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This document summarizes a conference organized around four broad topics: (1) skill and employment effects of new technologies; (2) health and safety effects; (3) strategies and tactics for improving labor-management relations; and (4) the role of public and private training and retraining programs. Four conference papers are included as follows: "New Technology and the Organization of Work: A Review of the Issues" (Osterman); "New Technology, Health and Safety, and Labor-Management Relations" (Smith); "Managing New Technology and Labor Relations: An Opportunity for Mutual Influence" (Walton, McKersie); and "New Technology and Continuous Learning" (Zager). Summaries of the discussion of each paper are provided. Appendix A lists the meeting participants. Appendix B lists members of the Panel on Technology and Employment that was organized by the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, a joint committee of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. (CML)

The prospects for managing the tension between accountability and improvement in further and higher education (FHE) were examined through a literature review and a 5-year ethnographic study of a change management project at a higher education college in Wales. Special attention was paid to the following challenges facing FHE: globalization; the impact of new technologies; and the rise of the corporate curriculum. The following lessons for change management and management practice were offered: (1) there is a difference between the planned outcomes of policy and those that emerge through implementation; (2) quality management becomes preoccupied with accountability; (3) there is no blueprint for quality management, and what is achievable should not be viewed from the standpoint of a "blank sheet"; (4) to respond to change effectively, leaders must be able to pose the "right" questions; and (5) to manage change effectively, institutional managers should assess the current and emerging climate of operation and be prepared to manage tensions. It was concluded that, although the tension between accountability and improvement may not be fully resolvable, acknowledgment of such tensions could make FHE managers better equipped to deal with the challenges they face as FHE enters the third millennium. (Contains 44 references.) (MN)

The prospects for managing the tension between accountability and improvement in further and higher education (FHE) were examined through a literature review and a 5-year ethnographic study of a change management project at a higher education college in Wales. Special attention was paid to the following challenges facing FHE: globalization; the impact of new technologies; and the rise of the corporate curriculum. The following lessons for change management and management practice were offered: (1) there is a difference between the planned outcomes of policy and those that emerge through implementation; (2) quality management becomes preoccupied with accountability; (3) there is no blueprint for quality management, and what is achievable should not be viewed from the standpoint of a "blank sheet"; (4) to respond to change effectively, leaders must be able to pose the "right" questions; and (5) to manage change effectively, institutional managers should assess the current and emerging climate of operation and be prepared to manage tensions. It was concluded that, although the tension between accountability and improvement may not be fully resolvable, acknowledgment of such tensions could make FHE managers better equipped to deal with the challenges they face as FHE enters the third millennium. (Contains 44 references.) (MN)

The prospects for managing the tension between accountability and improvement in further and higher education (FHE) were examined through a literature review and a 5-year ethnographic study of a change management project at a higher education college in Wales. Special attention was paid to the following challenges facing FHE: globalization; the impact of new technologies; and the rise of the corporate curriculum. The following lessons for change management and management practice were offered: (1) there is a difference between the planned outcomes of policy and those that emerge through implementation; (2) quality management becomes preoccupied with accountability; (3) there is no blueprint for quality management, and what is achievable should not be viewed from the standpoint of a "blank sheet"; (4) to respond to change effectively, leaders must be able to pose the "right" questions; and (5) to manage change effectively, institutional managers should assess the current and emerging climate of operation and be prepared to manage tensions. It was concluded that, although the tension between accountability and improvement may not be fully resolvable, acknowledgment of such tensions could make FHE managers better equipped to deal with the challenges they face as FHE enters the third millennium. (Contains 44 references.) (MN)