| Dates | Location | Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010 | New York | $5,700 |
| Jun 13, 2010 - Jun 15, 2010 | Beijing | $9,500 |
Disruptive change and uncertainty are now the norm: conflict in the Middle East, the threat of global disease, the China boom, a unified yet fractured Europe, declining investor confidence, opportunities and political backlash of outsourcing, increasingly wider swings in global markets, information overdrive — the list grows daily. Yet past experience has not adequately prepared top executives for today's unprecedented and unrelenting pace of change. Organizations lack flexibility. Many are stuck.
For this reason, we created Wharton Fellows — a lifelong network of thought leaders, senior executives, Wharton faculty, and leading experts that provides continuous critical knowledge and unparalleled decision support to meet the business challenges of nonlinear, disruptive change. The program's unique format — short, global master classes and a continuously linked community of experts — helps senior leaders to constantly challenge their assumptions, develop and test new ideas, and stay ahead of the competition.
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2009 MASTER CLASSES: Risk and Opportunities in Evolving Markets
Master Classes offer an integrated set of sessions on the changing business environment. While Fellows can benefit from attending any of the Master Classes individually, the full set of classes provides a more complete set of tools and fresh perspectives to challenge your view of the world and your own business.
October 25–27, 2009 • Washington, DC
Opportunities in Times of Crisis: Understanding and Leveraging Government
Academic Director: Professor Jerry Wind
This Master Class will focus on the strategic choices made by U.S. government leaders; the implications of government's increasing role around the globe; and the need for business leaders in the U.S. and globally to better understand how government works. Through direct interaction with key government leaders, we will examine the opportunities that the new government role offers to businesses in regulation, in the execution of stimulus strategies, and in the pursuit of current priorities of health care, education, energy, environment, and infrastructure.
We will ask key questions regarding government's role, including:
- What is the "culture" of government and how are decisions made?
- What are the short- and medium-term implications of government ownership and stewardship of major banks and car companies?
- Where are the opportunities?
- What are the major concerns of the other Fellows and what are they doing about it?
To give you a better understanding of how things have changed and what you need to know, we will meet with major government agencies (Treasury and others), key congressional aides, think tanks, lobbyists, government contractors, and other key individuals in government, as well as share experiences from other Fellows who have worked closely with the government.
March 7–9, 2010 • New York, NY
Opportunities in Times of Crisis: Innovative Growth Strategies
Academic Director: Professor Jerry Wind
During this Master Class, we will look at organic and external growth strategies and opportunities that are clustered around certain industries and locations. With capital markets dried up, many companies must look internally for growth. The issue is not capital per se, but allocation of capital and rethinking how to deploy the resources at hand. The focus on organic and external growth is more critical than ever.
For a firsthand look at how to achieve internal and external growth when the rules of the game are changing, the Fellows class will visit companies that are executing on strategies that take advantage of this economy. We will also visit companies that are making significant changes to their business model, and those that are completely rethinking their business.
We expect you and other participants to share your lessons of exploring and going after growth opportunities. Those who joined us in Las Vegas and Dubai, in particular, will recall the forward-thinking insights we gained while even those deemed "expansive thinkers" in those markets found it exceedingly difficult to challenge their mental models. Their challenge was in foreseeing the sizeable and imminent challenges we identified in interacting with them. Together, we will explore and identify the "next new thing" that will force major segments of the global economy to adapt again to significant change.
June 13–15, 2010 • Beijing, China
Opportunities in Times of Crisis: Growth Opportunities in China and with Chinese Firms
Academic Director: Professor Jerry Wind
This Master Class will take place in Beijing with the option to include an extra day in a lesser known city. We will focus on the implications of China's push to grow internally, and the best ways to enter and grow in China (and other emerging markets). Many experts feel that China must grow between six percent and eight percent p.a. in order to avoid major unrest. With the export market shrinking, they must turn their focus to their internal markets and make investments to create sustainable growth.
Where are the opportunities? The Chinese are already making major investments in Africa and South America to secure raw materials. What implications will this have on future commodity prices and access to raw materials? How are other Fellows positioning themselves today in response to these developments?
To answer these questions and give you insight into this growing but difficult market we will visit multi-nationals with years of China experience, growing domestic companies and government agencies, and we will talk to other China experts. We will also look at the Chinese business culture and how best to build relationships. We will examine what to expect when participating in their domestic market or partnering with Chinese companies around the world.
Wharton Fellows Program Features
Wharton Fellows goes beyond traditional executive education. It is designed by and for senior leaders, offering:
- Immediacy: Ongoing real-time decision support on immediately critical issues.
- Relevancy: Sessions take place several times per year in geographic centers relevant to the critical issues at hand.
- Networking: Webinars, regional events, and an online community give continuous access to the global Fellows community.
- Access: Faculty and experts are drawn from the best of academia, business, and other relevant fields (technology, science, politics, the arts, etc).
- Intimacy: Each master class is limited to 50 participants to encourage interaction and dialogue.
- Efficiency: Each master class is compressed (typically two-days) for maximum knowledge gain in minimal time.
- Exclusivity: The program is limited to top executives and high potentials/change agents.
- Action: Master classes and the ongoing expert network are action oriented, helping you apply critical knowledge and test new concepts/ideas immediately.
VIRTUAL LECTURES
The Fellows annual membership fee entitles members to participate in virtual lectures throughout the year on a variety of topics. Undertaken in Wharton's Virtual Classroom, these lectures will focus on cutting-edge business issues that may not yet be affecting business today but will certainly have an impact in the future. The class environment, while virtual, is conducted live and in realtime, with a video broadcast and two-way audio participation with all participants. Attendance at lectures will be limited to encourage an active dialogue between faculty and participants, and among Fellows.
ONGOING EXPERT NETWORK
Upon admission, new Fellows immediately join an exclusive expert network that provides rich opportunities for ongoing, real-time, peer-to-peer interaction around your critical issues. Components of the network include:
- An exclusive ongoing community that extends knowledge sharing on critical topics as identified by Fellows and faculty, allowing for rapid topic selection and knowledge creation. Executives can attend and interact online and/or via phone from any location in the world.
- Regular updates from Wharton via Knowledge@Wharton (the School's acclaimed business knowledge source), the Fellows Forum monthly e-newsletter, and Fellows Field Reports that recap and summarize each master class in real time.
- Reverse mentoring with MBA students and entrepreneurs for a unique cross-generational exchange of new ways of thinking.
About Fellows
- Fellows status is obtained after admittance to the Fellows program.
- Fellows receive Wharton Alumni status after completing 36 full days of classes or 12 Master Classes.
- Annual dues of $1,200 is required to maintain membership in the Fellows program.
- Attending one Master Class is required every two years to maintain membership.
- A partners program is available for spouses at 75% of cost for full participation in Master Classes, or a flat fee of $2,500 to attend three sessions, dinners, and social events.
AUDIENCE
Admission is exclusive to Board of Directors, C-level executives, direct reports, presidents, and heads of business units with 15 to 25 years of experience. All candidates must submit an application for acceptance into the Fellows program prior to registering for any Master Classes.
FACULTY
JERRY WIND
Academic Director
The Lauder Professor, Professor of Marketing
The Wharton School
Yoram (Jerry) Wind joined the Wharton faculty in 1967, after receiving his doctorate from Stanford University. Since 1988, he has served as the founding director of the Wharton "think tank" — the SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management — and is currently leading the development of the X-Functional Integration initiatives of the School. He is also the founder and academic director of the Wharton Fellows program and the initiator and founding editor of Wharton School Publishing, the joint venture of Wharton and Pearson/Financial Times. Dr. Wind has consulted and conducted research for more than 100 companies. His most recent books, The Power of Impossible Thinking, with Colin Crook, Driving Change, with Jeremy Main, and Convergence Marketing, with Vijay Mahajan, have received wide acclaim.
Wharton Fellows draws on more than 50 additional faculty and experts who are closely matched to each master class theme.