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According to John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends, the United States is moving from an industrial to an information society. This is evident in the rapidly growing service industry. From 1969 to 1976, ninety percent of the newly created jobs were white collar or service oriented positions. In 1981, almost seventy percent of all jobs were in the service industry. This percentage is expected to increase to near ninety percent by 1990. The Coalition of Service Industries, Inc. estimates that service industries generate two‐thirds of the United States Gross National Product, and service industries employ three out of four working Americans. Another reason for the increase in concern for service quality is the rise of the “get my money's worth” consumer, a value‐seeking shopper who thinks in terms of total use cost rather than just initial acquisition cost.

In their book Megatrends 2000, John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene (1990) stated that one of the ten “megatrends for the 1990's would be the rise of “The Age of Biology.” One of the central forces behind this societal shift which is occurring right now, they say, is research into understanding human genetics and the rise of biotechnology. The scientific knowledge regarding human genetics and the technology to examine an individual's genetic makeup have grown at a rapid pace, especially in the last decade as a result of the Human Genome Project. This venture has been labelled alternatively as “mediocre science” (Roberts, 1990b: p. 804) and as “biology's Holy Grail,” (Nelkin and Tancredi, 1989: p. 14). It is indisputably a monumental scientific undertaking, likened to the drive to put a man on the moon in the sixties (“The Geography of Genes,” 1989). This knowledge and the resultant trends will likely prove to be important factors not only in our future economy, but also in the nature of how we understand ourselves.

Real teamwork means people participating in implementing change and solving problems. This is a vital part of the Quality Improvement Process and, according to the author, will become the new challenge for the 1990s.

Describes how customers potentially influence the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of other customers in many service environments. Explains why service marketers and operations marketers should be aware of the impact of such customer‐to‐customer relations. Examines the issues of customer compatibility and customer behaviour, finding that the classification of compatible and incompatible behaviours is often situation‐specific. Explores how the way customers affect each other can be positively influenced.

Chester Barnard’s 1938 book The Functions of the Executive is re‐examined in the context of the emerging knowledge‐based dynamic theory of the firm. The key constructs and the underlying principles for Barnard’s functions of the “executive” and organization as a cooperative open‐system are reassessed for the evolving knowledge‐driven firm competing in the twenty‐first century global economy. Surprisingly, after more than six decades, Barnard’s cooperative “executive,” well‐versed in the logical‐rational and the non‐logical‐intuitive decision‐making processes, still seems quite competent to effectively lead the knowledge‐driven e‐business enterprise evolving in the twenty‐first century. The Barnardian “executive,” however, must evolve by acquiring and integrating the newly available knowledge‐related technologies and other adaptive competencies to help develop new drivers of global competitiveness.

Physical education, like most areas of education, is changing and taking on a new look for the 1980s. Physical educators, school administrators, and others making decisions about programs for children and young people are examining both current practices and forecasts for the future in this field. What they decide will profoundly affect the resources that should be a part of library collections for children and youth. Too often librarians and school media specialists have found it difficult to think about the kinds of materials appropriate for such collections because they do not have the knowledge necessary for sound selection. A major reason for this difficulty is that the area of physical education is usually separated from other subject areas in schools. Along with the industrial arts, domestic science, and the fine arts, physical education is categorized as a performative subject area. Classified as such, it is usually not thought of as something you ask young people to think about, talk about, or even read about; but rather, something you ask them to “do.” Yet, upon closer examination, there exists a small wealth of library materials for children.

John Naisbitt, who has written several books on the future, including Megatrends (which sold over eight million copies), discusses with Bruce Lloyd the issues raised in his latest volume, Global Paradox. Reveals that Naisbitt sees the global corporation becoming more important at the same time as becoming more vulnerable; indicates Naisbitt′s view that the importance of democracy is increasing while the importance of politicians is decreasing; and reports Naisbitt′s belief in growth in both an economic one‐world, in parallel with greater political fragmentation. Today the world is changing in many dimensions and many of these changes appear contradictory, but Naisbitt′s insights contribute to our understanding of these changes and how they can be seen to fit coherent and consistent patterns.

The best‐selling book Megatrends, written by John Naisbitt, has been cited in numerous library and information science publications and talks since its appearance in 1982 Megatrends was bound to capture the attention of the librarians, since it boldly proclaims on page one that no shift “is more subtle, yet more explosive” than the change from an industrial to an information society. It has further appeal because many of the changes documented in Megatrends can be observed in libraries and the institutions and organizations they serve; moreover, the trends provide a framework from which to assess the status and direction of the information professions. This article will examine the several megatrends as they apply to the electronic library and will suggest appropriate plans of action.

THE U.S. is in the midst of a fundamental restructuring of its economy and society. Traditional tools and methods of measurement and forecasting are increasingly inadequate for charting the new course. Business needs to create, build, and develop industries and technologies for the future, but without carelessly abandoning the investments and commitments of today.

Technological advances in the last 40 years are widely used in business communications today. The “communications revolution” has affected the speed of business communications, the distance from which information can be obtained, and the amount of information being used. These effects influence company decision making, organisation, and control processes in a variety of ways.