For nearly three decades, the quality management philosophy known as Six Sigma has brought competitive advantage to organizations implementing it. The typical approach, however, has been to have leaders from operations, engineering, quality, and marketing manage this strategic initiative. Human resource's role has been to default to the…

Urges the design and implementation of strategies in academic libraries for the development of leadership potential. Discusses the components of organizations that lead to organizational maturity, and calls for library leaders with vision, skill, and commitment to nurture an organizational culture that emphasizes leadership development. (20…

The author states that the classical authoritarian organizational model and managerial style are being replaced by participative and matrix forms of corporate activity. He focuses on setting tomorrow's norms in human resource development. (CT)

Human resource development (HRD) uses a wide variety of theories from multiple disciplines and fields of study to create its own unique field of scholarly practice. As with any field, however, we tend to get comfortable with familiar theories and theorists and fail to explore other possible sources of wisdom. One scholar whose work is worthy of…

Contract learning is an invaluable tool in organizational learning and management development. A contract can incorporate teacher-directed learning (TDL) and self-directed learning (SDL), as appropriate. Substantial research has revealed the power of SDL; the trick is to harness this learning for the benefit of the organization. The literature on…

A survey provided a description of Internal Labor Market (ILM) practices across a sample of 694 U.S. establishments. An establishment was defined as a business address and was distinct from a company. Interviews were conducted by telephone. Findings indicated that about 35 percent of private sector establishments with 50 or more employees had…

The University of Maryland's Intergroup Dialogue and Leadership Program (IDLP) is coordinated by the Office of Human Relations Programs (OHRP), an arm of the Office of the President. Because of this organizational location, OHRP has campus-wide scope which has been foundational to its ability to adapt the Intergroup Dialogue Program (IDP)…

This book brings together in one source, basic participative management theory, a broad range of research on the subject, and a number of methods and techniques to assist the practitioner in implementing participative management. Three sections included are (1) Concepts and Theory, (2) Research Studies, and (3) Practice and Implementation. Focus…