The use of life history to understand management learning processes

Abstract

This theoretical essay main objective is to present and discuss the possibilities of using the life history method to study management learning process. Since the distinctive character of this methodological approach is the personal, historical, social, institutional and / or political narrative contextualization, aiming to uncover the forces that shape, distort and change lived experiences (HATCH; WISNIEWSKI, 1995; BERTAUX, 1980) the paper examines the potential for using this research strategy to explore the understanding of the complex and dynamic process of management learning. It is presented, in illustrative purposes, the synthesis of the life history of a manager, the analysis of learning processes identified from his narratives and procedures for the systematic analysis of the learning process of managers using this research approach. The study suggests that the use of the life history method in research of management learning processes, besides allowing the deepening of the theme, can contribute to human valorization, revealing understandings of collective phenomena from the standpoint of these professionals' narratives of personal experiences. The systematization of knowledge about this research method, scarce in literature in the Administration area, and the exploration of application possibilities in this field can contribute to the development of future studies involving other issues. One of the limitations associated with the use of the method is the time it requires to make a series of interviews with each professional (ATKINSON, 2002), which also hinders the professionals' acceptance to participate in the research, especially in the case of managers, who normally have little time available due to their accumulation of responsibilities in organizations.