Steven Conn Books

Do business schools truly deliver on their promises of innovative thinking and training leaders who prioritize society over profit? Steven Conn argues they do not, and never have. In a critical examination of the business school landscape, Conn's work explores the frictions and contradictions inherent in these institutions, revealing their failure to address significant issues. Starting with the founding of the Wharton School in 1881, he contrasts the schools' lofty aspirations with their actual outcomes, chronicling a history filled with missed opportunities and educational shortcomings. Conn raises essential questions about the role and effectiveness of American business schools, and the findings are disheartening. His provocative analysis, thoroughly researched and engaging, suggests that the impressive exteriors of business schools mask a deeper reality akin to the illusions of Oz. By pulling back the curtain, Conn unveils a narrative of unmet public expectations, unfulfilled missions, and a disappointing track record in cultivating moral and ethical business leaders.

"There's no such thing as rural America. Or, rather, as Steven Conn argues, "rural America" is a phrase that has been made to mean so many things that it doesn't mean anything. In fact, he maintains, rural America--so often characterized as in crisis or in danger of being left behind--has been shaped by the same major forces as the rest of the country since at least the end of the Civil War: militarization, industrialization, corporatization, and suburbanization. Conn calls for us to dispense with the fantasies and visions that are often imposed on rural America, in the hopes of more productively addressing the real challenges facing all of America"--