An exploratory study examined what the largest and most successful manufacturing and service companies in the United States are doing to address human capital needs through training and development. A questionnaire was sent to 168 firms from the service sector and 165 from the manufacturing sector, as identified by "Fortune"; 81 responded. Findings indicated that few organizations relied on a wholly centralized training function (only 6.5 percent of service and 8.6 percent of manufacturing firms). Considerably more firms reported wholly decentralized training (17.4 percent of service and 31.4 percent of manufacturing firms). The most common arrangement was to have both (76 percent of service and 60 percent of manufacturing firms). A clear majority of both reported the existence of a separate training department. Responses indicated that human resource planning was done at all levels from chief executive officer and corporate staff to line management. Almost identical percentages from the service and manufacturing sectors, 68.9 percent and 68.6 percent respectively, indicated that their firms had formal policy statements recognizing human resources as an essential corporate asset. Data were collected on kinds of training provided, delivery systems, and time spent on training. (The questionnaire and 30 references are appended.) (YLB)