Abstract

The past 30 years have witnessed a growing interest in applying the concept of cognitive style to educational settings and this has led to the formation and refinement of strategies designed to enhance the learning process. Furthermore, there has been a burgeoning interest in the area of cognitive style and its relevance to management education, training and development, and previous research from the realm of educational psychology is making an important contribution to this emerging field. Principally because of the growing interest in this area, the European Learning Styles Information Network (ELSIN) was established. This is an association of researchers, trainers and educationalists interested in promoting an exchange of knowledge, emanating from the theory and application of cognitive style. ELSIN has developed this symposium in order to bring together researchers and practitioners from around the world interested in exploring the potential of applying the cognitive style construct to the field of management. The aims of the symposium are threefold. Firstly, it will seek to disseminate information from important European research. At the individual level this includes the effects of cognitive style on creativity, individual performance, management style and computer mediated learning. At the global level, the effects of cross-national differences on cognitive style in managerial decision-making and training and development models are considered. Secondly, it will explore opportunities for international collaboration in research and development. Thirdly, it will seek to engage the nexus of theory and practice between participants, and therefore encourage a dialectic process.

  

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