The potential of Management Development (MD) to act as a strategic catalyst for managing change has been recognised; however, the key problems associated with MD, such as its weak strategic role and weak link to organisational effectiveness remain unsolved. MD practitioners have been struggling to show how MD benefits organisational performance, as empirical studies in this regard are in short supply. Despite the range of literature on this subject in the Western context, there is only limited research into the application of MD in the workplace and challenges facing MD/HR practitioners in a transitional economy like Taiwan. This study thus explores the potential role of MD in the context of change management, with specific reference to Taiwan. A mixed-method approach using a combination of questionnaire, interviews and organisational documents was employed to collect data, and analyses were performed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. This study's findings provide an understanding of the nature of MD in Taiwan. The MD is mainly derived from company strategy; the findings have further highlighted a need to balance the focus of 00 with personal development needs. It also emphasises the fact that more involvement of all the stakeholders in the MD process will lead to improved outcomes. The findings further stress the critical effect of a supportive and participative environment for the success of MD. This study provides evidence to support calls for a more systematic and integrated approach to MD in the workplace. Within an CD-focused setting, it is necessary for Taiwanese firms to conjoin the interest towards MD by individuals with more organisationally-based coherent strategies. The study also identifies a need for these organisations to re-think and tackle the collision between their performance-oriented climate and people development. In short, this study provides an insight into some of the challenges and effectiveness issues of practicing MD in large private sector companies in Taiwan.