The Financial Crisis of 2008 has forced countries around the globe to reevaluate their monetary and fiscal strategies for stimulating growth within their respective economies. The economic connectivity among countries has been magnified by the recent financial crisis. However, with nations at different stages in their development, the economic…

"Economic competitiveness" is at the top of national, regional and global political and economic agendas. Several countries in all regions of the world have established policies and institutions devoted to economic competitiveness, including in developing and transition countries. This leads to the question of how to define national economic…

Although there are have been some studies on National Human Resource Development and HRD practices in certain countries, literature shows that we have just scratched the surface in terms of the number of countries we know about. This exploratory study reviews research associated with HRD policies and practices in Brazil, China, India, Italy,…

A study of three Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) traced development of the skills element of their RES [Regional Economic Strategy] and their progress toward an action plan for skills to implement their strategic objectives. The process involved creating a forum on skills; producing a consultation draft skills strategy; and producing a final…

This paper is on the growing importance of strategic human resource management (SHRM) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Many small firms encounter serious human resource problems, while at the same time these human resources play a vital role in developing and sustaining their competitive advantages. In (S)HRM literature specific…

This report focuses on use of large-scale economy-wide models in Australia for occupational forecasting and their use in the vocational education and training (VET) sector for making decisions about training profiles across occupational areas. Section 2 reviews objectives of VET policy as defined in the legislation and Australian National Training…

This book examines the effectiveness and distributive ramifications of the institutions of German skill provision as they functioned at home in the 1990s and as they served as a template for reform in other industrialized countries. The volume relies on multiple sources of data, including in-firm case studies, larger-scale surveys of companies,…

To explore options to establish Federal Individual Training Accounts (ITAs), a study reviewed Pennsylvania's Individual Learning Accounts, Cedar Company's Individual Learning Accounts, ITAs under the Workforce Investment Act, and the United Kingdom's Individual Learning Accounts. ITAs were defined as a base amount of resources--dollars or…

A study assessed how to improve individual informed decision making by various actors in the arena of skills formation in Great Britain on the basis of existing research knowledge. Since individual decisions are situated in a complex institutional arena, two of the most important contextual relationships--schools and employers--were analyzed prior…

A National Strategy for Adult Basic Skills has been proposed to deal with the English situation in which about one adult in five is not functionally literate and far more people have problems with numeracy. The National Strategy has these 10 main elements: national targets; an entitlement to learn; guidance, assessment, and publicity; better…

This book provides a detailed analysis of the development of education and training systems in Asia and the relationship with the process of economic growth. Focus is on four impoverished agrarian economies--Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan--that were transformed in little more than a generation into East Asian "tigers":…

Australia's Framing the Future (FTF) project was designed to develop a model of staff development to support implementation of the National Training Framework (NTF). A survey of FTF project managers found these long-term impacts: implementation of training packages and other aspects of NTF, new forms of collaboration between industry and training…

This paper focuses on the demand for and supply of intermediate-level vocational skills within the United Kingdom (UK) economy. Using existing research from surveys and case studies, Part One argues that there is a lack of evidence that widespread intermediate-skill shortages exist within the expanding service sector. In the manufacturing sector,…

Polish continuing education (CE) includes education, further education, and professional development in and out of school; in day, evening, or weekend courses; and distance education. The state, workplaces, grants, and foreign assistance provide financing. A variety of organizations cooperate to provide continuing education. High-risk groups…

This document contains three papers on key skills and competencies and human resource development (HRD). "Career Related Competencies" (Marinka A.C.T. Kuijpers) reports findings from surveys completed by Dutch employees who identified these issues: self-reflection is more important than career control; age and gender influence attitude…