HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, vol. 11, no. 4, Winter 2000 © Jossey-Bass, a Wiley company 381 The Role of Feedback in Management Training Settings K. Peter Kuchinke This study investigated the role of feedback in nine formal management training settings in a British government agency. This survey-based study suggests that participants sought information about their performance frequently and from a variety of sources and also indicates that feedback seeking is an important aspect in the process of management training. Implications of the findings for further research and the practice of management training are discussed. Formal management training is a key element of management development and ranks among the most frequently provided types of training. Research results of a nationwide study in the United Kingdom in 1999 (Institute of Per- sonnel and Development, 1999) revealed that among four hundred randomly selected private and public organizations it ranks first, with over 75 percent of organizations providing “a lot” of management training and an additional 20 percent providing “some.” In the United States, it ranks second in frequency after new employee orientation, with 93 percent of companies providing this kind of training (Bassie and Van Buren, 1998). Management training (MT) is broadly defined as “the attempt to improve managerial effectiveness through a planned and deliberate learning process” (de Bettignies, 1975, p. 4); the two most important goals of MT programs, according to a survey by The Confer- ence Board, are to develop leadership skills in managers and to ensure a pool of capable people to run the organization (Walter, 1996). MT usually includes training in areas such as performance appraisals, implementing regulations and policies, managing projects and processes, and planning and budgeting (Bassie and Van Buren, 1998) and is directed to a broad range of employees ranging from first-line supervisors and team leaders to midlevel managers. MT is dis- tinct from executive development, which is usually targeted toward current and potential senior executives, focuses on corporationwide initiatives or major business units, and includes strategic planning, policymaking, and goal setting (Bassie and Van Buren, 1998).