Manager on the ground. A practice based approach for developing management education: Lessons from complex and innovative organizations

The paper describes a case study that presents a situated approach for detecting, analysing, and developing managerial competence inside innovative and uncertain organizational contexts. To this aim, the paper seeks to underline the importance of local knowledge production and sharing (related to professional practices and organizational culture) for competency recognition and assessment. The research question addresses the need for a context dependent driven research in order to detect and enhance real innovate and situated competences. The paper initially describes the new and innovative organizational scenario characterized by uncertainty, precariousness, rapid evolution, and progressive pressure required of organizational subjects in terms of adaptability, performativity, and orientation toward results. The second part of the paper presents the research method adopted for the inquiry and analysis of managerial situated competence to promote organizational learning and development. The third part focuses on the situated paths used to transfer and share the produced knowledge. The paper discusses the main results, describes the prospects for using the acquired knowledge within the considered experience, and highlighting the strengths and limitations of the considered approach. The discussion focuses on the epistemological, methodological, and process implications related to the type of research adopted.

Il paper presenta un caso di studio situato delle competenze manageriali innovative. L’enfasi è posta sulla rilevanza delle conoscenze situate nella prospettiva di realizzare approcci di ricerca adeguati allo studio di peculiari oggetti di indagine. Il contesto analizzato (un consorzio di imprese sociali in situazione di forte trasformazione evolutiva) si presta a evidenziare le caratteristiche emergenti degli attuali scenari organizzativi, e le conseguenti sfide che le figure in posizione manageriale sono chiamate ad assumere. Il contributo evidenzia sia la metodologica adottata per la ricognizione dei profili di competenza, sia i dispositivi utilizzati per consentire processi di circolazione dei saperi e di apprendimento organizzativo.