 1984). The T-group is just such an experiential tool that has proven its value through 50 years of practice and research. The term itself is a short form of Basic Skill Training Group (Coan, 1991).

This is your Life! A Lifeline Exercise to Promote Discussion of Differences

This article presents an experiential learning exercise designed to help students become more aware of how critical life events have shaped their attitudes, beliefs, and values toward those who are different from themselves. Students use graphic representations, reflective writing, and dialogue to help identify experiences and clearings. The authors provide instructions for students, processing guidelines for facilitators, and brief descriptions of their experiences using the activity in a diversity course as well as in organizational behavior and management courses.