This document contains three papers from a symposium on international perspectives on human resource development (HRD). The first paper, "Human Resource Development Practices in American and Chinese High-technology Companies in Taiwan" (Hsin-yi Chen), uses quantitative and qualitative data on HRD practices in high-technology companies in the United States and Taiwan to identify the differences between HRD practices in the two countries. The findings from a study of the HRD expectations and requirements of local nationals in the Ivory Coast, a West African nation undergoing large-scale economic change, are reported in "Changing Work Cultures: Assessing HRD Needs in Francophone West Africa" (Carol D. Hansen, Janet Headley). "Human Resource Development in the People's Republic of China" (Bohua Yan, Gary N. McLean) describes the history and present state of HRD in the People's Republic of China, paying special attention to the following strategies that have been used to improve HRD in the country: reform higher education; strengthen vocational education, encourage young people to study abroad and professionals to work abroad and then return to China; and implement preferential policies to encourage Chinese people who have studied abroad to return to China to work. (MN)