How Are Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Approaches Used in Evaluating Management Development Programs? a literature review

Aim: The aim of the review was to examine the characteristics of studies that use CQI approaches to evaluate management development programs; and to synthesise the findings to understand how CQI approaches are being used to evaluate the effectiveness of management development programs.   Method: A scoping review of the literature was conducted in a manner consistent with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The matches were screened by title and abstract using the inclusion criteria, leading to a full paper review of 48 papers. Of these, the 14 papers found to meet the inclusion criteria for the scoping review were independently reviewed and analysed by two of the authors. Findings: The review revealed the ways in which CQI approaches were used in evaluating management development programs highlighting the role of context, pre-determined competencies and participatory CQI approaches. Participatory CQI approaches including on-the-job application of learning provided opportunities for participants to learn through CQI activities associated with action learning and CQI feedback cycles. Conclusions: The authors concluded that evaluations using participatory CQI approaches are better positioned to report more comprehensively on the benefits of management development programs when they include the competencies required to be successful in the context within which the manager is working.  Future directions for research in this area include an examination of the microsystem context to determine whether the required management competencies associated with remoteness differ from other contexts.