This manual was developed to acquaint both teachers and administrators of vocational and technical education in Indiana with the principles and methods of fostering better leadership, communication, problem solving, and decision making skills, as well as instituting cooperative models as a strategy for preparing students to enter the world of work. The five major content areas of the manual are (1) work in the 1990s; (2) group processes; (3) communications; (4) systematic problem solving; and (5) leadership. The first unit addresses the major changes that have taken place in the American economic system over the past several years. It specifically talks about change as it relates to quality and productivity improvement efforts in industry. A number of new work-design strategies are identified and described. At the end of the first unit, a summary of a research study examines industry needs as well as vocational and technical school activity in these areas. The remaining four units provide teaching materials to assist vocational educators in providing these new skills to students. Each unit contains an introduction, learning objectives, conceptual materials, exercises, and references. (KC)