Management learning resources include any courses, books, websites, tutorials, or exercises that help managers and aspiring managers to increase their knowledge and deepen their understanding of methods and principles of successful managing. Students in business programs access these resources when they attend management classes, read assigned texts, and perform research for papers. In professionals contexts, managers might use these resources when they train or hire consultants to facilitate decision making processes. In some cases, managers themselves can act as management learning resources. When employees watch their own managers on the job, for instance, they are learning about the ways in which some managers act.
People who are interested in choosing management learning resources for themselves should consider their goals. Students in business and management classes should consult instructors prior to choosing learning resources. In most cases, instructors assign books and other texts that students can read and learn from.
Professionals, on the other hand, might have to choose their own management learning resources. This is especially true when managers need to improve their own skills or need to improve the skills of their own management teams and supervisors. Asking colleagues and other contacts acquired through networking is a great way to find out about management learning resources that already have had positive effects on other management professionals. Business and management magazines commonly publish reviews and surveys of management resources.
People who are training to become managers are normally assigned management learning resources by their employers. These professionals might receive packets that include information regarding policies and behaviors that pertain specifically to places of business. For instance, these resources might contain information regarding dress code, salaries, promotions, and office hours.
It is also common for employers to use management learning resources that promote specific kinds of management styles and philosophies. For example, some companies might favor a more commitment based model, in which employees are encouraged to speak about their ideas and managers facilitate conversations. In other cases, organizations might prefer control based management models, in which managers dictate policies and behaviors. It is common for trainers to engage trainees in exercises and to make presentations that give them tips for how adopt management techniques and how to evaluate their effectiveness.
People who are interested in getting some general information about management styles, philosophies, and methods might want to do general Internet searches. This can be a great way to get a general survey of different ideas that are out there. When doing this kind of research, however, it is important to pay attention to who has written and posted management learning resources. Information about management posted by an experienced manager might be more trustworthy than documents posted by management students who have written research papers for class.