Nearly every hand went up. The faster pace of technological change also threatens to undermine the traditional model where formal learning takes place only in the first, school-based phase of one s life. Another characteristic of the new economy is the tremendous increase in communications capability. This means that the benefits of managing disparate functions internally have been reduced compared with the benefits of aiming for specialized excellence and outsourcing secondary functions to other network participants. The Traditional Model Traditionally, people learned general skills at school and learned specific skills at work.
Economists refer to the former as general human capital and the latter as specific human capital.
The traditional model assumes that once you leave school you have little or no need to enhance your general skills. In that environment, you will become more valuable to the company as you learn more about its practices and procedures, which will create an incentive for a long-term relationship. Another traditional difference between schools and businesses has been in the area of accountability. Traditionally, businesses have well-defined constituencies with clear objectives. For example, customers have requirements for products and services.