American education is at a critical juncture because the traditional skills taught in schools and universities might no longer be valid to prepare students for a global economy. This is a prevailing argument in the education reform debate. Corporations are now being turned to for the solution. Regarding western educational discourse, transitional periods in education extend as far back as the Middle Ages in Europe. In America, since the turn of the century there has been an underpinning influence on education: the role of business. Yet, how often do we hold businesses accountable for their contributions to education? Business and education alliances can greatly benefit the system on both the K-12 and university levels. However, if the work that education is supposed to accomplish is underestimated and the plight of education is handed blindly over to a corporate paradigm, there might be more harm done than good. For some, it might seem unsavory that education has turned into a profitable business. For others, it is a dream come true. Although several scholars have analyzed the correspondence between education and the economy, few have examined it using a British pedagogical framework combined with an economic typology of power. The goal of this book is to explore the existence of certain capitalist realities in the American education system to find a balance between the distinct ideologies of education and business. This book is a theory-building exercise that centers on a descriptive multiple-case study of two senior high schools: a private, Jesuit school with a mission to educate students for university disciplines and a public charter school designed for career preparation, both located in Washington, D.C. A combination of survey, dialogic, observational, and documentary techniques was employed in a multi-methodological approach. This enterprise draws on Basil Bernstein's pedagogical theory of symbolic educational knowledge codes while attempting to fill a gap in its theoretical apparatus. The endeavor highlights some effects of alliances between business and education, while exploring concepts of power, critical thinking, and knowledge. A realist theoretical lens is a key component in this study where business norms are conceptualized as a social entity ontologically effectual to educational processes. Traditional forms of education are revealed to be in competition with alternative forms of education, where the high-technology age is perceived as a contributor to educational change. One of the unique analyses drawn from the research fieldwork elucidates differences between a religious paradigm and a careerist pedagogical approach. Ultimately, three contextual themes emerge from the data: entrepreneur ethics, social skills, and technology; all of these are indications of how business mores are apparent in education. The salient theme in this endeavor is the control of knowledge by institutions and/or individuals. The Imprint of Business Norms on American Education is an important book for social entrepreneurs, education reformers, education and sociological studies.

Abstract:. - http://www3.openu.ac.il/ouweb/owal/new_books1.book_desc?in_mis_cat=111625.

Using US schools as a reference point, this book provides a description of schooling as a global institution. The authors draw on a four-year investigation conducted in 47 countries that examined many aspects of K-12 schooling. They discuss how world trends and the forces behind them will work to shape the directions education may take.

A generation of aspiring business managers has been taught to see a world of difference as a world of opportunity. In Making Global MBAs, Andrew Orta examines the culture of contemporary business education, and the ways MBA programs participate in the production of global capitalism through the education of the business subjects who will be managing it. Based on extensive field research in several leading US business schools, this groundbreaking ethnography exposes what the culture of MBA training says about contemporary understandings of capitalism in the context of globalization. Orta details the rituals of MBA life and the ways MBA curricula cultivate both habits of fast-paced technical competence and “softer” qualities and talents thought to be essential to unlocking the value of international cultural difference while managing its risks. Making Global MBAs provides an essential critique of neoliberal thinking for students and professionals in a wide variety of fields.

Examines the relationship between the historical roots of American Democracy and their applications to the world of commerce. Based on findings of the preeminent social scientists, the key value systems are defined and designed for plans of action. Explores the theoretical and applied principles that instruct how to motivate people and make organizations prosper. Uncovers the core values central to business success: ethics and morality; individualism and progress; equality and equity; work and achievement; productivity and efficiency; unity and patriotism. Gives an in-depoth look into the subject matters of pay equity, corporate social responsibility, and the role of the individual. Shows how to adopt a systemic model of doing business based on the cultural norms necessary to ensure an efficient and just work environment.

Do business schools actually make good on their promises of "innovative," "outside-the-box" thinking to train business leaders who will put society ahead of money-making? Do they help society by making better business leaders? No, they don't, Steven Conn asserts, and what's more they never have. In throwing down a gauntlet on the business of business schools, Conn's Nothing Succeeds Like Failure examines the frictions, conflicts, and contradictions at the heart of these enterprises and details the way business schools have failed to resolve them. Beginning with founding of the Wharton School in 1881, Conn measures these schools' aspirations against their actual accomplishments and tells the full and disappointing history of missed opportunities, unmet aspirations, and educational mistakes. Conn then poses a set of crucial questions about the role and function of American business schools. The results aren't pretty. Posing a set of crucial questions about the function of American business schools, Nothing Succeeds Like Failure is pugnacious and controversial. Deeply researched and fun to read, Nothing Succeeds Like Failure argues that the impressive façades of business school buildings resemble nothing so much as collegiate versions of Oz. Conn pulls back the curtain to reveal a story of failure to meet the expectations of the public, their missions, their graduates, and their own lofty aspirations of producing moral and ethical business leaders.