The Learning Edge

Wick, a fellow at MIT and adjunct professor at the Wharton School, urges on-the-job training through the assignment of increasingly responsible tasks to subordinates. Aided by freelance writer Leon, he rather too repetitively details learning methods for managers themselves that are useful at all organization levels. Self-education occurs whether the structure of a learning environment is formal or informal, he acknowledges, but in the workplace it is essential to supervise and encourage staff members as they learn. The authors contend, validly, that increasing one's skills is the key to corporate success--a conviction voiced by CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in the abundant direct quotations--and they examine specific strategies practiced at Corning, Kodak, Rosenbluth Travel, J. P. Morgan and Motorola. Business managers will find this guide motivating and useful. Newbridge Executive Book Club dual main selection; author tour. (Mar.)