Everybody's Business is a succinct analysis of the factors that led to the founding of American business schools and why they are the way they are. Mitroff, Alpaslan, and O'Connor consider why current business schools do not give students the knowledge and the tools they need to deal with today's complex, messy problems and systems.

What is the purpose of education? What kind of people do we want our children to grow up to be? How can we design schools so that students will acquire the skills they'll need to live fulfilled and productive lives? These are just a few of the questions that renowned educator Dennis Littky explores in The Big Picture: Education Is Everyone's Business. The schools Littky has created and led over the past 35 years are models for reformers everywhere: small, public schools where the curriculum is rich and meaningful, expectations are high, student progress is measured against real-world standards, and families and communities are actively engaged in the educational process. This book is for both big "E" and small "e" educators: * For principals and district administrators who want to change the way schools are run. * For teachers who want students to learn passionately. * For college admissions officers who want diverse applicants with real-world learning experiences. * For business leaders who want a motivated and talented workforce. * For parents who want their children to be prepared for college and for life. * For students who want to take control over their learning . . . and want a school that is interesting, safe, respectful, and fun. * For anyone who cares about kids. Here, you'll find a moving account of just what is possible in education, with many of the examples drawn from the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center ("The Met") in Providence, Rhode Island--a diverse public high school with the highest rates of attendance and college acceptance in the state. The Met exemplifies personalized learning, one student at a time. The Big Picture is a book to reenergize educators, inspire teachers in training, and start a new conversation about kids and schools, what we want for both, and how to make it happen.

This book will be useful to those seeking information for more effective operations and those committed to serving the learning needs of students."--Jacket.

Done correctly, Total Quality Management (TQM) will increase your profits and preserve your resources, make your customers and employees happy, and it is the ethical thing to do. The key, of course, is to do it right. Unfortunately, when quality efforts fail to fulfill their potential, business leaders begin to doubt the efficacy of making the pursuit of quality a primary organizational priority. The most consistent mistake: starting small and implementing only part of the plan. Examples of partial efforts ending in disappointment or disaster abound. As a result, the only thing "total" about TQM processes has been the level of frustration. Quality is Everybody's Business makes it possible for people at all levels of your organization to understand the underlying theory and the specific mechanics of continual improvement. In an easy-to-read style, the book shows you how to untangle seemingly complex theory into guidelines for everyday managing and leading. The authors provide a comprehensive presentation of the practical details and the reasoning behind defining, implementing, and maintaining a 100% employee involvement process. Taken as a whole, the articles presented in this book address the theory and the practice of TQM in an integrated manner. Once your customers experience quality, they will continue to look for the quality option. Done correctly, TQM can be defined and implemented in six-to-eight months - and that includes actively involving everyone on the payroll in the process and seeing positive bottom line results virtually immediately. Whether your organization has a TQM process in place or is just beginning to implement one, Quality is Everybody's Business gives you the tools to make it a complete quality process.