Some people say that business rules the world. So Penn is making sure its Wharton School has a prominent role in shaping the ever-expanding business world. Wharton Dean Patrick Harker, celebrated his one-year anniversary -- albeit without a party -- as official dean last Thursday. And during his one-year tenure as dean, Harker has been working to make sure that the Wharton name is emblazoned upon the business world. "There are two converging forces," Harker said of Wharton's recent expansion initiatives. "One is the globalism and the other is the technology." Harker has embarked on the expansion of the Wharton name, most notably in the creation of Wharton West, a satellite campus that will open in San Francisco this fall. And under Harker's tenure, the Wharton School has also been lending a hand to business schools outside U.S. borders, serving advisory roles to Singapore Management University and the soon-to-open Indian School of Business. While several Wharton faculty members have signed up to be visiting faculty members at ISB when it opens this summer, Wharton's role in these universities has largely been to help develop their curriculums. Wharton West, on the other hand, will be Wharton's physical presence on the West coast, located on two floors of an office building in the heart of San Francisco. When it opens, the program will first house the Executive MBA program, with opportunities eventually planned for full-time MBA and undergraduate students.
Executing Penn's plans
Harker's time in office thus far has focused on planning for the future, and the coming years will be center around the execution of those ideas. "Next year is really making sure we execute," Harker said. "New ideas are worth nothing if you don't execute flawlessly." Some believe that because of Harker's Penn background, he will easily implement his plans. Rather than start from the beginning, Harker "became a Dean with connections with the faculty so that he could hit the ground running, rather than having to take time to adjust," Deputy Wharton Dean David Schmittlein said. And Harker added that as Penn implements the programs already in place, the Wharton School has a few more tricks up its sleeve. "We'll be announcing a few other new programs and initiatives," Harker hinted, but declined to comment further.
Why go international?
In the business world, survival is dependent on expansion. Business schools are no exception. Wharton decided to open in San Francisco because of market forces, according to Bob Mittelstaedt, Vice Dean of Executive Education at Wharton. For example, 20 percent of last year's MBA graduating class wound up in San Francisco. Faculty also look forward to researching in the Bay Area. "The biggest country we don't serve is California," Mittelstaedt joked. "If California were a separate country, it would have the sixth largest economy in the world," Mittelstaedt said. "It's just too important to ignore." Mittelstaedt also predicted that there will be executives coming from Asia and Latin America to attend the WEMBA program every other weekend. Faculty members also are looking forward getting involved. "In order to be a global thought leader in entrepreneurship and e-business, we have to be physically out there," said Management Professor Raffi Amit, who plans to teach two classes in California. Amit is the co-director of Wharton's e-Business Initiative. Other professors are interested in the resources that having a physical presence on the West Coast will provide. "As an intellectual hub, Wharton West will allow for Wharton to have a West Coast presence to house other programs," Marketing Professor Jerry Wind said. Wind is the director of the Fellows in e-Business program, which helps executives prepare for the global e-business environment. Wind's program will use Wharton West's facilities.
Coming back to Penn
But despite the move into California and Wharton's increasingly international name, Harker stressed that eventually everything will come back and benefit Wharton's Philadelphia locale. "We need to be able to provide the opportunity for students... to learn anything they want," Harker said. "That means if we don't teach it, we need to either reach out to get that information or partner with people to give access," he added. Because of the advent of technology in business and the development of the global economy, Wharton is looking for ways to add value to the learning setting. "We recognize that sometimes the most important way to allow students to learn is through situational settings," Schmittlein said. When Wharton West formally opens, the first program will be the WEMBA program for executives, with the hopes of eventually opening it to other students. While students are interested in the possibilities created by Wharton West, some understand its focus on executives. "I don't blame Wharton for the focus on executives," said a Wharton freshman who wished to remain anonymous. "Eventually I think that all students will have these opportunities." "Wharton has to first focus on the things that bring money and prestige. That's the way business is," the student said.
A national trend
For now, though, it looks like Penn is going it alone in setting up satellite campuses like Wharton West. Though most business schools have global programs, whether satellite campuses will catch on nationally is still unclear. "We can't tell for sure, but this could well be a trend for business schools," Amit said. The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business recently became the first business school to have campuses on three continents with the opening of its Singapore campus. It already has a campus in Barcelona, Spain. However, the majority of business schools do not, so far, have physical presences outside their home campus. "Dartmouth has advisory roles with the Hanoi School of Business and the International University of Japan, and has a research center in California," said Kim Keating, director of communications for Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. "However, we do not have a physical campus elsewhere," she added.
