With the advent of distance-learning technologies, students can get coursework or degree programs online or through interactive television. There are just so many options. Martin says all 1,700 Lockheed Martin employees at the Manassas facility will undergo some sort of training this year. Increasingly, Lewis is using Virginia's higher education resources to meet these needs. Technical training classes provided by Virginia Tech on company time are replacing object-oriented vendor training.
Tech can spread the courses over a longer period.
Otherwise, students might have the training crammed into one week by a visiting vendor. Lewis also uses Virginia Tech for management training. Harold Kurstedt, a management systems engineering professor at Tech, works directly with Lockheed managers to assess their strengths and weaknesses, coordinate discussion groups and plot ways to improve. It's a more comfortable environment because of Dr. Kurstedt's interpersonal skills and because he keeps the results confidential. Test scores are presented to upper management in composite form.