Representatives of the business community define workplace literacy according to how well informed are the spokespersons for business, how expansive is their view of the role of literacy, and the extent to which literacy bears on their firms' productivity. These elements affect business people's understanding of what constitutes workplace literacy, the purpose of being literate in the workplace, and who is responsible for developing a literate work force. Business and government must articulate the skills desired of workers to educators in order to influence the design of programs. Another debate in the business community is the extent of its interest or obligation in improving literacy or social conditions. Business leaders must recognize the impact of an undereducated public not only on the prospective labor pool but also on their future consumer/customer market. The Federal Government's role should be taking the long-term view on solutions, financing research, and providing incentives, whereas local communities (schools and businesses) should deal with specific programs. (Questions that can be used to investigate workplace literacy issues are suggested. The names, addresses, and phone numbers of 11 resources are given. The document contains four graphs.) (CML)