The century's best innovations

In this season of lists, another entry, this one based on separate polls of faculty and MBA students at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. (Members of the combined group represent 30 nations.)

Topic: Business innovations of the century just ended. Both groups detested telemarketing and e-mail "spam" - and disliked New Coke. Neckties and the BETA format won thumbs down from the profs. Thermal fax machines and the cubicle made the students' "worst" list.

The two groups' Top 5 innovations:

Faculty

* Computers/the personal computer

*Assembly lines/production automation

* Financial markets

*Voicemail, e-mail, the fax machine

*Internet

Students

* Computers/the personal computer

* Internet

* Voicemail, e-mail, the fax machine

*Telephone

* Assembly lines/production automation

Source: Vanderbilt University

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