'Apprentice': true picture of corporate America?

By JIMMY J. PACK JR.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I am addicted to "The Donald." Yes, I am a fan of The Apprentice. Why?  Because it has taught me a very valuable lesson: in order to be successful on a corporate level you must do two things: empty out your soul in the ashtray in the foyer of every office building, and make sure you can always find the pulse of pop culture so that you are able to decide how much consumers will pay for certain products in the marketplace.

The Apprentice actually calls a few questions to mind, the most important being how valid are these 'challenges" that Mr. Trump issues to measure a person's value to a corporate structure?  Is being able to reasonably price a set of woman's dresses an accurate guage of a person's ability to lead a team of workers?  Does a familiar smile and a clean set of sponges priced at over $20 on QVC mean that a team of women are failures because their male counterparts were able to sell fewer grilling machines at almost twice the price?

For Mr, Trump it all seems to boil down to how much money can a person make?  Is this what corporate America is about?  Is Kmart not worried about the safety of a beach chair as long as it can sell over a million dollars worth in one year?  Does Wal-Mart price their bed sheets at a lower price so that more people will buy their goods and, after a few months, put smaller, locally owned linen stores out of business only to jam their prices higher?

These are the lessons I have been learning from Donald Trump as I watch him fire people for the dumbest reasons, most of which always seem to be, this one made a mistake, fire him/her.

Are we non-corporate people supposed to believe that corporate America works on the concept that if a mistake is made, a person should be fired?  Is corporate America not allowed to make mistakes?  How do corporations learn?

The Apprentice is fun to watch, but only if you don't take it seriously.  Clearly Mr. Trump's world is an inaccurate portrayal of what is in store for all those MBA grads waiting to help prime the pump of corporate America.  This show is merely MTV's Real World in The Donald's Land of Make Believe. Where in the world of business do people live with their co-workers?  Where are boardrooms run by three people, two of who cow-tow to the third?  When has a "boss" had a worse combover than Donald Trump? (Has this man any dignity? Just shave it all off, will ya?) This show is so bad, it's fun to watch.

Tube into The Apprentice, Thursday nights at 9 p.m. on NBC to see how Donald Trump runs his business.  Is it any shock the man's gone bankrupt more than once?