PHILADELPHIA, March 3, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has launched a new executive education program designed to help companies battered by the global recession to build resilience -- the mental toughness necessary to survive and thrive in the current economic downturn. With market uncertainty paralyzing many organizations, Leading a Resilient Organization: Achieving Results During Challenging Times is designed to help executives overcome the paralysis by increasing employee engagement, energizing the workforce, and building high-performance capabilities.
"When you've got revenue off by 25 percent or more and you've already gone through a few downsizings, how do you manage the crisis and build organizational resilience at the same time? That's the kind of question facing all too many firms in this climate," says Joseph Ryan, Wharton adjunct professor of marketing and the program's academic director.
The new Wharton program draws upon the expertise of Ram Charan, author of Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty, Jim Loehr, coauthor of the national bestseller The Power of Full Engagement, and Karlin Sloan, author of Smarter, Faster, Better: Strategies for Effective, Enduring, and Fulfilled Leadership. Participants in the program will have the opportunity to work on their own business challenges with these leadership experts in an application-focused, hands-on workshop format.
"Most companies right now are beaten, but not broken," Ryan says. "We've designed a curriculum that shows them how to recover from economic blows and emerge stronger, tougher, and more resilient." The program provides the context for learning how to reenergize an organization after major setbacks, maintain productivity and engagement during a crisis, retain top performers during volatile times, improve resourcefulness and vitality throughout periods of prolonged stress, and develop a more powerful, positive leadership vision that is grounded in today's economic realities.
The new Wharton program, slated for November 2-6, 2009, also outlines what companies need to survive and succeed today. "Many companies right now are tightly focused on managing the crisis and their cash, but are less effective at restructuring after layoffs and other cutbacks," Ryan says. Workers who survive job cuts are often assigned greater responsibilities, increased workloads, and longer hours, and have no increase in pay. The program provides direction for helping the company culture adapt to change while keeping staff committed and aligned with strategy.
In addition to working with renowned leadership experts on current challenges, participants in the program will create an individual 100-day leadership action plan. They can also opt for follow-up virtual sessions and group coaching from faculty and guest experts over the next six months.
"Leaders who understand how to generate energy, productivity, and commitment are in great demand today -- and this kind of leadership can be learned," says Deb Giffen, director of the Wharton program. The program offers practical tools and shows leaders how to design action plans for integrating the resilience practices into their lives and their organizations. "We don't stop there," Giffen adds. "We know that resilience is not an event; it's a process. So we stay with our participants for another six months as their implementation partner -- answering questions and providing guidance as they put their ideas into practice. Wharton is committed to their results."
Executive Education at the Wharton School
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. The School has more than 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 12,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of more than 84,000 graduates.
Informed by in-depth, groundbreaking academic research and extensive industry experience,Wharton Executive Education programs can span anywhere from a few days to six weeks or longer. 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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