This book, which is intended for individuals involved in developing, delivering, and supporting human resource development (HRD) programs, discusses worldwide HRD trends that were identified in a study of the HRD practices in 35 countries. Chapter 1 discusses the importance of the HRD trends identified and explains how they were identified. Chapters 2-17 are each devoted to one of the top 16 HRD trends, which are as follows: training linked to the organization's strategic direction; increased emphasis on needs assessment and analysis; emphasis on training's role in performance improvement; increased acceptance of corporate universities; rapid changes in training delivery; shared responsibility for training; use of systematic evaluation processes to measure training's effectiveness; increased measurement of return on investment; closer monitoring of training costs; conversion of training and development functions to a profit center concept; bigger training and development budgets; adoption of the learning organization concept; partnerships between training staff and line management; greater use of technology in training; more training designed for global use; and more outsourcing of training to contractors. Chapter 18 outlines four steps for working with the trends. Seventy-four tables/figures are included. Most chapters include substantial bibliographies. The top 16 and second 16 global HRD trends are appended. (MN)