Exploring managEmEnt dEvElopmEnt programmEs in mnCs. ExamplE of Eads group

. The purpose of this paper is to discover management development programmes in MNCs on the example of the EADS Group. The paper discusses the role of education in management development as well as the goals of managers’ training. The paper provides the latest information regarding the use of various management development methods. Further, it concentrates on the exemplifying of the selected management development programmes at EADS. It also tries to evaluate the perceived efficiency of the programmes based on several opinions of the trainees. Finally, some suggestions for future research are provided. and longitudinal qualitative studies of the methods developing international managers’ skills are needed. The results should be complemented with the analysis of the efficiency of such programmes based on a larger sample of trainees.


introduction
Management skills are of high importance for modern organizations that have faced crucial changes over the past decade caused by such tendencies as globalization or technological innovations. Management learning and development help companies to react better to new competitive challenges. Management development programmes are especially important for companies involved in international business (Auruskeviciene et al. 2008;Grundey 2008) such as multinational companies (MNCs).
The main purpose of the paper is to explore management development programmes in MNCs on the example of the EADS Group. At the beginning, the concept of modern managers' education is discussed. Then, the paper concentrates on the goals of management development. Next part is devoted to management development approaches and methods. The empirical part of the paper focuses on the description and analysis of the selected management development programmes at EADS. Finally, the conclusions and future research goals are presented in the last part of the paper.

Education of modern managers
What is the role of education in manager development? Before presenting the framework, it is necessary to explain a set of terms whose meanings are similar and which overlap to some extent, generating puzzlement in the literature. At the beginning, it is important to understand the meaning and differences between "learning", "training" and "development" -the terms widely used in the education process.
Learning can be seen in two ways -from the behaviourist and Gestalt psychology traditions. According to Vosniadou, Brewer (1987), from the tradition of phenomenology and Gestalt psychology perspective, "learning is equivalent to building new or enhanced mental models" (Hogan, Warrenfeltz 2003: 76). It means that one form of management education could be understood as forming mental models that challenge unexamined assumptions and unconscious worldviews. On the other hand, the tradition of behaviourism, which is strong in American psychology, provides a definition of learning as "a change in behaviour after an experience" (Hogan, Warrenfeltz 2003: 76). Therefore, the representatives of the behavioural model of learning consider management education as a process of gaining skills, with no emphasis on deeper understanding. From a Gestalt model of learning, management education is seen as a process of constructing mental models suitable for interpreting organizational phenomenon without emphasising the importance of concrete skills. Without getting deeper into the differences of the notions of learning and for the purposes of the paper, education will be regarded as a final product of this process. Therefore, managers' education is about shaping mental models and acquiring skills (Elmuti 2004).
The other two terms related to learning and management education are training and development. These expressions might be considered very similar, but they are slightly different in practice. For Buhler (2002: 143), training focuses on "learning the necessary skills and acquiring the knowledge required to perform a job", while development concentrates on "the preparation needed for future jobs; it should be considered an investment in the work force since its benefits are long-term". On the other hand, according to Kleiman (2007: 174), training concentrates on current jobs, whereas development prepares employees for future ones. And while training is related to planned learning experience that teaches employees how to efficiently perform their current jobs, development relates to planned learning experience that prepares employees to perform possible future jobs efficiently. Both training and development seek to prevent human resources from becoming obsolete, as the workforce is considered an important organizational resource. Employees have to update their skills to remain efficient and competitive. As jobs are constantly evolving, people also have to adapt to the new job market requirements.
As defined by Mailick (1998: 12), management development is "an organized effort to develop, increase, and improve managerial competencies, either in an individual manager or in a group of managers". Based on the above considerations related to the terms used in the process of managers' education, management development will be regarded as the sum of training, education and learning practices that are intended to help man-agers realise their potential, either for personal or organizational profit. Management development is influenced by both organizational and external environments, including institutional frameworks and political activities (Doyle 2000).
Historically, it has been a discussion "whether being a good manager is a skill, trait, or inherent behavior" (Elmuti 2004: 443). Initially, the dominating concept was that the efficiency of a manager is shaped by his or her inborn qualities that can not be passed to others. Nowadays, some theorists have reached a common conclusion that management can be learned and taught 1 . The main assumption lying behind the idea of management education is that the skill of management can be learned via classroom teaching and other academic techniques applied in diploma-granting institutions. Raelin (1995) argued that management education highlights a broadening of knowledge through exposure to academic content and networking with fellow program participants. Holman (2000) presents four models of management education such as academic and experiential liberalism, experiential vocationalism, and the experiential / critical school. These four models cover the current views on nature, value, and objective of management education being discussed.
There are plenty of benefits of management education (Longenecker, Ariss 2002) for companies, since efficient management education programmes can create or strengthen companies' competitive advantage through: − exposing managers to new or better thoughts and business actions that are required in quickly changing environments; − providing incentives to managers to help them improve the performance of their operations; − helping managers develop and improve their professional skills; − giving opportunities for reflection, self-examination, and self-evaluation; − helping managers recognize specific performance problems and deficiencies; − raising managers' confidence, reducing their stress level and challenging them to think in a new way about themselves and their business situation; − encouraging managers to look upon their career development. Holman (2000) argues that educating modern managers is also important from the social point of view due to its several roles: indirect cultural role, vocational role, academic role and critical role. Therefore, it could be said that management education is very important since it gains companies and the society. The question to be answered is whether it can be taught, and if so, what should be taught and how. Brown and McCracken (2010) have recently presented a critical insight into this topic with a special emphasis on understanding how goal-setting interventions aimed to improve a transfer or application of skills and knowledge from the educational programme back to the workplace, are designed.

goals of management development
Management development represents a strategic element of any organization (Auruskeviciene et al. 2008;Luoma 2005;Savaneviciene Savaneviciene et al. 2008), both to develop ), both to develop the skills of the managers and to enable the company to reach its goals. Recent decades have witnessed an extraordinary increase in management and executive education which, in contradiction, has been accompanied by a crisis of confidence manifested in discussions about its direction, relevance, and value (Armstrong, Sadler-Smith 2008). Management development is recognized as a necessary tool in any kind of organization, whether it is a small or multinational, commercial or non-profit company. Organizations can compete in a today's environment only by updating the skills of their workforce. Management development aims at training new managers, but also at developing present managers. One of the most important of its objectives is to increase managers' competencies by letting them know what is expected from them now and in the future and to provide them with all the tools necessary to reach the defined goals.
Managers have an important place in the modern world of business. Mintzberg (1973) highlighted that managers carry out ten various, very interrelated roles that could be separated into three groups of roles: interpersonal roles, informational roles and decisional roles. According to Robbins (2001), in order to perform these roles efficiently, managers require specific sets of skills, which are as follows: technical, human and conceptual. The important qualities being possessed by modern managers are broadly discussed (Hogan, Warrenfeltz 2003), and generally they can be divided into four competency domains such as: intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, leadership skills, and business skills.
Another model for management development concentrates on such dimensions of collaborative managers' characteristics as (Mintzberg, Gosling 2002): managing self, managing relationship, managing organizations, managing context and managing change (Table 1). The goals of management development can be seen as twofold -from an individual manager's and organization's perspective. For an individual manager it is important to develop his or her managerial competencies that will lead to a better performance and possible career development opportunities (Zakarevicius, Zukauskas 2008). A management talent of an employee is very important in every kind of organization. Employees have to design their own career development plan. In the past, the HR Department or direct supervisors were responsible for programming the career of their employees, but it is no longer possible in today's working environment. Buhler (2002: 153) explains that "part of an employee's career development is to recognize what skills he or she has and what skills may be required in the future". Indeed, employees have to analyse their needs and know in what direction they want to go.
A very important aspect of management development refers to developing leadership skills among managers. The meaning of leadership varies according to the activities a leader has to do in an organization. It also depends on the person who leads and the workers being led. As described by Clark-Epstein (2002: 11), leadership can mean "teaching, coaching, assigning, cheerleading, counselling, guiding, correcting, protecting, explaining, and observing. Leadership asks you to fill out forms, chair meetings, hold hands, explain decisions, think about the future, and resolve conflict". Indeed, leaders are those people who can take actions and be responsible for what they do. They have to demonstrate a good ability in problem solving and transmitting their ideas to others.
Management development is of high importance also for an organization itself. The impact of executive development is not only the improvement of the managers' behaviour but also it is linked with a change of an organization's performance and results. As explained by Buhler (2002: 142), management development "improves individual performance, which ultimately improves corporate performance". Organizations should employ highly skilled people capable of anticipating and responding successfully to changes at work. For this reason, companies have to develop and improve the knowledge, skills and abilities of their workforce. The part of budget allocated to management development keeps growing, and a general trend indicates that year after year companies should invest in the development of their employees. Often the goals of managers' development are to conform managers to the objectives of the company. They also aim at developing the managerial styles of an individual that respect the organizational culture. Many organizations are trying to implement core competencies. Instead of just developing skills which are required for one specific job, companies focus on core competencies for a group of jobs or even for an entire organization.
Managers' skills development is especially crucial when a company operates internationally (Kleiman 2007: 409). International managers face a dilemma related to intercultural and international competence. There is evidence that the U.S. companies that lack an appropriate language and international business skills have had a lead in failed contracts, poor negotiations, and inefficient management (Czinkota, Ronkainen 2004: 82). For multinational corporations, defined as firms that have "operations in more than one country, international sales and a nationality mix of managers and owners" (Hodgetts et al. 2006: 6), it is extremely important to train their international managers in order to improve the overall company performance.

management development approaches and methods
The goals of management development can be achieved through applying different methods and techniques. Mumford (1993) based on an empirical study distinguishes three general approaches that companies utilize when adopting management development practices: "informal managerial", "integrated managerial" and "formalised development". Informal managerial approach consists of accidental learning processes that occur naturally together with other main managerial activities. Integrated managerial approach includes "opportunistic processes where natural managerial activities are structured in such a way to make use of the already available learning opportunities" (Luoma 2005). The third approach, which is called the formalised development, refers to planned learning processes that take place away from regular managerial activities. It means that the approaches of planned and unplanned development may be: wholly unplanned accidental learning, planned on-the-job learning, and planned and programmed development outside every-day work. Similarly, Yukl (2002: 370) categorises management development into three general types: formal training (and education), developmental activities, and self-help activities. Woodall and Winstanley (1998) distinguish between on-the-job and off-the-job management development methods. Among on-the-job methods for management development it is worth to mention, for example, challenging job assignments, action learning, and job rotation or mentoring. Off-the-job methods include, for instance, educational programmes, seminars, short courses, readings, outdoor development and customized approaches.
There is evidence that managers can improve their management skills by getting experience on-the-job or off-the-job separately. Nevertheless, this experience is not enough to create highly capable managers. They also need to receive guidance and theoretical knowledge to exercise their activities efficiently. Management development programmes can provide both theoretical and empirical knowledge to the managers. Such programmes seem to be one of the most traditional forms of management development and they can be organised internally and externally (Suutari, Viitala 2008). Internally organised programmes provide the possibility to connect learning and development with an organization's specific strategic goals (Neary, O'Grady 2000). During the learning process within a company, it is possible to originate a systematic and integrating approach to managers' development. Externally developed programmes are necessary when a company lacks up-to-date information about some problem. Mailick (1998: 12) identifies three related approaches to management development programmes. The first one tends to meet an individual's needs and focuses on his or her characteristics, behaviour, knowledge and experience. The second one tries to improve managers as members of a class or individuals in similar roles within an organization. The last one focuses on a specific organization and tends to improve its functioning. The different tasks of management development programmes include: rotating assignments, performance evaluation and feedback, on-the-job training, mentoring, formal training, and education in management roles and tasks (Suutari, Viitala 2008).
Two kinds of learning illustrate the different possibilities offered to managers to develop their skills: passive and experiential learning. According to Mailick (1998: 32), passive learning is "any learning activity that does not require the participants to gather data, implement decisions in a physical sense, and deal with the consequences". A candidate is only asked to listen to new information during lectures and meetings and there is no possibility to test the impact of the amount learned. Passive learning is used to increase skills that do not involve interaction with others. On the contrary, experiential learning is "derived from experiences in taking an action, observing, and learning from the consequences of the action" (Mailick 1998: 32). This technique enables the participants to fully express their new skills in different working situations.
Management must also be learned by experience, performing and taking the responsibility as a manager. Action is considered as the key characteristic for managers. Action learning puts together formal management training with learning from experience (Suutari, Viitala 2008). This way of learning is recommended by managers and trainers. They consider active participation the best way to assimilate new techniques and to put them into practice in the daily activities. Although passive learning is easier to understand, new information is more difficult to integrate and remember. On-thejob activities can be seen as efficient experiential learning. Nevertheless, they are not sufficient since the participants also need a framework to learn and apply the learned knowledge.
Management development methods include different techniques which vary in terms of objectives and use (Kleiman 2007: 182-183;Suutari, Viitala 2008). All the methods have their own benefits and drawbacks. Therefore, it is crucial to determine whether management development programmes are efficient. An organization that fails to assess its training programmes properly will not recognize whether the programmes have met their goals. Suutari and Viitala (2008) investigated the effectiveness as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the management development methods used for training of the senior management level in Finland. The findings indicate that international assignments have been perceived as the most efficient management development tool. In the second place of the most efficient methods were personal career planning and job rotation. The next methods in the rating have been mentoring, special job assignments, and regular performance evaluation and self-help activities.
The above mentioned methods of management development are also present in MNCs. Nevertheless, some modifications regarding an international context are needed. There are a lot of various types of multinational management training programmes. Some of them last only several hours and others last for months, some are pretty superficial and others are broad in coverage. Among such methods it is worth mentioning management development programmes consisting of area studies programmes, cultural orientation, cultural assimilator, language training, sensitivity training, or field experience (Czinkota, Ronkainen 2004: 82;Grundey 2008;Hodgetts et al. 2006: 465;Zakarevicius, Zuperkiene 2008). ).

Characteristics of Eads group as a research object
European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) is the global leader in the fields of aerospace, defence and related services (EADS 2010a). The Group comprises of the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and EADS Astrium, the European leader in space programmes from Ariane to Galileo. The Defence & Security Division provides comprehensive systems solutions and makes EADS a major partner in the Eurofighter consortium as well as a stakeholder in the missile systems provider MBDA. EADS also develops the A400M through the Military Transport Aircraft Division.
The Group was created in July 2000, after the fusion of three European companies, which are DASA from Germany, Aérospatiale Matra from France and CASA from Spain. This measure came from the willingness of European people to create a world leader able to compete with other main organizations in that field, especially with the American Boeing.
The company is divided into five Divisions, which correspond to the different products offered: Airbus, Eurocopter, Astrium, Military Transport Aircraft, Defence & Security. Around 120,000 people work at EADS in more than 70 production sites, mainly in France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain as well as in the U.S. and Australia, making it a really multinational corporation. More than 30 Representative Offices maintain contact with different customers. The company generated revenues of € 42.8 billion in 2009 (EADS 2010a).
In order to maintain its highly competitive position on the market, EADS invests in its employee competence development. In order to guarantee competencies and foresee future workforce needs, the company has invested in competency management across the Group during the last three years (EADS 2010a: 53). To better HR processes such as employment, mobility and training, specific tools and processes have been implemented. Company core competencies -for instance, systems engineering and programme management -have been distinguished and regular development programmes have been launched. These programmes contain actions as defined career paths, training programmes and external certification. Training investments have been concentrated on divisional main core competencies in all company divisions.
EADS is utilising intensive talent management processes to identify future generations of managers. It has Corporate Business Academy that is responsible for management training for executives and promising employees. To guarantee succession planning for top management positions, the EADS Executive Committee went over the most talented employees and talked about their individual development in 2009 (EADS 2010a: 53). Such reviewing provides a better vision of the capabilities of EADS' potential future leaders across the Group and increases mobility between the businesses.

management development programmes at Eads
EADS is a multinational company with a worldwide presence and a large diversity among its employees. The Group deals with different activities and has a long term vision in order to be successful and become the No. 1 in terms of revenues and firm orders. For this reason, EADS promotes internal actions to form people who will help the company reach its goals, and a high importance is given to management development programmes. Below there will be described and analysed the selected employee development programmes aimed at improving managerial skills of talented professionals within the EADS Group.
In our investigation we focus on three training programmes: 1. Professional and Graduate Entry Support Scheme (PROGRESS) Programme. 2. Advanced Marketing and Sales (AMS) Programme. 3. Financial Management Development (FMD) Programme.
The Professional and Graduate Entry Support Scheme Programme is a two-year-long programme for young graduates and young professionals (Fig. 1). The programme was designed to simplify young high potentials' management at EADS and to create a unique programme for all the divisions. The name "PROGRESS" emphasizes the possibility for the candidates to start a career and develop their skills during the whole programme.
The programme is composed of two streams, depending on the qualification and background of the participants (EADS 2010b). One is for engineers and it covers the fields of engineering, programmes and manufacturing. The other stream is for young businessmen and it includes the fields of procurement, finance, human resources or marketing and sales which are called Support Functions (Fig. 1). The participants realize various assignments across different EADS Divisions and Business Units to gain a general knowledge of the Group and its activities. At the end of the programme, participants will move to another location and different function within EADS worldwide.
During the programme, the candidates participate in different network events and tailor-made workshops that also include topics such as communication and management aimed at improving their leadership and working skills. Furthermore, a personal mentor assists the participants during and after the completion of the programme to give them regular guidance, support and feedback. At the end of the programme, the participants will have developed an important network among EADS with colleagues and senior management and they will be able to grow quickly within the company (EADS 2010b).
The second listed-above programme, the AMS Programme, is a development programme for professionals with four to six years of working experience in the fields of marketing and sales (EADS 2010b). It aims at providing a high standard of marketing and sales mangers within the Group on a long term basis. The goal of the programme is to provide the internal and external participants with a large vision of the world of EADS and its different industries and markets in a relatively short period of time. This is a two-year management programme composed of three to four projects. Each project lasts six months (Fig. 2). The participants gain exposure to international issues and work in multinational teams. This job rotation enables them to create an important network within EADS and to be in permanent contact with the key marketing and sales managers and executives. Furthermore, the participants benefit from the advices of a personal mentor and take part in many network events that will help them in their career at EADS. During the programme, participants work with EADS International and other Business Units on present marketing and sales operations. They accomplish three or four different assignments at EADS International, EADS Main offices and other

Kick-off Closing
Business Units worldwide. The projects can be linked and they are all related to a marketing and sales issue of the aeronautic and space industries. Moreover, participants will take part in tailor-made trainings to strengthen their professional and personal competencies (EADS 2010b). For example, those trainings will develop their communication skills and relations with clients through the "Communication Workshop" and "Customer Relationship Workshop". An additional personal budget is offered to the participants to reinforce their personal skills. This budget can be used to take additional language or working skills courses.

fig. 2. AMS Programme scheme (Source: EADS 2010b)
The mentor and programme coordinators will guide the participants through the whole programme and provide regular feedbacks. At the end of the programme, the participants will have expanded their understanding of the EADS Group and all its industries and services. The participants will then be ready to take part in a new position within the group.
The last analyzed here, the Financial Management Development Programme, is the second development programme for specialists and experts at EADS (see Fig. 3). Its goal is to develop experts in the field of finance and to train them to take on key projects in the future (EADS 2010b). EADS is looking for highly qualified international finance managers in order to train them and to create a link between them and financial executives within the Group. During the programme, participants work on present EADS financial subjects. The programme lasts 18 months and is composed of three six-month projects in different Business Units and the Headquarters in order to offer the participants a general view of the Group.
Besides the on-the-job trainings, participants also benefit from the off-the-job activities. These workshops and trainings help develop personal and management competencies among the candidates (EADS 2010b). The latter also take part in individually tailored trainings according to the suggestions of the Selection Days and a Development Centre.

Evaluation of the management development programmes
The format of a management development programme is essential for its success and forming the managers in their best conditions. It is also critical to ensure a successful career to the managers after its completion. A well structured programme will prepare the managers efficiently and offer them the opportunity to gain rapid knowledge in their field of expertise. When designing the programmes, HR managers have to take several aspects into account: the format, the duration and the location of the projects. Indeed, those features constitute the major assets of a development programme and are responsible for both its attractiveness and interest. In the opinion of the participants of the described management development programmes, they highly rank the efficiency of the programmes in terms of achieving personal development goals (EADS 2010b). The PROGRESS Programme was extremely valuable for gaining experience and training for young professionals. As Jeremie states: "The PROGRESS Programme represents an opportunity to gain international experience and build up a network of people within EADS. This process starts with everyone getting to know each other within the group of PROGRESS participants. I am happy to be part of a group of skilled, highly motivated and very nice people" (EADS 2010b). Netra, who participated in the programme, said: "I thoroughly enjoy the multi-cultural flavor of EADS. Its wide range of business units gives me immense variety as lateral movement is encouraged and supported. The working culture is more informal and relaxed than I had initially expected. The openness and support of the managers is excellent. With its mentorship philosophy, PROGRESS has given me the perfect platform to realize my aspirations and growth!" (EADS 2010b).
According to Ludwig who participated in the AMS Programme "the programme is a real boost in getting to know the EADS Group per se". He continues, "The people I met, the relations I developed and the experience I gained over these two years were incredible. Combined with the various training courses undertaken as well as further educational possibilities such as language courses, the AMS Programme clearly gave me a quantum leap forward in my career development" (EADS 2010b). Sylvie is also was very happy to take part in AMS Programme: "I particularly appreciated being involved by my different mentors in most of their activities, benefitting from their experience and having open access to a high level of information. Moreover, to be part of the EADS International team and to attend all the events organised by them (such as the annual seminars) was a great experience for me and a very interesting source of information. It was also complementary to my previous experience, giving me an overall vision of the different businesses of EADS as well as a better understanding of EADS' global strategy and main challenges. Being part of AMS, I also had the opportunity to increase my network within the whole EADS Group" (EADS 2010b).
The participants also highly appreciated the FMD Programme. According to Thomas, "the FMD Programme is first of all an opportunity -to grow professionally and personally, to experience the diversity of EADS' aerospace activities and, finally, to make yourself known in the Finance Community of the Group. Beyond that, FMD is also a challenge: the continuous change of locations, teams, business cultures, work contents, etc. demands a great deal of personal and professional commitment to always assert yourself throughout the course of the programme" (EADS 2010b). On the other hand, Maud is delighted with a unique experience she received during the programme, "The outstanding FMD experience I gained allows me as Head of Performance and Improvement to better handle complex issues and understand the big picture. I am now in charge of the performance (financial, quality, resources, etc) and the improvement of the Centre of Excellence Empennage & Aft Fuselage in Airbus, over four plants based in Spain and Germany with about 3,700 people. This job ideally combines financial and operational aspects, and is the new challenge I have decided to take up" (EADS 2010b). The programme is highly appreciated in terms of gaining unique international experience according to Fernando who said: "As I said, I wanted an international experience and the opportunity to work in different units and functions. I think I have achieved my goal, and I think that the FMD programme was the suitable platform to get it" (EADS 2010b).
EADS has implemented several successful management development programmes in different fields. One programme aims at young graduates and young professionals in the business and engineering fields: the Professional and Graduate Entry Support Scheme. Two programmes are intended for confirmed managers in the fields of marketing and sales and finance: the Advanced Marketing and Sales, and the Financial Management Development Programmes. Each programme proposes several projects and workshops during a particular period in different Divisions / Business Units to form top managers.
To sum up, there is clear evidence from the above testimonials of the persons who took part in the management development programmes that the programmes implemented in EADS Group are very well suited for personal skills development. However, the results should be treated cautiously at least for two reasons. Firstly, there is a small sample of the persons who took part in the development programmes. Secondly, the evaluation is based on qualitative data and from a personal perspective. Therefore, the question is whether the company achieved its goals while training these persons.

Conclusions
The main goal of this paper was to explore management development programmes in multinational corporations on the example of the selected training programmes at EADS. The results of the programmes' evaluation presented by several trainees were very positive. Nevertheless, they should not be generalised for the whole population of MNCs. The described programmes provide interesting insights into management programmes development goals, structure, or training methods employed.
Based on this research, several conclusions can be drawn that may address future research. First, it would be useful to explore the impact of management development programmes on the company's activities and performance. In this case we have concentrated on personal development and a perceived impact on their skills' development. Second, more in-depth and longitudinal qualitative studies of the methods developing international managers' skills are needed. The results should be complemented with the analysis of the efficiency of such programmes based on a larger sample of trainees.