The purpose of the study is to understand how Japanese women become social entrepreneurs. The challenges in fostering women's entrepreneurship include socio-cultural traditional views on women's roles and expectations and insufficient support systems. Despite such challenges, the rise of Japanese women as social entrepreneurs has been observed in…

Historically, older and lower-skilled adults in the U.S. have participated in Adult Education and Training (AET) at lower rates than other groups, possibly because of perceived lack of return on investment due to the time required to recover training costs. Global, knowledge based economies have increased the importance of lifelong learning for…

Recent research focusing on Human Resource Development (HRD) in East Asia is attracting increasing attention. The purpose of the study is to explore the definition and practice of HRD, together with influencing cultural factors, in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan. The results indicate a difference in the definition and implementation of HRD…

Discusses the role of training in Japanese economic development and how Japanese training practices may be transferred to other cultures. Describes practices of both small and large industries, including quality control circles, cross-training, training for maintenance, supervisory training, designer training, and interdepartmental collaboration.…

This publication is part of the study materials for the one-semester distance education unit, Human Resource Development, in the Open Campus Program at Deakin University (Australia). It contains three essays that explore the approaches to learning currently modeled within industry. "Training for Women" (Kathy MacDermott) presents the…

Although the Japanese term "kyo-iku" is translated into English as "education," significant differences exist between the two terms. A new term, "ergonagy," has been advocated to help integrate the Japanese concept of kyo-iku and the Western concept of education. "Ergonagy" is formed from the Greek terms…

This report describes what Japanese organizations have been and are doing to develop their human resources to achieve a high degree of individual and organizational effectiveness and productivity. The first part presents case studies of 16 organizations--both private industry and government--based on interviews conducted in September 1981 in…

This paper discusses human resources development (HRD) in Japanese industry. Chapter I addresses changing industrial and occupational structures as a foundation for planning and constructing management strategy, especially for business restructuring. The actual situation regarding business diversification is considered, and an attempt is made to…

Three presentations are provided from Symposium 14, Workforce Diversity, of the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD) 2000 Conference Proceedings. "Cross-Organizational vs. Localized Participation: A Case Study on Workplace Diversity Dialogues Implementation" (Martin B. Kormanik, Daniel A. Krieger, Timothy E. Tilghman) compares…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on human resource development (HRD) issues in Asia. "The Japanese Human Resource Development System" (Kiyoe Harada) provides a comprehensive model of the Japanese HRD system based on the current state of the art, including management practices and issues and trends in Japanese HRD.…

An economic theory of training holds that training in technical skills and training in employment relations (namely, information reliability or the ability to quickly and reliably disseminate information among the members of the firm) reinforce each other. This theory is an organizing framework for understanding some practices at Japanese firms in…

This report is a primer on the multifaceted issues that state legislators are likely to confront under the rubric of human resource development. Chapter 1 proposes a philosophy: enabling every citizen to become a productive member of the 21st century economy is in a state's best interest both socially and fiscally. Chapter 2 focuses on the premium…

This conference report contains the following papers: "Keynote Address" (Fukuyama); "Predictions Regarding the Nature and Significance of Vocational Guidance during the 21st Century in the United States" (Hoyt); "The Changing Workforce and Vocational Guidance" (Inaba); "The 6th International Conference on…

The rise of the service sector is a major trend common to all western, industrialized countries. Employment in the service sector has increased in 1960-1986 in all 10 countries participating in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation Human Resources project (Japan, Belgium, France,…

Twelve financial institutions (nine banks and three insurance companies) from five countries (France, West Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United States) were studied to determine the directions in which financial service markets and firms are moving as a result of increasing competition and technological change. Data were collected from…