This paper describes managed care, competition and high health care costs and reductions in funding as the major market forces that affect US academic health centers. As academic health centers continue to preserve their missions of providing patient care, educating and training health...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the links between various characteristics of hospital administration and the utilization of classes of volunteer resource management (VRM) practices. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses original data collected via surveys of...

A comprehensive perspective on experience‐based learning – action learning – is provided. Recent research into action learning is noted and the difficulties of introducing this method into the United States are discussed.

As a result of the many changes which have taken place in the field of management development since the 1960s, a scenario presenting the probable appearance of the discipline in the year 2000 is presented, with evidence from the past and present to support it.

The case is forcibly stated for a new style of management focused on the needs, expectations and participation of health care employees at all levels. Only collaborative teamwork is seen to be appropriate to developing the levels of effectiveness needed for those health care organisations...

US National Park Service personnel are resistant to training programmes derived from business and industry. The circumstances leading to development of a customised training programme are described – in particular the development and presentation of a simulation which was a key feature.