Assessment Initiative
Contact:Stella HumphriesOrganizations around the world are making investments in developing improved learning capabilities, with little guidance as to how to assess the effectiveness of these investments. It is the goal of this long-term initiative to contribute to clearer thinking and improved practice so that the consequences of learning investments can be better understood and so that such efforts can become more effective.
stellah@mit.edu
The Assessment Initiative is a multi-faceted research undertaking, drawing together diverse researchers, practitioners, and consultants. It is our belief that there is no one single "lens" that can clarify everything that is important in complex organization change processes. There is no one "story" that tells the whole story, no one "proof" that something works or not, no one definitive measure of how much improvement has been achieved. Understanding the consequences of learning investments requires understanding changes in individual and collective skills, changes in attitudes and norms, shifts in informal social networks and work practices, as well as financial results and overall changes in business performance.
Additional information can be found in the 1998 Workshop Summary or the 1998 Progress Report