Wharton@Work June 2009

Wharton Faculty Research

Wharton Behavioral Lab: Research Partnership with Industry Executives

Wharton Behavioral Lab

When executives and business analysts — including Wharton faculty — need timely information about best practices and hot topics in business, they find themselves staring into a void. "What we have now are surveys undertaken by professional organizations and academic research, both of which take years to publish," says Wes Hutchinson, Wharton marketing professor and director of the Wharton Behavioral Lab. "At the other end is the popular press, which provides current yet anecdotal information. APEX (Advisory Panel of Executives) was established to fill the unmet knowledge gap that lies between those extremes." APEX is the first program of its kind, creating a dialogue between panel members, Wharton faculty, and the larger business community.

An Invitation to Executive Education Participants

We want a true finger on the pulse of global business.

–Wes Hutchinson, Stephen J. Heyman Professor; Professor of Marketing; and Director, Wharton Behavioral Lab

Past and present participants of Wharton Executive Education programs now have a unique opportunity to get involved in this groundbreaking, highly selective panel. APEX will create an ongoing dialogue between contributing participants and Wharton faculty doing research on a range of topics. Every few weeks, a new survey will be posted on the APEX website, which APEX panel members are invited to complete. Current areas of interest include: the ongoing economic crisis, innovation and product development, marketing metrics, risk analysis, time management, sales force management, and advertising.

In describing the selection criteria, Hutchinson says that the top priority is ensuring that APEX survey results are as accurate and unbiased as possible. "We want a true finger on the pulse of global business." He feels that a scientifically random sample of executives is simply not feasible, but believes that the panel can be representative of the global business community. "We will carefully select members according to their industry, company size, position, and other organizational and individual factors," he says. A panel member who describes current practices in his or her company or expresses a personal opinion, will also be speaking for similar businesses and executives. "Obviously, it's important to have panel members who are knowledgeable about their company and industry and are thoughtful in their survey responses. Thus, as the panel increases, we will monitor the demographics and invite new members to maintain the representativeness of the sample. We will also verify the demographics and implement standard methods of quality control."

Hutchinson emphasizes that only aggregate demographics of the survey group will be made public. "Executive and organization names will remain private, and the list will not be available to outside interests." Within a few weeks following each survey, results will be summarized by Wharton faculty and made available to panel members online (e.g., on web pages, PDF download, pod casts, etc.) in advance of their being reported in academic journals or business media.

Benefits to APEX Panel Members

In addition to having exclusive access to faculty-generated information, APEX members will be eligible for incentives. For every survey completed, points will be accumulated, with more points awarded for longer surveys. Accumulated points can be applied towards the cost of Executive Education Programs, entry into a quarterly drawing for a complimentary Executive Education program, or for popular titles from Wharton School Publishing.

Eligible Executive Education Programs include:

For a full program list, visit our website.

Membership in APEX is flexible; executives can participate in as many or as few surveys as they choose, and they can withdraw from the panel at any time. Interested business leaders can check http://apex.wharton.upenn.edu/wharton@work for more information.

Wharton Faculty include:

  • Wes Hutchinson, Stephen J. Heyman Professor; Professor of Marketing; Director, Wharton Behavioral Lab
  • Leonard M. Lodish, Samuel R. Harrell Professor; Professor of Marketing; Vice Dean, Program for Social Impact; Leader and Co-founder, Global Consulting Practicum
  • Jagmohan Raju, Joseph J. Aresty Professor; Professor of Marketing; Chairperson, Marketing Department
  • George Day, Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor; Professor of Marketing; Co-Director, Mack Center for Technological Innovation; Director, Emerging Technologies Management Research Program
  • David J. Reibstein, William Stewart Woodside Professor; Professor of Marketing
  • Patti Williams, Associate Professor of Marketing
  • Jerry Wind, The Lauder Professor; Professor of Marketing; Director, SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management; Academic Director, the Wharton Fellows Program
  • John Zhang, Murrel J. Ades Professor; Professor of Marketing
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