Action Learning at Philips Electronics: from Training to Transformation

FOR MORE than 20 years action learning has been at the heart of Philips’ management education activities, and this chapter will deal with three very different approaches. Firstly the ‘European Octagon’, which has also been adopted by several other companies, is based on an assignment from the Board for high potential middle managers. It has been updated recently to become a truly global programme. Secondly, at the business unit level, powerful project approaches for strategy development with a strong action learning focus for management teams have been used since the mid-1970s.