Quality circles are part of the movement to provide workers with increased autonomy, responsibility, and authority. Key elements of quality circles are the characteristics of their members, volunteer participation, regular meetings, training, problem identification, and solution implementation. The theoretical bases of quality circles include:…

The "spirituality in the workplace" movement serves a range of interests, including personal fulfillment on the job, a growing need to reconcile personal values with those of the corporation, and corporate desires to help individuals achieve more balanced lives. In addition to being the theme at a growing number of conferences, spirituality has…

In a high performance work organization (HPWO), employee basic skills are just one of many components. HPWOs feature the following: they have flatter organizational structures, have work done by teams of highly skilled workers, and have a focus on quality, customer service, and continuous improvement. The collaborative approach to workplace…

This guide presents nine tasks to be performed in planning organizational career development programs. Following an introduction that briefly discusses the guidebook's purposes, the state of career development programs in the work place, and uses of the guide, the nine tasks are discussed in two main sections. Part 1, Leadership Tasks, covers…

Tacit knowledge, the knowledge that workers possess but do not articulate, is associated with terms such as "skill,""know-how,""working knowledge," and "expertise" that are used to describe knowledge about and ability to perform work. Learning that takes place through apprenticeships draws heavily on tacit…

Workplace literacy was the focus of attention during the era of the National Workplace Literacy Program (NWLP), funded by the U.S. Department of Education from 1988-1996. Since then, it has not disappeared, in part because recent legislation such as the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and Welfare Reform Act has increased the work-related focus of…