TrendWatchers

Worried about the scarcity of employees skilled in science and math? Try looking in various East Asian nations, which still seem to have the best 8th-grade math and science students in the world, judging from the results of the 1999 Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat (TIMSS-R).

In our global economy, geography is fast becoming less relevant than culture. It's easy for jets to cross oceans or for data to instantly traverse the globe. It's much harder for people to communicate across cultural barriers. This may be due, in part, to the fact that our cultures actually mold our...

Sometimes HR outsourcing seems like a snowball rolling downhill, growing in both scope and importance. For HR professionals, the question is just how large the outsourcing phenomenon will get and whether its impact will ultimately change the very nature of HR.In the early 1990s, companies were just...

Sure, the HR field can be a tough place to work sometimes. But perhaps HR professionals should be thankful this holiday season, suggest the results of the 2000 Human Resource Management Compensation Survey.The survey, sponsored by the Society for Human Resource Management and published by HR...

Is there really a shortage of information technology (IT) workers? Around the world, many employers would answer a resounding “yes!” But others aren’t so sure, and the dispute is raising questions about how well IT employees are being managed, developed, and retained.Those who claim that the...

Over the next ten years, the Internet may dramatically change our healthcare system.It starts with consumers. Using the Internet, they are able to access and leverage a wealth of online medical information. And in the future they will have more opportunities to take care of other healthcare needs...

Organizations that offer benefit coverage to same-sex couples are no longer on the fringe, according to various news stories in recent months. Business and Health magazine, for example, reports that close to 40% of Fortune 100 firms and nearly a fifth of Fortune 500 firms offer such domestic-partner...

As Halloween approaches, it may be a good time to look at the frightening state of U.S. healthcare costs. Like a returning fever, medical insurance prices are going up again and the forecasts are scary indeed.Large employers (mostly Fortune 1000 companies) face double-digit increases in the cost of...

The concept of capital may be undergoing a quiet though important expansion, one that changes the way companies view their resources, human and otherwise. In the future, this expansion might influence strategic decision-making and the allocation of corporate assets.Capital usually refers to...

Like many things these days, expatriate assignments are becoming more short-term and “virtual.” Expats have traditionally been sent abroad for a three-to-five-year stint, but now assignments that average one to two years are becoming more popular. And a number of other expat options have also...