Focus on: Rethinking the Organization

Outsourcing. Supply chain redesign. Mergers and acquisitions. The modern organization is being rethought and reconfigured, taken apart, and put together like Lego building blocks. What are the implications of these changes? How can managers think creatively about the opportunities? How can they make these new organizational designs work? In this issue, we examine insights on the intersection between outsourcing and supply chain design, strategies for successful mergers and acquisitions, and the changing role of the CFO. We also look at a new book that compares winning and losing companies to understand what strategies lead to consistently high performance and a series of upcoming programs that can help you change your own thinking to change your organization.

The world — and our organizations — are changing rapidly. Do you have the knowledge you need to keep up?

Sincerely,

Michael McTigue
Director, Marketing Communications

"From now on, we're not a family. We're a coalition"

© The New Yorker Collection 2001 Peter Steiner from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved.

Thought Leaders I
Seeing the Big Picture: Linking Supply Chain Management and BPO

Supply chain revolutions and business process outsourcing are two of the biggest changes in modern organizational strategy, design, and operations. But they are often treated separately. A new Wharton program brings together experts in both areas to look at the big picture of strategies for delivering both products and services. More

In The Classroom
Strategies for Making M&A Work

M&A deals are surging, but most are not successful. In a recent session of Wharton's Mergers and Acquisitions program, Wharton Professor Harbir Singh examined strategies for increasing the chances of success. More

Thought Leaders II
CFOs at Work: Viewing Business Strategies Through a Finance Lens

Finance executives play an increasing role in determining the larger strategy for their companies, weighing in on questions about risk management, growth opportunities, business process outsourcing, IT strategy, and marketing returns. At the same time, they continue to face mounting pressure from new regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, to maintain a tight grip on controls. In a special report by Knowledge@Wharton, Wharton faculty discuss the role finance can — and should — play in guiding key decisions in companies, and they address the changing role of the CFO in light of the need to balance intense reporting requirements with strategic objectives. More

Wharton School Publishing
Achieving Consistently Superior Performance: Lessons From the Top 3 Percent

Management consultant Alfred Marcus looked at the top 1,000 largest U.S. companies that have outperformed their industries for more than a full decade and the companies that consistently underperformed. His new book, Big Winners and Big Losers, examines what separates the big winners from the big losers. More

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Of Special Interest  

• 10th Annual Wharton Leadership Conference
  The theme of this year's conference on June 13, 2006, is "Leading With Resilience: Coming Back From Challenge and Adversity." From filmmaker David Breashears to cardiologist Roberto Canessa (whose story of his plane crash in the Andes is told in the book and film Alive) to management scholar Jim Collins to former Schwab CEO David Pottruck to Wharton's Mike Useem, the conference will offer perspectives on meeting leadership challenges and overcoming them.
  
  
• Wharton Reunion
  Wharton's reunion weekend, May 11–14, features a wide range of programs by Wharton faculty and other presenters on diverse topics. There will also be some special executive education activities that will be announced shortly.
  
  
• 125 Years of Defining Management Education
  In 1881, American entrepreneur and industrialist Joseph Wharton had the most radical idea in the history of business: the establishment of the world's first collegiate school of business at the University of Pennsylvania. This year, the Wharton School celebrates 125 years of innovation and leadership, with several major events.
  
  
• Help Spread Knowledge
  We're also happy to add interested parties to our e-mail distribution. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to a colleague or friend — or better yet, have them contact us, and we'll add them to our list for future mailings.
  
  
• Wharton MBA Program for Executives
  High standards, top faculty, rigorous curriculum
  
  
• Recruiting at Wharton
  Discover ways your company can recruit Wharton MBAs.
  
  
• Wharton Partnership: Creating Opportunities Through Alliances
  Learn how corporations can become involved with Wharton.
  
  
• Executive Master's in Technology Management (EMTM), jointly sponsored by Wharton and Penn Engineering, is for experienced technology professionals who want to develop their management skills.
  
  
• Download the pdf of our new catalog (59 pages, 2.7 MB). If you would like to receive a catalog in the mail, send us an e-mail.
  
  
  

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As the BPO Business Grows, There's a Greater Focus on Metrics and Measurement

Move Over, India: The Shifting Geography of Offshore Outsourcing Creates New Challengers

Why Do So Many Mergers Fail?

R&D in India: The Curtain Rises, The Play Has Begun...

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