Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/61375
Real estate mogul-turned-television tycoon Donald Trump has scored big with his hit show "The Apprentice." But as a model for management educators to teach in their classrooms, the show has drawn decidedly mixed reaction. These two management educators each have two words for Trump: R 'You' By Denis Fred Simon re Hired!' eal-estate mogul Donald Trump may not teach in a business school classroom, but his entrepreneurial lessons, showcased on his show "The Apprentice," promise to have a lasting effect on business education. "The Apprentice," which airs on U.S. television on the NBC network, has been a singular experience for viewers. Episodes in the show's first season (the second season debuts this fall) feature eight men and eight women who work in teams to tackle on-the-spot busi- ness challenges requiring considerable personal talent, nerve, and an absolute commitment to radical innovation. To emerge as the winning team, the participants need all their powers of persuasion and every skill they can muster, from guerrilla marketing to on-the-spot selling and deal making. Members of the losing team must pack their bags and meet with Trump and his organization in the board- room. There, they analyze why they lost and who was at fault. At the end of a hard-hitting series of questions, one member of the teamemerges as the obvious, although unfor- tunate, choice. Trump then administers the "crushing blow"—that member is "fired" and must leave the competi- tion.Only one individual would emerge at the end of the 13- week program as the winner of the ultimate business prize: a yearlong, $250,000 apprenticeship within Donald Trump's real estate empire. What a training ground for business—and what a reward! For business schools preparing a new generation of busi- ness leaders, "The Apprentice" sends a compelling message 42 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2004