MIL practitioner guide: chapter 6

Chapter 6: Coaching and e-learning support for managerial intellectual learning

Managerial intellectual learning is expected to be a self-directed and inner-driven journey for the learner. It does not mean that there such learning is done in an isolated mode. On the contrary, MIL requires e-learning supports of various types. The essential one is access to academic resources, notably from academic publishers' e-libraries. Study materials available on the public domain, e.g., public libraries, YouTube, and Google Scholar, are also important for MIL. The second category of support is advisory support from coaches, mentors and teachers from universities. This advisory support can be informal, e.g. from the learner's  social network, or offered on a paid-for basis by the learner's employing organization. Another type of academic advisory support could come from teachers on an educational programme that a learner has enrolled in. Apparently, the knowledge domains covered in the coaching and e-learning support for MIL are broad. They include knowledge domains in various management disciplines. More importantly, academic advisory support to learn contemporary systems thinking is critical since MIL is systems thinking-based. Novice MIL learners are especially reliant on the coaching and e-learning support to start off on this learning journey. Over time, as a learner gains more intellectual competence, he/she becomes more capable to learn how to learn by himself/herself. When this more mature stage of learning is reached, the learner is more capable to carry out MIL on his/her own. Nevertheless, being able to access academic study materials, in particular from some e-learning platforms and portals, is still crucial. This writer recommends learners not to spend too much money on formal education as a pathway on continuing MIL and related continuing professional development.

Further readings

Ho, J.K.K. 2013. "A Research Paper: Providing E-Learning Support to Part-Time Students in Business Disciplines Using Facebook from the Multi-Perspective, Systems-Based (MPSB) Perspective" Systems Research and Behavioral Science 30: 86-97.

Ho, J.K.K. 2015. "A brief research note on coaching and mentoring practice guidelines and principles for the Multi-perspective, Systems-based (MPSB) managerial learning" European Academic Research 3(7) October: 7291-7303.