Archived:The Corporate Imperative--Raising the Bar

A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

The Corporate Imperative: Results and Benefits of Business Involvement in Education - September 1998

Raising the Bar

Corporate-sponsored education initiatives provide tremendous benefits to communities, businesses, schools, and employees. Traditionally, company efforts have been directed toward activities such as providing one-time resources and materials to schools. However, to make significant, long-term improvements that benefit both the business and the school system, businesses must develop their education partnerships with the same degree of strategic thinking used to advance any new business objective or product. Businesses can often reap even greater benefits by partnering with other businesses and community organizations. Companies, especially small businesses, in many communities are working together to make resources go even further to help schools, and coalitions of businesses coming together around a specific education issue can often play a leadership role in coordinating many business-education partnerships.

Integrated and Strategic Business-Education Partnerships The intersection of Business and Education Goals can lead to Strategic Partnerships that benefit both communities.

Companies must strive for integrated, strategic partnerships that:

Reflect core business objectives and organizational philosophy;
Align with the mission of schools, districts, and states to promote systemic educational change; and
Strengthen the core of education at critical transition points of leverage and opportunity.

Strategies for Improving Education

There are four major ways that employers can approach educational improvement. Businesses can:

Initiate and develop partnerships with schools and their employees;
Lead education partnerships with many businesses, community organizations, and schools;
Implement company policies and programs that promote involvement of working parents and other employees in education; and
Contribute resources to schools and the partnership process, including such business expertise as accounting, financial management, and leadership and management development.

"Corporate America has the power to improve the education of today's youth by enabling employees to participate in school-related activities during the school/work day."

--Jill Barad, Chairman and CEO, Mattel Company

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[Results and Benefits of Business Involvement]

[A Base for Vigorous Business-Education Partnerships]

This page was last updated January 3, 2002 (jca)