PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 14, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Forty senior Scandinavian executives came to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania this week for insights on strategy innovation from a distinguished faculty of thought leaders and industry innovators.
This executive education program was developed by Wharton and Scandinavian-based Leadership in the Knowledge Society (LinKS), as part of a collaboration in executive education since 2002. This year's program, "Strategy Design -- Innovative Approaches to the Design of Strategy," launched in Copenhagen on September 24 with a one-day session and global outlook. The intensive session at Wharton began on November 11 in Philadelphia and concludes in New York on November 16, 2007.
The Wharton program includes insights on branding strategy from Larry Light, the former Global CMO of McDonald's who is credited with leading the turnaround of the fast-food giant from 2002 to 2005. Other program faculty include Jerry Wind, the Lauder Professor and Professor of Marketing at Wharton and co-author of Competing in a Flat World and The Power of Impossible Thinking; Lars Kolind, chairman of LinKS and author of The Second Cycle; Paul Schoemaker, a leader in scenario planning and co-author of Winning Decisions and Peripheral Vision; Michael Useem, Wharton's William and Jacalyn Egan Professor and Professor of Management and author of Leading Up and The Go Point; Russell Ackoff, a pioneer of systems thinking; and Karl Ulrich, entrepreneur and innovator who founded TerraPass Inc., to fund clean energy projects.
At the September executive education program in Denmark, exploring "sensemaking," Robyn Meredith, senior editor of Forbes Asia, discussed sections from her book on China and India, The Elephant and the Dragon. In addition to classroom interactions, the U.S. program will feature site visits to innovative companies, including investment firm SEI outside of Philadelphia, and Samsung in New York.
"This program is not about innovation strategy, but about innovating strategy," said Mette Laursen, founder and CEO of LinKS. "In LinKS, we work with the best in the world. We chose the Wharton School because of the strong emphasis on innovation and the context of decision making."
"The program attracts very senior executives from Scandinavian firms," said Jerry Wind, Wharton marketing professor and academic director for the LinKS executive education program. "The participants provide us with information on the challenges facing them and their needs in innovation so that we can customize the program to meet their needs. The goal is to encourage them to challenge their current mental models and provide them with a tool kit of theories, concepts, and methods that they can customize and use in their businesses. We also work on enhancing their ability to work in teams and as a network. Then, they develop specific action plans that they can further explore and implement when they return to their companies."
Light will discuss branding strategy during the program, based on his experiences engineering and leading turnarounds at companies such as IBM, Nissan, and McDonald's. "Focus and alignment are critical factors in brand success, whether it is a turnaround or not," he said. "You need to define the focus and get the organization aligned around delivering on that focus."
The program itself is innovative in its design, with a combination of classroom work and site visits. One of the unique features of this executive education program is the development of a database to hold the stories of participants before, during, and after the program. This exploration of participant stories allows faculty to tailor content to the needs of participants and also offers a creative tool for reflecting on learning.
"Narrative, and more specifically fragmented narrative, is a critical aspect of what we are," said David Snowden, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd, who led the development of the database. "We filter the world through our own stories, and those of our families, peer groups, and societies. To understand a culture, or how to operate within it, stories are key."
Executive Education at the Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania -- founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school -- is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. Executive education at Wharton brings together over 10,000 executives each year from all corners of the globe in a partnership of learning. The best and the brightest business minds today tackle real-world issues in a highly collaborative environment.
Informed by in-depth, groundbreaking academic research and extensive industry experience, Wharton programs can span anywhere from a few days to a year or more. Each executive education program offers a supportive and challenging context where participants gain the skills necessary for their next level of executive development. Participants who come to Wharton from a diverse range of industries engage with faculty who are the most cited, most published faculty of all top-tier business schools. With a profound influence upon global business, Wharton faculty are the sought-after, trusted advisors of corporations and governments worldwide.
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About LinKS
LinKS -- Leadership in the Knowledge Society (www.linkslabs.com) -- was founded in 1999 as a result of a need in the public and private sector to understand the changes wrought by the arrival of the knowledge society. LinKS is a company, a top executive program, and a community of learning, consisting of more than 500 top executive members, primarily from Scandinavia. The community meets regularly at LinKS events and executive programs to generate strategic advice on business development using innovative methods, from top advisors inside LinKS and the LinKS alumni group.