If you want to pinpoint business strategies for the future, consider this in your planning: the next wave of MBAs says they will be almost as concerned with quality of management and social responsibility as they are with the quality of a company's product or service.
So while it might matter if you release a product with a faulty chip, a faulty management team could be just as damaging.
That's our analysis based on preliminary findings of a yet-to-be-released survey done by the Council of PR Firms. Thus far, it has generated 300 responses - 65 from PR professionals and the rest from MBAs at the nation's top business schools, such as Harvard and Kellogg.
Last month, the Council announced it would peel off another layer from Fortune's "Most Admired Companies" list to find out what PR professionals and MBAs view as enviable business practices.
Respondents have been recording their impressions at http://www.prfirms.org.
Of those polled, nearly half of PR professionals said quality of products was the most important factor for companies they want to emulate. But students identified quality of products (29 percent), quality of management (25 percent) and social responsibility (21 percent) almost equally.
"Preliminary results from both the PR professionals and MBA students show that they are generally in agreement that the quality of management and the quality of product are two of the most important criteria," said Jack Bergen, president of the Council. "But the survey also indicates that the Fortune surveys have some limitations and the Council will address how Fortune can overcome those in the future."
Results are still being collected, reviewed and analyzed. The survey will remain online at least until the end of March. (877-PRFIRMS)