Recent economic and technological changes, as well as changes in the very nature of work, have forced business institutions to redirect themselves. Consequently, human resource development (HRD) activities are no longer a group of diverse practices at the periphery of a few organizations. Rather, the scope of HRD has expanded to include solving critical organizational problems, meeting competitive challenges in the marketplace, and seizing new business opportunities. The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) must respond to and even anticipate these changes, for its chief operating environment is the contemporary workplace. The ASTD must provide leadership in developing training that responds to specific company needs and goals. To meet corporate goals of increased productivity, enhanced competitive advantage, technological superiority, and development of a new business strategy, ASTD members must respond by providing quality training that fosters employee involvement in such areas as marketing and sales, customer training, customer service, technical skills (especially computer literacy and related information-age skills), and management development. Traditional classroom-based instruction is already beginning to give way to nonclassroom instruction involving either computers or other technological advances such as interactive video. The need for training that is easier to control and update and more responsive to individual needs is clear. (MN)