Pearson Education and the Wharton School have announced the launch of Wharton School Publishing, an innovative new player in global business publishing. Wharton School Publishing will provide practical knowledge that can be applied by business leaders to make real changes in their professional lives.

Wharton School Publishing will publish a select group of the world’s foremost business thinkers in print, audio, and interactive formats. All titles will receive the Wharton seal of approval, ensuring that each is timely, important, conceptually sound, empirically based and implementable. They will include books, audio books, e-documents, CD-ROMs, and videos. Wharton School Publishing’s editorial focus on applicable knowledge, along with multimedia publishing, will enable readers to gain new insights into the issues shaping the future of business, and plan and take action to achieve their goals.

Pearson Education is part of Pearson (NYSE: PSO), the international media company with market-leading businesses in education, business information and consumer publishing. Through Pearson’s extensive distribution channels, Wharton School Publishing aims to become the world’s leading imprint for applied business knowledge, publishing in multiple languages and reaching all corners of the world.

Wharton School Publishing represents distinguished authors from the world’s leading business schools and corporations, including CK Prahalad, co-author of the breakthrough bestseller, Competing For the Future; management guru Kenichi Ohmae; former Citigroup Chief Technical Officer Colin Crook; leading members of the Wharton School faculty, such as Marketing Professor Jerry Wind; and other academics.

The imprint’s first two titles are Wind and Crook’s The Power of Impossible Thinking: How to Transform the Business of Your Life and the Life of Your Business, and Prahalad’s The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits. Other forthcoming titles include Will Your Next Mistake Be Fatal? Avoiding the Mistake Chain That Can Destroy Your Organization; The Enthusiastic Employee: What Workers Want, And Why Employers Should Give It To Them; and Conflict and Consensus: Why Great Leaders Don’t Take Yes For An Answer.

Ahead of the imprint’s first release in July 2004, Wharton School Publishing is showcasing book content and other materials free of charge at <www.whartonsp.com>. Visitors will be able to read and download book excerpts from March 1 through the imprint’s official launch in summer 2004. New texts will appear on a regular basis each month.

Marjorie Scardino, Chief Executive of Pearson, said, “The world’s best companies and business people keep investing in learning throughout their lives. Our partnership with Wharton will turn the latest academic ideas into practical learning that business people can apply to make their companies more valuable.”

“Wharton School Publishing is really an extension of the School’s long-standing commitment to excellence in business education, thought leadership, and to the creation and dissemination of knowledge,” said Dean Patrick Harker. “This initiative also reinforces our belief that people learn in multiple ways – whether it be books, audio or interactive tools. Wharton School Publishing’s variety of offerings will meet those needs, and, perhaps most important, will come with the Wharton seal of approval.”

Fifteen leading Wharton faculty members sit on the Wharton School Publishing editorial board. The board’s responsibilities include identifying topics for books and ensuring the consistent quality of the imprint’s portfolio. Wharton School Publishing’s co-editors are Wharton Marketing Professor Jerry Wind and Pearson Education’s Tim Moore.

(For more information, please read our interview with Wharton School Publishing co-editor Jerry Wind on page 20.)

Wharton Renews Alliance with INSEAD

Dean Patrick Harker and INSEAD Dean Gabriel Hawawini announced the renewal of the alliance between the schools for three more years. The initial success of the partnership prompted its renewal.

The mission of the alliance is to offer a number of capabilities unmatched by any business school or combination of business schools in the world. It offers broadened and enhanced course offerings for MBA and PhD program participants, it expands the delivery of global executive education, and it expands global research opportunities for faculty.

“The extension of the alliance is the result of a genuine understanding and shared vision of the opportunities for clients and faculty through a global learning network”, said Dean Hawawini. The deans agreed that the next three years will be an exciting, innovative period, starting with the publication of The Alliance on Globalizing, the first in a series of books written by the faculties of the two schools, in June 2004, and followed up by a high profile Alliance-associated Economist Conference on Globalization scheduled to take place in London on September 30, 2004. Dean Harker said, “With our initial success, especially in the areas of student exchanges and joint faculty research, we have proven the potential of our two institutions working together. We are confident that our partnership will continue to produce outstanding achievements in knowledge creation, teaching and the development of global business leaders.”

Bern, Ammon, Dublon, and Greco

Women’s Task Force Presents Leadership Forum

In March, the Wharton School and the Wharton Women’s Task Force sponsored a forum with top women executives who have forged new business leadership models. Entitled “The New Leader: Dynamic Impact beyond Hierarchy and Power,” the forum’s panel included Dina Dublon, Executive Vice President and CFO, J.P. Morgan Chase; Carol Ammon, Chairman and CEO, Endo Pharmaceuticals; Dorrit Bern, Chairman, CEO and President, Charming Shoppes; and Rosemarie Greco, Director of Health Care Reform, Office of the Governor, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The panel’s discussion focused on creating management paths that foster sustainable growth, respected companies, productive cultures and inspired careers.

The panel was moderated by Roslyn Courtney, WG’76, a management and organizational consultant who developed the “New Leader” model based on interviews with more than 80 women executives. Opening remarks were delivered by Dean Patrick Harker.

The mission of the Wharton Women’s Task Force is to encourage and develop women’s leadership at all life stages by building community, connectivity, and spirit among all Wharton women and providing valuable services and support to its constituents. For more information, visit the Task Force’s website at <www.whartonwomen.org/taskforce.asp>.

In Memoriam

Reginald H. Jones, W’39, Overseer Emeritus

Reginald H. Jones, W’39, Wharton emeritus Overseer, Penn emeritus trustee, and former CEO of General Electric Company, died on December 30, at the age of 89.

Mr. Jones was born in Stoke-on-Trent, England and moved to the U.S. when he was eight years old. He graduated from the Wharton School in 1939. While at Penn he was elected president of Beta Gamma, the national honorary academic fraternity, and was treasurer of Phi Sigma Kappa.

He joined General Electric in the company’s Business Training Course in 1939. Three years later, he became a traveling auditor, moving to general management, serving as manager of company businesses in the consumer, utility, industrial, construction and distribution fields. In 1968, he became GE’s CFO and was elected senior vice president two years later. In 1972, he became president, then chairman and chief executive officer. As CEO he brought new strategic direction to GE, emphasizing strong internal growth fostered by research and development, strategic planning and the introduction of the sector structure that “prepared the organization and the people to meet General Electric’s long-range growth opportunities in the decade ahead,” Mr. Jones said at the time.

Throughout his career, Mr. Jones maintained a close connection with Wharton and Penn. In 1968 he joined the Penn Board of Trustees and continued as a trustee emeritus and honorary trustee until his death. As chair of the Development Committee he represented Penn in boardrooms across the nation. He was a founding member of the Wharton Board of Overseers, its chair for 13 years, and the chair emeritus. He was also chair of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute Board of Governors. He was also honored with the creation of a professorship and research center bearing his name.

“Reg’s legendary leadership of General Electric stands as one of the finest examples in business history,” said Dean Patrick Harker. “He was a man of great creativity and morality, and his loyalty and devotion to his alma mater were beyond measure. He continues to inspire us in all of our work.”

Mr. Jones is survived by his wife, Grace Cole Jones, CW’39; his son, the Reverend Keith Edwin Jones, W’64; his daughter, Grace Jones Vineyard, CW’66; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Isik Inselbag, former vice dean and director of the Graduate Division

Isik Inselbag, Wharton finance professor and former vice dean and director of the Graduate Division, passed away in March. He was a member of the Wharton community for more than two decades.

A native of Turkey, Dr. Inselbag earned his bachelor’s degree from Robert Kolej and his doctorate from Columbia University. After working at Bogazici University in Turkey and the State University of New York at Binghamton, he joined Wharton as a member of the Finance faculty in 1982. He served in several key administrative leadership positions, including associate director (1985-87) and director of the Executive MBA Program (1987-91), and director (1991-92) and vice dean and director (1992-95) of the Graduate Division. Since stepping down as vice dean, he had returned to teaching and research as a senior fellow of the Financial Institutions Center and academic course director for the Finance Department. He also served as the faculty advisor for undergraduates in the Finance Department.

His professional expertise enabled him to influence business practice as a consultant to such global business enterprises as Conrail, Bankers Trust Company, Finansbank of Turkey, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank, General Electric, DuPont, Merrill Lynch, Chemical Bank, OECD, Bell Atlantic, CoreStates Bank, the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey, and Pfizer of Turkey.

In his role as vice dean and director of the Graduate Division, Dr. Inselbag was instrumental in the design and launch of the curriculum reforms in the MBA program during the 1990s, which included the core curriculum and the team-based learning format. His contributions to this landmark achievement helped garner increased international recognition for Wharton among corporate executives, prospective students and the media, and set the stage for years of record-breaking admissions results and programmatic excellence.

“Isik will be greatly missed by his colleagues and the many students and alumni with whom he worked over the years,” said Dean Harker. “He will be remembered for his unwavering commitment to our students, his role as a mentor to staff, and his collaboration with the faculty.”

Dr. Inselbag is survived by his wife, Cagla, and his son, Mehmet.

Wharton Professor Eric Clemons Co-authors Book with Alumni

Eric Clemons, professor of operations and information management, has co-authored a book with ex-Marines Jason Santamaria, WG’01, and Vincent Martino, WG’02. Entitled The Marine Corps Way: Using Maneuver Warfare to Lead a Winning Organization, the book is receiving media attention along with other recently released books that apply military strategy to business leadership.

The Marine Corps Way provides case studies and examples culled from both military and business history to illustrate the power of maneuver warfare tactics and how to use them to win the “war” for profits and market share. The book also emphasizes building trust, integrity, initiative, and unselfishness as keys to success. “The fundamental idea of maneuver warfare is that any time you can use flexibility, resilience and subtlety, in place of a brute-force war of attrition, you’re better off,” said Clemons in a recent interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer.