April/May 1999

Wise men or wise guys?
Dave Ulrich, Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan, was in London in April addressing the 31st Global Human Resource Management Conference. In his address Ulrich rephrased the usual HR motto: "Our people are our customers' most important asset. Ulrich believes that the actions of HR practitioners directly affect employee commitment, which in turn affects customer commitment and investor results.

Change management gets a sideways look in this issue of as we see how the Welsh national Rugby team are being brought about by adapting best business practice to the demands of professional sport. Other features - not just the articles on knowledge management by Stuart Crainer and the seven laws of change by Eddie Obeng - featureaspects of change that is the only constant in today's complex and often perplexing business world. And there is the first of a two-article series from Clive Shepherd offering a way of measuring objectively the return on investment in training

Editorial by Bob Little, Editor

Pages	Contents
2-8	News
10	Surveys & Reports
12-27
12		Pilgrim's progress
16		Cunning plans
20		On the road
24		Let's get together
30-35
30		Knowing the way
34		It's the law
38-43
38		Food for thought
42		Sight seeing
46-51
46		All together now
50		The team experience
54-59
54		The play's the thing
58		Coping coherently with complexity
62	Information technology	Assessing the return on investment in training
66-68	*Reviews*	Books
70, 71		CD Roms
72, 73		Videos
76-78	Products & resources
80	*Last Word*	Training in context