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This paper discusses the difference between industrial‐espionage and competitive intelligence so that practicing managers will be more able to formulate policy in this critical area. As well, procedures for securing information as part of a competitive intelligence process are outlined.

Costing training activity is one of the most poorly performed business functions. Presents a pragmatic solution to the problem. Beginning with the philosophy that the decision to train is an investment decision like any other, a process focusing on performance factors is followed that takes into account direct and indirect costs, the measurement of alternatives and the estimation of net benefit. Throughout, the unavoidable use of qualitative inputs is documented, so that final results allow management to buy into the costing formula.

In Britain, Canada and the USA, a chronic shortage of registered nurses has existed since World War II. This situation is predicted to become worse. Reviews both the general and nursing literature in human resource planning, and recommends a system which can be built up step by step and individualized for each nursing department. The core planning activities are a planning database, demand forecasting, supply forecasting, variance analysis and forecasting, and recruitment policies.

Seeks to find predictors of learning organizations as determined by Marquardt’s Learning Organization Profile (1996). For this study, male and female professionals were asked to rate their perceptions about their organizations. They were asked to rate their organizational perceptions on rewards and recognition, training and education, information flow, vision and strategy, and individual team development. Finds that appropriate rewards and recognition are an undergirding structure to the learning organization and that an environment of knowledge sharing and learning systems is an indication of a learning organization. Results support the notion that interventions intended to aid in the metamorphose from a current organization state to that of a learning organization may wish to focus initially on these aspects.

Telecommuting takes the concept of decentralization to its furthest degree. Managerial careers change, in that facilitation and the ability to service employees become the essential skills. Results, rather than visible inputs and “time‐in”, become important. Similarly, employees can develop alternate, less stressful, more productive lifestyles, as they are freed from constant interruptions. In order to make the telecommuting process work, however, the organizations must install proper policies and procedures, while providing proper training to managers, telecommuters and non‐telecommuters. Also, management must insist that some time is spent in the office and that communication remains open.

Introduction “Equality is, at the very least, freedom from adverse discrimination. But what constitutes adverse discrimination changes with time, with information, with experience, and with insight. What we tolerated as a society 100, 50, or even 10 years ago is no longer necessarily tolerable. Equality is thus a process ‐ a process of constant and flexible examination, of vigilant introspection, and of aggressive open mindedness.” (Excerpt from Equality in Employment, A Royal Commission Report, 1984)

Reviews a number of models, discussing the strengths and the weaknesses of each. In every case, the contribution to global competitiveness is highlighted, so that piece by piece, a comprehensive outline of current knowledge is developed. Based on this comprehensive background, a new model is proposed. As the authors have benefited from the work of many other scholars and practitioners, the “individually‐focused model” is a pragmatic tool that can be used by the practising manager.

Microenterprise can be defined as development from the bottom‐up. Many current economic intervention practices stem from the failed economic policies of developed nations, which rely primarily on structural adjustment as the dominant aspect of international (money lending‐based) support for development. This approach is still popular, even while the number of people in the world who fall below the poverty level is increasing. HRD microenterprise processes concentrate on empowering individuals to take ownership of their means of subsistence and development, while working towards an end, because they care about the goals and own the processes to achieve these goals. HRD microenterprise processes facilitate participation by ensuring that all stakeholders will be heard in the decision‐making processes, thus decreasing dependency. The microenterprise phenomenon, however, does not consist of unfamiliar activities; much of what is described in this paper is integral to well‐established Human Resource Development processes, ethics and values, utilized in developed countries.

Charts an alternative training method for both traditional and emerging vocational occupations. As Canadians see themselves as belonging to the middle class, apprenticeships have never been popular in Canada. Moreover, the Canadian business sector, in the throes of downsizing, will not make long‐term commitments to employees. Proposes, therefore, that certification systems may be the answer to Canada’s ongoing skills shortage.

If an organisation is to flourish, a constant influx of technical innovations must be accepted and utilised by both management and labour. This ability to introduce technological change can be a critical factor in the success or decline of individual business organisations and even entire industries. “Indeed, how technology is introduced is increasingly seen (sic) as the key to…workers' acceptance of it, which ultimately determines how much their productivity improves”.