People, performance, profits: a new track for business from Dale Carnegie.

• Position: Interview with Dale Carnegie and Associates Inc.'s John M. Fisher - Interview

ABM: "Dale Carnegie" is just about a household word. How do you explain that?

Fisher: We've been around since 1912 and have almost six million graduates. Since his first talk at the New York City Y.M.C.A., the courses have undergone continuing improvements to keep current.

ABM: Is Dale Carnegie viable today? I mean, the program is nearly 100 years old. Has anything changed much?

Fisher: I can tell you one thing that hasn't changed. That is the original Dale Carnegie belief that nearly everyone yearns for some kind of self improvement, but few find the way to really achieve it. Dale Carnegie shows the way.

ABM: But Ms. Fisher, that sounds just like more of the same old hype businesses get every day - by mail, the faxes, and now, e-mail.

Fisher: Yes, it may be true that some "seminars" are really more razmataz than substance, but I remind you that Dale Carnegie has trained millions of men and women, young and older, for nearly a century. The program has become an institution. It has earned its wings, so to speak, and now we are called-in by businesses to help them achieve their maximum bottomline potentials.

ABM: Let's discuss that point. Just how can Dale Carnegie help businesses in such a way that they can see it on their bottom line?

Fisher: As you hinted a moment ago, times have changed dramatically - not just within the past decade or so, but even within the last couple of years! Technology has forced dynamic changed in the way business owners and managers must think about and run their businesses.

We always knew we had to upgrade plant and equipment - re-tool is a term that was recently in fashion. Because of technology - and now the new challenge of a global economy - most enlightened managers and high-performance businesses are recognizing that one of their most valuable assets is their people - the employees and supervisors upon whom they rely to be successful. They are the forces that help earn a profit by the end of the year...so there will be something to see on the bottom line. We can help with this because we keep realigning our program to meet the demands of today's performance-driven market places.

ABM: How do businesses use Dale Carnegie Courses?

Fisher: As you may recall, when Mr. Carnegie began his courses it started out as sort of short talks, and then grew into inspirational and self improvement lectures. Soon there was demand for more specialized help and that's how the course concept began. People would come together in...