“I think you get immediate payoff both in terms of morale and in terms of what the student is able to do. It's a great benefit to the company for the student to be going into the academic environment and bringing the best ideas back to the workplace.”
Lynda Wallace, WG'95
Johnson & Johnson
Sponsoring an employee to Wharton's MBA is a mutual investment says Lynda Wallace, WG'95, worldwide vice president of Johnson & Johnson's Family Health Care Franchise and lead sponsor of Wharton MBA student Susan Tang, WG'07. "Nobody works harder than someone who's both working and studying full time," she adds.
As a 1995 graduate of Wharton's MBA for Executives, Wallace understands both sides of the value equation. "I think you get immediate payoff both in terms of morale and in terms of what the student is able to do," says Wallace. "It's a great benefit to the company for the student to be going into the academic environment and bringing the best ideas back to the workplace."
"As an example," Wallace recalls, "Susan's thinking has become very oriented toward value creation, which is immensely useful to us. When you're running a business every day, you can sometimes forget to think in those terms."
Catherine Murphy, worldwide group product director for Johnson & Johnson's Family Health Care Franchise, who is Tang's secondary sponsor, adds, "I've already seen a shift in Susan's role. I see her experience and confidence in areas that touch marketing just exploding."
Tang reaffirms that the MBA program has changed the way she works -- helping her to see beyond her marketing role. "Now, when I'm looking at an income statement and the financial team is talking about gross profit margins, I understand where they're coming from. I understand their thinking, the methodologies they use, and I'm able to ask better questions."
"If you have someone who's smart enough and ambitious enough to get into a program like Wharton, then you need to find a way to make it work," Wallace sums up. "And then, when it's all over, you need to recognize that the employee has changed, and you need to be ready to meet that person where she or he now is."
Lynda Wallace, WG’95
Worldwide Vice President, Worldwide Wound Care Franchise
Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Company
Skillman, NJ
Catherine Murphy
Worldwide Group Product Director, Worldwide Wound Care Franchise
Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Company
Skillman, NJ
Susan Tang, WG’07
Worldwide Product Director, Worldwide Wound Care Franchise
Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Company
Skillman, NJ