Purpose: The purpose of this article is to show the foundational place that communication theory and its practice occupies in functioning work systems. Design/methodology/approach: This paper defines the word communication in terms of the creation and interpretation of displays, describes what it means to have a theoretical foundation for a…

As the nation, bogged in recession, focuses on job creation and economic growth for relief, attention has turned to education as the key to building a workforce to fill current and future job needs. However, to the surprise of some, much of the discussion involves community colleges, rather than traditional four-year, degree-granting universities…

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 provided states with a great amount of flexibility in the implementation of a system-wide approach to job training and workforce development. The legislation consolidated employment and training services into a one-stop system that is known as JobLink Career Centers in North Carolina. This document presents…

Many branches of manufacturing industries have been highly successful in the Appalachian region; others have failed to achieve anticipated operating and employment results; and still others have suspended operations after a short time. This mixed history of accomplishment and failure has not been satisfactorily explained by traditional analyses.…

This document contains papers presented at a seminar to explore how the U.S. economy has created 30 million jobs since the early 1970s, while most European countries have barely managed to keep their labor force employed. The following papers are included: "Job Creation in the United States: Some Facts and Figures" (Sibille); "Unanswered…

The net effect on employment of structural changes now occurring in the United States will be determined by the actions that government, management, and labor take to create and support the conditions for new opportunity and to encourage people to move from old to new work. Many of the measures that need to be taken to ensure profitability involve…

This report profiles three workforce organizations across the country--in Colorado, Georgia and New York--and explores the strategies they used to grow their programs locally. The report examines the dilemmas workforce organizations frequently face in meeting not only the needs of their dual customers--job seekers and employers--but also the needs…