What Can Educational Managers Learn from Private Enterprise?

Schools and school systems around the world are being challenged to emulate management practices used in business organizations. Reports on a case study of management in a computing firm in Sydney, Australia. Attention focuses on communication, the methodology of work,characteristics of the organizational setting, organization structure,selection and motivation of staff, goals of managers and management styles. The findings provide a basis for discussing the relevance of business management practices for education. Managers in education and private enterprise may have much to gain from one another. However, each sector also has distinctive attributes which make transfer of some practices inappropriate. Concludes by considering the benefits for educational managers of observing business executives in action.