The message below is from the HRD-L listserv.  I send it merely as an
illustration of some of the many things being done via Internet that
involve/affect our business environment.
 
Last week I (and 750 of my closest friends) attended the Human
Resource Planning Society's annual conference.  The target audience
and membership are V.P.H.R. folks and high-level research academics
working in that area.
 
At the conclusion of the conference, a State Of The Art (SOTA) report
was presented.  They surveyed better than 30 "thought leaders"
(Charan, Prahalad, Galbraith, Coates, Senge, etc.) on many business and
H.R. issues of today and the future.
 
It may come as no surprise, but when it came time to itemize the
"Your 1995-7 20 Things To Do List", #1 was "Get on the Internet,
Prodigy, CompuServe, On-Line America", and #2 was "Hold Video
Conferences/Meetings".
 
Once again, this involves and affects our business environment.
Enjoy!
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Date:    Thu, 20 Apr 1995 15:28:15 -0400
From:    Eric Alan <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Distance Learning & Workplace
 
Hi...
 
I'm Eric Alan, a research associate of the Electronic University Network.
 I'm new to this list, among others, and I'm interested in exploring the
relationship of distance learning to Human Resources, training and
development, and personal career enhancement.  I'm hoping that the people on
HRD-L will provide valuable perspectives.
 
As you may know, Electronic University Network offers, via distance learning,
the full spectrum of degrees: associate degrees, the BA, an MBA, an online
Ph. d.  Our colleges and universities, all regionally accredited, share a
"virtual campus" centered on America Online.
 
Already, over 200 companies support EUN's offerings through tuition
assistance programs:  for in many fields, distance learning appears to have
advantages for both the individual student/employee and the employer.  Rather
than having to be on campus to take courses on days and hours that might
conflict with job and family, students can shape their learning schedules
around these obligations.  And employers appreciate the fact that employees
don't have to leave the job to get to campus.
 
Also, EUN is now beginning to work with companies interested in harnessing
the power of telecommunications for a new approach to training and workforce
development.
 
Consider those decentralized businesses and industries with multiple
locations: they've have traditionally allocated huge sums of money to take
employees off the job, travel them to a single location, and feed and house
them for several days for training.
 
EUN can now provide such industries with their own "campus", and that campus
can be used for the full range of formal and informal training needs, ranging
from the exchange of ideas between employeees, to small group meetings, to
conferences, workshops, and institutes, to college courses for credit.
 
Rather than move employees to instruction, the employees can stay in place
and the instruction moved to them.
 
There are those who assure us that the training community and the training
practitioners are ready for this change in practice. And there are others who
assure that this change will be firmly resisted by the training community,
who will see it as threatening their investment in present training methods.
 
We'd like any help we can get in understanding the dynamics of these
situations, and learning from the perspectives of Human Resources people,
career development specialists, and potential students, how we and distance
learning can best serve the community well.
 
Please feel free to e-mail me privately, as well as posting to the list.  I
look forward to the discussions.
 
Eric Alan
Associate, Research and Development Division
Electronic University Network
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***************************************************
Bric A. Wheeler
Director, Center for Management Development
Richard T. Farmer School of Business Administration
Miami University, 114 Laws Hall
Oxford, OH  45056-1675
    Voice:  (513) 529-2132; FAX:  (513) 529-6992;
    E-mail:  [log in to unmask]
             [log in to unmask]
***************************************************