Thought Leadership

Thought leadership

The Virtual Learning Resource Centre offers the Ashridge approach to management and leadership, backed up by other credible perspectives. As a business school, thought leadership is what we do best. Here’s a selection of recent papers on virtual learning from conferences and publications. The full range of Ashridge thought leadership is available at: Publications

Aligning virtual learning with business need
Learning is increasingly moving out of the classroom and straight into the workplace. Tony Sheehan advises how organisations can utilise virtual learning, and select the appropriate tools and technologies to align with the needs of the business.

Out of body experiences are 'in'
Virtual worlds and web conferencing are convenient and help cut travel costs. Jane Bird, Financial Times, reports with comment from Tony Sheehan, Director of Learning Services, Ashridge.

Round-table debate: future working practices
How will high performance be created in the future? What role will technology play? These were two of the themes industry experts debated at a round-table event, chaired by Sian Harrington, Human Resources Magazine, and attended by Tony Sheehan, Director of Learning Services, Ashridge.

Critical success in e-learning: the human factor
Over the past three years Ashridge has gained experience of delivering ‘virtual’ or e-learning to successive cohorts of international Executive MBA candidates. Anthony Mitchell and Sue Honoré review the programme and look at the critical importance of human behavioural factors and assess the key role of group dynamics in learning outcomes. They highlight learning points for participants, sponsors and providers.

Generation Y and learning
Research by Carina Paine Schofield and Sue Honoré has identified the learning preferences and ‘missing skills’ of Generation Y. They make recommendations for those concerned with this generation’s development, and highlight the potentially positive impact of Generation Y on the future of learning for all generations.

A tailored approach to meeting PSG
In Local Government Procurement Review, Sharon Gleeson, Training Policy Advisor, BIS, explains the difference an online learning resource supplied by Ashridge has made to the take-up of training opportunities within the department.

Creating trust and intimacy in the virtual world
Ghislaine Caulat shares the results of her inquiry into how to create the best possible audio working environments for global businesses. Following two years of research about virtual work, this first article focuses on the audio environment as a key communication channel within the virtual working environment.

Virtual leadership
In today's virtual economy, virtual teams are a fact of ife. Drawing on three years' research, Ghislaine Caulat examines the skills, competences and techniques needed by managers to lead teams successfully in a virtual environment.

Rising from the ashes - a new way of learning and working
More and more clients across the world are experiencing the benefits of Virtual Action Learning (VAL). Skilful facilitation is crucial, so Ashridge Consulting is now not only providing an open programme in VAL facilitation, but is helping some organisations develop their own in-house capability. This story describes the experience of German financial services organisation MLP, as it discovers that VAL can lead to strategic advantage.

A day in the life of Peter Shepherd, Virtual Facilitator
An insight into Peter's day as a virtual facilitator