Working with difficult people is a built-in business hazard, but it is a part of human nature. Four sources make recommendations for dealing with them. (JOW)

Discusses research that looked at the actions, policies, and responses of organizations concerning training issues and substance abuse. Found that without training, an organization cannot successfully wage the war against alcohol and drug abuse at work. (JOW)

A survey of 83 quality circle members determined that there was no single variable that consistently emerged as the most important contributor to the effectiveness of quality circles. Member training did appear to be stronger than the other variables. (JOW)

Denying the considerable differences between men and women only emphasizes them. Men and women tend naturally to have dissimilar goals, priorities, values, and communication styles. Those differences, unaddressed, forecast failure for both sexes in establishing effective roles in business and family life. (JOW)

Due to demographic changes, businesses will become increasingly reliant on the skills and capabilities of older workers. Companies can no longer afford to use economic arguments against employing older workers. (SK)

Because of today's increasingly complex business environment, decision makers in business need to use a process that takes into account and balances various forces--economic goals, personal values, and explicit values of the corporation. A process model provides a systematic method for ethical decision making. (Author/JOW)

In the 1960s, companies were required to hire "different" workers. Trainers must understand what difference is and is not; they must be able to relate to it and to serve as role models on how to teach and live it. Knowing how to work with difference comes from personal experience and is generated by emotions and thoughts. (JOW)

The balance of power in the United States has begun to shift from youth to older age and will not soon return to a more familiar proportion. Human resource development professionals need to help their companies respond to the needs of older workers and older customers. (JOW)

Balancing consulting work with other life roles requires deciding how much one wants to work, how effectively and how often, what percentage of time to allocate to different elements, how much and how far one wants to travel, and how efficiently one manages the work environment. (SK)

The authors discuss advantages of self-directed learning as a part of the workplace training process. They describe how to plan and implement a self-directed learning program, covering staffing and resources, preliminary work, and general guidelines. (CH)

Human resources development must be oriented toward the achievement of all objectives of organizational performance: Quality, efficiency, societal impact, employee impact. Three fundamental phases in developing a work design strategy (for improving organizational effectiveness) are explained. (BM)

A study of five organizations examined employee motivation regarding the pretraining environment. Findings support the assumption that employees will be more motivated of supervisors are supportive and if they view attendance as voluntary. (JOW)

Research identified six areas of organization change that will have significant effects on development-oriented practices in and around the workplace. By the end of the century, the workplace will be different. The changes will be successful only if people change, develop, and grow. (JOW)

Training plays a key role in the development of work teams. Seven components of successful work teams are clear goals, talent, understanding of roles, efficient procedures, good interpersonal relations, active reinforcement, and constructive external relations. (SK)

The article discusses the importance of continuous organizational change and renewal and presents ten conditions that must be met before renewal or change can come about. (MF)