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.
Shareholders demand the highest possible rate of return.
Failure to satisfy the objectives of customers or shareholders will drive the firm out of business. Schools, in contrast, have faced ill-defined constituencies with diverse objectives. A local public school may be answerable to parents, alumni, and to officials of local, state, and national governments. Objectives may relate to factors other than academic excellence, including health, nutrition, and community socialization. Yet another traditional difference is in the ways that schools and businesses have approached the learning process.