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Evaluation of a leadership development programme. Developing a ¿fit for purpose¿ model to evaluate a leadership development programme at the individual, departmental and organisational levels within the BBC

The research was aimed at addressing the challenge of evaluating a large scale
change intervention in a large organisation and in a complex environment. Finding
robust, meaningful yet realistic methodologies from among the array of possible
approaches, methods and techniques has proved problematic, for both
organisational practitioners and academics alike. The research explored this issue of
choice from the perspective of ¿fit for purpose¿ and suggests a multi-faceted
approach, using a range of evaluation methods and techniques, which were applied
to an ongoing example at the BBC. It was also planned to use structural equation
modelling (SEM) techniques to examine the relationships between variables critical
to the study. The approach described represents a ¿pilot¿ evaluation exercise, which
drew on data collected from early cohorts going through the BBC Leadership
Programme, a key element of the ¿Making it Happen¿ change strategy initiated by
the then Director General, Mr. Greg Dyke. As a second level of research, an
evaluation of the primary evaluation itself, i.e. of the BBC Leadership Programme,
was also undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the primary evaluation strategy
and its implementation.
Three hypotheses were examined in terms of programme impact: It was proposed
that participation in the programme would bring about collective improvements in
individual leadership behaviour (Ho1), leading to improved departmental
performance across the business (Ho2), in turn, resulting in improved organisational
performance (Ho3). Due to limitations in the application of the methodology it was
not possible to use SEM analyses on the data collected. Alternative analyses failed
to demonstrate conclusive support for all three hypotheses and, while other factors
besides programme attendance appear to influence leadership performance the
afore-mentioned limitations restrict the ability to draw firm conclusions. Following
evaluation of the primary evaluation it was evident that, as a pilot exercise, important
outcomes from the programme evaluation give rise to ¿lessons learned¿ and changes
are suggested for any future evaluation exercise of this kind.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/4284
Date January 2009
CreatorsHayward, Ian C.
ContributorsOstell, Alistair
PublisherUniversity of Bradford, School of Management
Source SetsBradford Scholars
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typedoctoral, Thesis, DBA
Rights© 2009 Hayward, I. C. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk).

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