Certificate of Professional Development
Creating Value on the Razor's Edge

Wharton Executive Education awards the Certificate of Professional Development to participants who successfully complete four or more Wharton courses within a 4-year period. As highlighted in the following story, the certificate program allows you to create an individually tailored program to power your professional growth and meet your specific needs.

Andrew Chrostowski, director of plant operations at Pfizer/Schick and Wilkinson Sword Division, was participating in Wharton's Creating Value Through Financial Management when "something clicked," changing his approach to his work. "At that time, I was head of worldwide quality for Schick, and it was after that program that we made value creation a central part of our global program," Chrostowski said. "It's become the primary educational tool here at the Milford plant, which I took over last summer."

Chrostowski now relates every operational task at the plant to Schick's overall value creation goals. "Everything, from why we selected one machine over another, is directly tied to value creation for our stakeholders. For instance, instead of just making a decision and not telling my employees why I made it, I now explain the longer-term value of a slightly older machine rather than a new one with a high depreciation rate. In doing so, I replace speculation with reflection. It's helped us clarify our business imperative."

Educational Value

He also recognized the value of thinking more broadly about his business. The same month he finished Creating Value Through Financial Management, he signed up for Global Market Management. He went on to complete a total of four programs in less than a year, earning a Wharton Certificate of Professional Development. A manufacturing executive with extensive engineering experience and a master's degree in systems management, the Wharton programs helped to "fill in the financial and marketing gaps" in his development, and the concentrated courses, offered in 3- or 5-day blocks, fit his schedule.

When he heard from classmates in Global Market Management about Wharton's Executive Negotiation Workshop: Bargaining for Advantage™, he decided to enroll, but he had to wait almost a year for the next opening. The wait was worth it. "We've been able to save millions of dollars just through better negotiated deals with our suppliers in a number of product areas," he said. Chrostowski was so impressed with the Executive Negotiation Workshop that he has since sent his purchasing manager. The practice negotiation sessions were especially powerful for him. "I got to experience what I am like to negotiate against. It wasn't just dry analysis. It raised my sensitivity and made me more aware of the other person's emotional state during a negotiation." He uses the framework for negotiations and an awareness that "one size does not fit all" in his daily interactions with employees, suppliers, or board members.

Part of why his education has created so much value, Chrostowski believes, is because he was dedicated to learning something new. "I spent my time at Wharton really absorbing the information and reflecting on it," he said. "I spent time with the professors and classmates after sessions."


For more information on our Certificate of Professional Development, visit our website.

    

This month's articles:

  • Thought Leaders: Insights from a survey of more than 350 companies on successful CRM practices.

  • In the Classroom I: Professor Robert Holthausen on mergers and acquisitions in a time of economic turmoil and corporate scandals.

  • In the Classroom II: Use "discovery-driven planning" to test your assumptions in building businesses.

  • Certificate of Professional Development: A focus on value creation changed the way Schick executive Andrew Chrostowski approached his work.

  • The Last Word: The right knowledge can add value all along your value chain.