Wharton 125 Events

Worldwide Faculty Tours Continue
Alumni around the world continue to celebrate the School's 125th anniversary with receptions and faculty talks. Last month, Professor Marshall Meyer spoke with alumni in Beijing on "China Bound: Notes on China's Second Economic Transition," and Professor Richard Herring met with alumni in London and Zurich. visit website

2007 Wharton Economic Summit to be held April 12-13
The next Wharton Economic Summit will be held April 12-13, 2007 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, where world leaders in business, academia, and government will discuss key economic issues and challenges. Expanding on the 2006 sold-out event in New York, the 2007 Wharton Economic Summit will bring together experts on more than 30 panels, with topics such as executive compensation, global outsourcing, international human rights, hedge funds, and leadership in sports and media ventures. read more about the 2007 Wharton Economic Summit

For more 125th events and information, visit the Wharton 125 website.

School News

New Lauder Program Combines Law Degree with Masters in International Studies
Wharton's Lauder Institute and Penn's Law School announced a new three-year, joint JD/MA in International Studies. This unique program combines a Penn Law degree with the intensive language and cultural training of the Lauder Institute's Master's degree in International Studies - all in three years. read news release

Alumnus Harold McGraw III Speaks on Post-Election Path for U.S.
Alumnus Harold McGraw III, WG'76, chairman of the Business Roundtable and chairman, president and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies, recently gave a Leadership Lecture at Wharton outlining the post-election path forward for the U.S. His Nov. 9 remarks, "The Real World is Neither Red Nor Blue," focused on the challenges facing America's workers and businesses and the need for business leaders and the new Congress to work together to enact policies promoting U.S. economic growth at home and competitiveness worldwide.

Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program Celebrates Milestone
The Wharton Entrepreneur-in-Residence program is celebrating its 100th entrepreneur since the program's founding in 2001, with a visit from Ken Thompson, WG'89, vice chairman of Newview Technologies. The Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, created and managed by Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs, offers all Penn students the chance for one-on-one meetings with highly accomplished entrepreneurs. Over the years, the program has brought to campus the founders of such companies as Boston Scientific (Peter Nicholas, WG'68), Site59/Travelocity (Michelle Peluso, W'93), and AND1 (Seth Berger, W'89, WG'93). Each week, during 30-minute sessions, a different entrepreneur is available for students to discuss ideas, opinions, and strategies for potential or actual business ventures. Many of the visiting EIRs are Wharton or Penn grads. visit the Entrepreneur-in-Residence website

Recognition

Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Awards 2006 for North America and Latin America Announced
The winners of the 2006 Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Awards (WIBTA) for North America and Latin America were recently announced. Now entering their fifth year, the awards recognize visionaries and organizations around the world that use technology in an innovative and creative manner to revolutionize their businesses and society as a whole. The winners included Southwest Airlines, Dr. Leroy Hood, FUNDESUMA, and Enrique Gómez Junco B. read release

MBA Team Wins National Real Estate Challenge
A Wharton MBA team recently won the 5th Annual National Real Estate Challenge. The challenge has become the preeminent real estate investment case competition in the country. The Wharton team was led by Jed Brawley, WG'07, and Joe Spector, WG'07, with three second-year students, Chris Bennett, Laura Campbell and Ian Cohen, as well as first-year student Josh Morris. read article

Winners of India Version of Wharton Business Plan Competition Announced
At the India Knowledge@Wharton launch event last month, the winners of the first-ever India version of the Wharton Business Plan Competition were announced. The grand prize-winning team was ERP Construction, which proposes to offer enterprise software for the construction industry. Other finalists recognized at the award ceremony included second prize winner TRI-The Robotics Institute, third prize winner DuraFibre, and runners-up Nav-Nari and BioDiesel. Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs helped each team hone its entries by providing mentoring from seasoned entrepreneurs and business managers. read news release

Wharton Team Wins Fortune Small Business Plan Competition
MuscleMorph, the grand prize-winning team of last year's Wharton Business Plan Competition, recently won the Fortune Small Business Plan Competition. The Wharton team members included: Rodrigo Alvarez, a Penn Engineering alumnus; Howard Katzenberg, WG'06; Rahul Kothari, WG'06; and Kevin Galloway, a University of Pennsylvania PhD candidate in Engineering. read more

BusinessWeek Names VIP Student Among "Best Entrepreneurs Under 25"
Adnan Aziz, a Penn alumnus and former member of Wharton Entrepreneurial Program's Venture Initiation Program (VIP), was chosen as one of the "Best Entrepreneurs Under 25" for the early success of his firm, FirstFlavor (www.firstflavor.com), a marketing company whose dissolving edible film allows shoppers to taste products before purchasing. On his management team are Wharton alumni Josh Kopelman, W'93, and Jay Minkoff, WG'83. VIP is an educational program offering Penn students professional guidance to take a business concept from idea to implementation within a supportive entrepreneurial community. read more about the Venture Initiation Program

Knowledge@Wharton

More than Job Demands or Personality, Lack of Organizational Respect Fuels Employee Burnout
When Lakshmi Ramarajan worked for a non-profit organization several years ago, she noticed a high turnover rate among the employees. It wasn't because of the work itself, but because of the organization's management. read more

Product Placement in the Pews? Microtargeting Meets Megachurches
Haven't been to church recently? You might have missed something. Church pastors last year had a chance to win a free trip to London and $1,000 cash -- if they mentioned Disney's film "The Chronicles of Narnia" in their sermons. read more

Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD: Knocking Each Other Out?
High definition televisions are expected to be hot sellers this holiday season, but consumers are likely to have a tough time sorting out the newest generation video discs and the players that go with them. The culprit: Two competing high definition DVD formats and no sign of a clear winner. read more

Wharton School Publishing

More Than a Million Invited to Write and Edit First Collaborative Book on Management Best Practices
Taking a page from Wikipedia®, publishing giant Pearson, under its Wharton School Publishing imprint, has embarked on a new book publishing project that could involve tens of thousands of authors and editors. Starting last month, more than a million business professionals and scholars -- including faculty, students, alumni, and newsletter recipients from Wharton and MIT's Sloan School of Management -- started receiving messages inviting them to collectively write and edit the book, tentatively titled We Are Smarter Than Me (www.wearesmarter.org). The book's content will examine how Web 2.0 technologies such as social networks, wikis, and blogs can benefit the business enterprise. read news release

Wharton faculty and staff can take advantage of expanded benefits, including discounts and free domestic shipping. Those who register to become a member can get free access to audio summaries, author interviews and other valuable member only content. Visit www.whartonsp.com/facstaff to register and access benefits. All WSP books also are available at the Penn Bookstore.

For more, visit the Wharton School Publishing website.

Wharton in the News

CNBC (Power Lunch)
October 5, 2006 — Susan Wachter, Richard B. Worley Professor of Financial Management; Professor of Real Estate, was interviewed about the housing market.

The New York Times
October 8, 2006 — A study about stock prices and mutual fund returns by Marshall Blume, Howard Butcher III Professor of Financial Management; Professor of Finance, and Donald Keim, John B. Neff Professor of Finance, was featured.

Financial Times
October 13, 2006 — Daniel Raff, Associate Professor of Management, co-authored an article about the problems inherent in transactions and the responses that are needed to improve their chances of success.

The Economist
October 14, 2006 — Research by Raffi Amit, Robert B. Goergen Professor of Entrepreneurship; Professor of Management, was cited in an article about Sweden's enduring business dynasty, the Wallenbergs.

The Wall Street Journal
October 21, 2006 — Kent Smetters, Associate Professor of Insurance and Risk Management, authored an article about the impact that Ticketmaster's expansion into the resale market would have on consumers.

National Public Radio
October 30, 2006 — Sarah Kaplan, Assistant Professor of Management, was interviewed about Google's future.

Alumni in the News

Connie Duckworth, WG'79, was interviewed about the founding of Arzu, a nonprofit that employs Afghan women as carpet weavers and provides education and health care for their families. (New York Times, 10/1/06); Martin Fleischmann, WG'94, founder of MostChoice.com, which offers consumers rate quotes and other information on insurance mortgages, was interviewed about the challenges facing online advertising. (BusinessWeek, 10/2/06); Alison Wheaton, WG'91, director of property and information technology for Mitchells & Butlers, was featured in an article about the European Professional Women's Network. Wheaton also participates in the FTSE 100 Cross-Company Mentoring Program for women professionals. (Financial Times, 10/7/06); Rahul Kothari, WG'06, and Howard Katzenberg, WG'06, were featured in an article about prosthetics technology. They developed MuscleMorph, which builds strategic methods to innovate the functions of artificial limbs, and were members of the winning team in last year's Wharton Business Plan Competition. (The Globe and Mail, 10/10/06); and John Ying, WG'89, director of Tai Ping Carpets International Ltd., was featured in an article about globalization models and marketing plans in the Hong Kong carpet industry. (The Wall Street Journal, 10/30/06).

2007 Wharton Economic Summit
April 12-13, 2007