Downloading Knowledge to Journos
New York City, USA
The Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists program has helped reporters and editors gain a better understanding of economic and business issues for an amazing 48 years. The latest seminar took place on March 3 in NYC, featuring professors Peter Conti-Brown and Sam Chandan, discussing Fed policy and real estate trends, respectively. Radian Group CEO S.A. Ibrahim WG78 delivered the luncheon keynote.
Talking Innovation and Market Leadership
Toronto, Canada
As the most recent event in the Lifelong Learning Regional Alumni Program, the alumni community in Toronto hosted Wharton’s Richard A. Sapp Professor David Hsu, who shared new research on how, when, and why innovation can disrupt an entire industry.
Achieving Dreams
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Javier Vidal W91 is a Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus, which runs public schools in the Dominican Republic for more than 3,000 underprivileged children. In March 2015, the Wharton International Program (WIP) brought a couple dozen students to visit some of the schools. The students’ appearance brought Vidal closer to the Penn and Wharton Club of Dominican Republic. Led by club co-president Fabian Mendy WG92, the alumni community established a fund to cover the cost of university education for a student at one of Vida’s schools. Mendy, who serves as territory assurance leader for the Interamericas for PwC, also helped establish professional workshops for the students. “A bridge of hope,” Vidal calls the effort.
Brazil’s Two Brands
Rio de Janerio, Brazil
Do nations, like products, have brands? Yes, says Wharton Professor David J. Reibstein. He teamed with U.S. News & World Report and WPP’s BAV Consulting on the “Best Countries” study to help the world understand why nations brand—and how nations’ brands can be improved. On October 28, 2016, Professor Reibstein will present his conclusions when he hosts the Wharton Nation Brand Conference in Philadelphia. The conference will gather policymakers, executives, and academics to discuss what nations do that affects their brands and how that affects their economies. With the 2016 Summer Olympic Games to be hosted in Rio de Janeiro, Reibstein and his team apply the lessons of the Best Countries study to Brazil, one of the most dynamic and confounding brands in the Western Hemisphere.
Gaining Economic Growth for the Long Run
Amsterdam, Netherlands
What are the economic conditions for sustainable development? There’s still time to find out the answer—at the Wharton Global Forum Amsterdam, occurring from June 22 to 23—as well as many other insights. From sustainable energy to impact investing, from Uber to branding nations, the selection of topics will be drawing a superstar speaker lineup, such as professors Katherine Klein, David Musto, David Reibstein, and Mauro Guillén, as well as alumni like Big Society Capital CEO Nick O’Donohoe WG81.
Mobilizing ASEAN
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Wharton Global Forum Kuala Lumpur featured star speakers such as Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz G74 GR78, governor of the Bank Negara Malaysia; Amit Lohia W95, group managing director of Indorama Corporation; Ambassador Luc Vandebon, head of the European Union Delegation to Malaysia; and Mark Chang, founder and CEO of JobStreet. The overarching theme of the Forum was mobilizing economic growth through partnership, but topics were wide-ranging—from tech entrepreneurship to central banks in developing economies.
Seeing the Startup Nation First-Hand
Israel
Students in the Wharton MBA for Executives Program deserve respect. Juggling full-time, high-level jobs, full course loads and, for many of them, families, is no easy task. But when it comes to their Global Business Week—their one-week modular course during the second year—there’s no need for pity. It’s a tremendous educational experience to gain on-the-ground business and cultural insights, not to mention bond with classmates and enjoy the trip. The recent week in Israel, for instance, involved visits to the town of Beer Sheva, where they visited the mayor and its Advanced Technologies Park, and to Jerusalem’s crowdfunding startup Our Town.
Air Masks
New Delhi, India
Beijing gets all the bad press, but pollution readings in New Delhi can peak just as high. Jai Dhar Gupta W94 is making a killing in India by selling stylish masks that help pedestrians from getting killed by air pollution. Gupta sees growth in automobile air purifiers and other technology to help his fellow citizens breathe a sigh of relief.
Published in the Spring/Summer 2016 issue of Wharton Magazine.
