LEARNING BY SHARING EXPERIENCES: THE DEVELOPMENT OF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAMS

Abstract

"Executives in command of organizations are looking for new references to increase the effectiveness of decision-making in an increasi ngly complex environment. In order to point out an alternative to guide the executives’ d ecision making processes, this paper presents a reflective practice concept and how it r elates to executive’s decisions; investigates the development of reflective practice in executive education programs; and analyses the importance of shared experiences to the development of executives’ reflective practice. The reflective practice concept, presented by Schön (19 83), is applied to executives’ decision- making processes. The executive education analysis is based on the experiential learning theory presented by Kolb (1984). The empirical rese arch was applied at a Business School whose Executive MBA Program is ranked among the top five in the world. Data was collected through 20 semi-structured interviews wit h executives enrolled in this program and the analysis was based on a phenomenological approa ch for qualitative research. Results indicated that the process of sharing experiences i s essential to a successful development of reflective executives in Executive MBA Programs. Th e elements presented in this paper may enhance the effectiveness of executive education an d should be considered by programs that want to encourage the process of learning by sharin g experiences."

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