Challenges for the theory and practice of business coaching: a systematic review of empirical evidence

Until recently there has been little published systematic empirical research into business coaching. This paper reports on a systematic, critical review of 111 published empirical papers investigating business coaching theory, processes and outcomes. The present paper identifies a significantly larger body of empirical research than covered in previous reviews and uses a Systematic Review method (SRm) to conduct a comprehensive review of the available empirical evidence into business coaching effectiveness focusing on implications for theoretical development, practice (within human resource development) and further research in this area. This review identifies convergence around factors that contribute to perceived effective coaching practice but nevertheless highlights a number of issues to be resolved in further research. These include determining the primary beneficiaries of coaching, the factors that contribute to coach credibility, and how the organisational and social context impacts on coaching. Weaknesses in coaching research methodology and research gaps are also noted