Educating America : Lessons Learned in the Nation's Corporations

Public education can learn from corporate training programs! Jack Bowsher, who helped control a billion-dollar-a-year budget as Director of Education at IBM (now retired), has a proven track record in education and training. This book outlines an incisive, workable program for the revival of our educational system. Bowsher takes a close look at what's wrong with our schools, and tells why many ``solutions'' don't work. He then applies the best elements of corporate education--such as incentives and accountability--to public education, arguing against blindly throwing more money and more teachers into an already troubled system.

Written by two veteran public relations executives from Burson-Marsteller USA, this guide on protecting and enhancing company image makes the fundamental point that some aspects of public opinion about organizations can be "managed" so as to serve the best interests of the firm. Certain aspects of this volume smack of empire building as the authors at one point make the unlikely assertion that both marketing and advertising are subdisciplines of public relations. Some of the authors' most provocative material are their case studies of companies' public relations strategies in times of adversity, such as when Johnson & Johnson faced the Tylenol debacle. This is recommended as an "executive summary" of public relations.
- Gene R. Laczniak, Marquette Univ., Milwaukee
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.