With the development of the global economy in the late 1980s and 1990s, organizations have been forced to continually reevaluate operations and strategies. As a result, the one constant in this dynamic world is the ever-changing work environment. The human resource and organizational development fields have long looked to investigate what makes…

This article reports observations of teachers' collaboration within an inner city elementary school located in western Canada. The study traces the school's development as a learning organization, focusing on the interplay between individual--the level at which learning and action actually occur--and social learning--a conceptual tool for…

In fall 1994, College of the Canyons (COC), in California, conducted a survey of all 380 faculty, staff, and administrators to determine their attitudes toward and experiences at the college. The survey rate was 31.8%, with 121 responses and results were compared to findings from a spring 1994 survey completed by 545 students for a 30.8% response…

A study examined the attitudes of individuals who had held positions in hotels or restaurants in which they received tips. Telephone interviews were conducted with 751 adults across the United States who were currently/formerly employed in a position in which gratuities constitute a significant portion of their compensation. The interview…

A comparative analysis of 12 case studies examined the work performance and employment costs and benefits of older employees relative to younger workers at 12 companies spanning a diversity of industries, locations, and sizes. Each company provided quantitative information on a written questionnaire on work force demographics and direct and…

These five papers are from a symposium on high involvement work teams that was facilitated by Catherine M. Sleezer at the 1995 Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD) conference. "An Empirical Study of Employee Involvement in Designing and Managing Reward Systems" (William M. Kahnweiler) reports on a study of 300 organizations that…

This document contains four papers presented at a symposium moderated by Allen Church at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development. "Teambuilding Intervention Strategy Development: A Case Study of Two Midwestern Manufacturing Industries" (Paul E. Brauchle, David W. Wright) discusses a qualitative case study of employee…

This study analyzed the employment situation of 106 Apache youth, of whom 52 had been special education students. All students had exited high school between 1987 and 1992. Findings indicate that 65 percent of the regular education students and 73 percent of special education students were unemployed, that 50 percent of working special education…

The need for systems identifying workplace competency profiles was examined through telephone interviews with a nationwide sample of 56 individuals in Australia's electrical industry: 27 employers not directly involved in training; 23 individuals directly involved in training; and 6 apprentices, trainees, and employees. Although competency…

Hiring is an enormous challenge in today's Information Systems (IS) organizations due to the heavy demand for graduating students. This paper reports on a study to determine what factors IS students consider important in evaluating potential employers. Initially using an open ended survey approach, 28 upper level IS students were asked to identify…

The feasibility and appropriateness of including personnel with limited literacy skills in a comprehensive school evaluation were studied with 119 cafeteria, custodial, grounds, and maintenance workers in 4 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and 5 secondary schools. A verbally administered 22-item written questionnaire addressing…

A preliminary study of job-related communications skills in British Columbia sawmills investigated the extent of agreement between reading grade levels of written workplace materials and reading comprehension levels of employees expected to read them. In 1990, 227 employees in 8 sawmills were interviewed with a 52-item structured interview, a…

This document contains action plans for four states (Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, and Missouri) involved in the Jobs for the Future program designed to enhance states' ability to handle economic change. The first section, "A Call to Action," discusses what Colorado's public and private sectors must consider doing to meet the…

This document constitutes the report of the activities of Memphis State University (MSU) Libraries Ad Hoc In-Service Training Committee, which was established in May 1991 to plan an entire day of training sessions for all staff in an effort to improve the quality of service given to the users of the library system. The report begins with a brief…

The suggestions of business executives concerning the content of a general education program that would assist students in achieving success in business were obtained through a 1982 survey. Questionnaire responses were obtained from 113 respondents in companies ranging in size from 1,000 or more employees to those with 50,000-plus employees. Five…