Management development on the edge: HRM in a knowledge intensive organization

Purpose - This paper aims to present a case of project-based management development with a group of younger researchers in a medical faculty in a university. Design/methodology/approach - The case is based on documentation and recollections in which the first author was involved as a learning coach. The paper is a way to share a process of conversation between the authors and to highlight some critical issues through the elaboration of three perspectives: a macro perspective where the situation in the medical faculty is related to developments in the organizational field; a description from the consultant's point of view; and a human resource perspective in which the style of intervention is linked to the contingencies facing the organization at this point in time. Findings - In retrospect the program was found to create opportunities for identity-work and sensemaking involving the participants' individual roles as well as their representations of how the medical faculty was organized. While normal human resource management (HRM) may be seen as a kind of regular maintenance of an organization, it is suggested that the style of management development (as part of an overall HRM strategy) described here is better understood as a form of organizational identity work. Originality/value - Distinguishing between different styles of HRM and relating them to contingencies in terms of threats to organizational identity contributes to a more nuanced discussion of the practical challenges, possibilities and risks related to different styles. There is a need for both large-scale studies of the prevalence of new practices and in-depth ethnographies of interventions like the one described in this paper, especially in situations where there are perceived threats to identity.