DALLAS-- Oct. 8, 2001--KnowledgePool Americas (KPA) today announced the release of its best-practices case study with Pitney Bowes, which discusses corporate trends and issues affecting human capital development, and the elements behind a successful learning and management succession program. The paper offers a close look at Pitney Bowes' leadership development initiative and the results achieved through its deployment of KPA's Talent Management System(TM) (TMS). The case study explores the crisis in leadership and other challenges facing corporations, which are driving the demand for talent solutions that meet the specific needs of the organization. The paper identifies the steps to building talent through competency-based development, performance management and succession planning. The study also shows how the Web, when integrated with HR process (expertise) and technology (experience), can be a powerful catalyst for developing and managing talent -- considered by industry experts and practitioners to be the most valuable resource of today's enterprise. "There are tremendous voids in the e-Learning and HCM space today with most solutions falling short in terms of real performance gains for the enterprise,'' said Vince Rowe, executive vice president of KPA. "Companies such as Pitney Bowes, however, recognize the critical role talent development plays in improving employee retention, customer satisfaction, and competitive agility. These companies are demanding solutions that align development programs with business strategy - and they're achieving powerful results.'' Research shows most knowledge initiatives fail and less than half of America's CIOs are satisfied with e-Learning results. KPA's paper demonstrates how when used strategically, solutions such as TMS provide substantial value to the enterprise. TMS is a customized, Web-based solution, which enables organizations to match the competencies that drive talent development with both the objectives of the enterprise and the implementation of learning resources. TMS automates workflow processes and delivers learning experiences that correspond to individual development goals while supporting the unique business needs of the organization. "With TMS, Pitney Bowes benefits from performance gains due to alignment between individual performance and development and linkages between individual performance and corporate direction,'' said Susan Wallberg, Pitney Bowes' executive director of strategic staffing and executive development group. "As a result, our leadership is more prepared to capitalize on market opportunity.''