Kolb's Learning Cycle Analysis

Using Kolb’s Learning Cycle Kolb (1984)’s learning cycle can be used as an applied theory of how to learn to manage diversity in a hospitality organization. Kolb theorizes that people who learn something new go through a cycle involving four stages. Kolb’s learning cycle (KLC) suggests that there are four stages which follow from each other: concrete experience, reflection, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Concrete experience is followed by reflection on that experience on a personal basis. This is then be followed by the derivation of general rules describing the experience, or the application of known theories to it (abstract conceptualization), and hence to the construction of ways of modifying the next occurrence of the experience (active experimentation), leading in turn to the next concrete experience. Experiencing (or doing) of a task is the first stage in which the individual, team or organization simply carries out the task assigned. The engaged person is usually not reflecting on the task as this time, but carrying it out with intention. Organizations at this stage may recognize that people with different backgrounds may have different experiences, and that such people are likely to vary in their readiness for their intercultural learning. Reflection involves reviewing what has been done and experienced. The skills of noticing differences in an organization help learners (e.g.,organizational members) identify subtle events and communicate