American Bankers Association Program

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Program Experience

Highlights and Key Outcomes

In the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking Program, you will:

Develop strategies to be proactive in today’s competitive marketplace and gain a more integrated view of leadership
Sharpen your interpersonal and management skills, and hone your acumen in all areas of banking and financial management
Discover best practices for facing today’s industry realities, while preserving the integrity of how the business of banking is conducted in the future
Identify ways to shape, implement, and manage high-level initiatives and change management
Consider the latest emerging issues and regulations faced by the industry and how they affect your institution.

Experience & Impact

In today’s global banking environment, you need multiple management skills and a disciplined focus on strategy. The ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking Program is designed to develop the necessary leadership and strategy experience to allow you to effectively recognize and handle high-level management issues confronting the financial services sector.

Peter Cappelli, the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking Program's Academic Director is joined by faculty from multiple Wharton disciplines. They apply their field-based research and latest strategic insights, including new research topics such as negotiation and trust, persuasive impact, collaboration, and linking career objectives with personal values.

In addition to the leadership dimension interwoven throughout the program, the curriculum in partnership with Stonier’s expert faculty includes areas such as risk, cyber security, shadow banking, technology, high performance banking, diversity, financial management, talent management, marketing strategy, and competitiveness. Extension work and projects round out the curriculum, continue your development between the yearly onsite session, and help you to apply principles for your organization. Emphasizing the importance of strategic leadership, this program is one of the world’s most comprehensive and has a quality history for developing banking leaders. In sum, the program equips current and emerging financial service leaders with a rich mix of leadership, critical-thinking, and industry-specific business acumen skills.

Through highly interactive lectures, exercises, and case studies, both in the classroom and in smaller work groups, the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking Program will expose you to the latest thinking in leadership and the full spectrum of banking, competitive, and risk issues. In addition to the core curriculum, you can choose up to four elective courses a year, between year two and year three, which allows you to create an individualized course of study.

Capstone Strategic Project

A highlight of the program is the high-impact Capstone Strategic Project between the second and third year. This project provides a unique opportunity to address a major initiative within your own organization. This will further the learning experience gained from your prior years, into a culminating project that you present to your professional peers during your final year onsite.

Due to our application review period, applications submitted after 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday for programs beginning the following Monday may not be processed in time to grant admission. Applicants will be contacted by a member of our Client Relations Team to discuss options for future programs and dates.

Who Should Attend

ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking Program is designed for rising stars within a bank, holding company, or financial services organization. The program also attracts managerial personnel at a federal or state agency and senior managers at a firm that provides services to banks. Participants ideally have five years of financial services experience, and have acquired knowledge in at least three of the following areas: financial statement analysis, bank operations, credit administration, accounting, and economics.

You graduate with a Stonier Diploma and a Wharton Leadership Certificate and return to your institution with an enhanced ability to lead, motivate, and mentor others, as well as being a more strategic leader to your organization.

Fluency in English, written and spoken, is required for participation in Wharton Executive Education programs unless otherwise indicated.

Plan Your Stay

This program is held at the Steinberg Conference Center located on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia. Meals and accommodations are included in the program fees. Learn more about planning your stay at Wharton’s Philadelphia campus.

Faculty

Peter Cappelli, DPhilSee Faculty Bio

Academic Director

George W. Taylor Professor of Management; Director, Center for Human Resources, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Human-resource practices, public policy related to employment, talent and performance management

Stew Friedman, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Practice Professor of Management; Director, Wharton Work/Life Integration Project, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Work/life integration, leadership development, dynamics of change

Maurice Schweitzer, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Cecilia Yen Koo Professor; Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions; Professor of Management, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Decision making, deception and trust, negotiations

G. Richard Shell, JDSee Faculty Bio

Thomas Gerrity Professor; Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics; Professor of Management, The Wharton School

Testimonials

I began the program in 2010 when I was Allied Securities’ chief strategy officer and continued the program after joining BrightScope. My role in both companies involves understanding the major trends shaping the industry, and working with the wealth management firms to see how these trends impact their business. The program has enabled me to improve our business model and innovate new products and services by helping me understand the macro trends and impact on the finance industry’s value chain.

The relationships I developed with like-minded leaders have broadened my network. One course I took twice was on executive influencing. You do things to influence others instinctively but a program like this allows you to put those concepts into a framework and a discipline. Influencing skills are important when you are driving innovation and change. I absolutely will apply what I learned at Wharton in my workplace."

Sonia Ahuja Head, Business Development and Strategy, BrightScope, a privately held business intelligence firm in San Diego

ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking Program

Program Overview

Date, Location, & Fees