WHARTON LEADERSHIP DIGEST

 January, 2001, Volume 5, Number 4

Contents 

Developing Leaders:  Wharton Leadership Conference on June 7
Corporate Form:  Global Convergence – or Not?
Leadership Development:  The U.S. Naval Academy
Mountaineering as Management Metaphor:  
     The Wharton Leadership Expedition to Ecuador
Upward Mentoring:  The Wharton Fellows in eBusiness
Leading Pharmaceuticals:  What It Will Take
Chief Information Officers:  Transforming the Federal Government
Internet Boards:  Held to Higher Standards
 

Developing Leaders:  Wharton Leadership Conference on June 7 

The fifth Annual Wharton Leadership Conference, sponsored by the Wharton Center for Human Resources and Center for Leadership and Change Management, is scheduled for June 7, 2001, at the Inn at Penn in Philadelphia.  

Most companies and organizations find that traditional leadership development programs are difficult to sustain in the faster-moving environment of flatter organizations and scarce resources. 

But if the old programs no longer work, what does?

Who should be included in such programs?  Should leadership development initiatives include only high-potential managers, or should they draw all managers?

What is the right balance between classroom experiences, action projects, and executive visits?

Can alternative arrangements, such as visits to battlefields, exposure to ropes courses, practice in rowing 8-person shells, or mountain trekking provide useful experiences for driving home the principles of leadership and teamwork?

Where can you find examples of companies like your own that have developed exemplary leadership programs?

This conference focuses on the pragmatic steps that make for effective leadership programs.  Hosted by Wharton professors Peter Cappelli and Michael Useem, confirmed conference speakers include:

Kenneth and Carol Adelman, Principals, Movers and Shakespeares: Ken is former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and chief U.S. arms negotiator, and co-author of Shakespeare in Charge: The Bard's Guide to Leading and Succeeding on the Business Stage (1999); Carol is a former official of the U.S. Agency for International Development. They demonstrate how  the works of William Shakespeare are being used to develop leadership in many organizations.   

Robert Browning, Director, Global Career Planning and Development, Colgate-Palmolive Company. 

Admiral Henry G. Chiles (ret.), Distinguished Professor of Leadership, U.S. Naval Academy. 

Jim Collins, co-author of Built to Last (1994), and author of Good to Great (forthcoming in 2001) and “Level 5 Leadership” (Harvard Business Review, Jan., 2001).

Robert Cooper, Planning Director, Knowledge Intensive University, DuPont.  

Daniel Holland, Principal and Head, Leadership Development Practice, Towers Perrin. 

Charles O. Holliday, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DuPont.   

McKinsey and Company, War for Talent 2000 Team.   

Anne M. Mulcahy, President and Chief Operating Officer, Xerox Corporation.

David Shabot, Managing Partner, Korn/Ferry International. 

Lt. Col. Scott S. Snook (tentative), Professor of Behavioral Science and Leadership, U.S. Military Academy, and author of Friendly Fire: The Accidental Shootdown of U.S. Black Hawks over Northern Iraq (2000).    

U.S. Marine Corps commanders who oversee leadership development of Marine Corps officers at the Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia.

Commander J. T. Vazquez, Chairman, Department of Leadership, Ethics and Law, U.S. Naval Academy.   

Patricia A. Woertz, Corporate Vice President and President of Chevron Products Co., Chevron Corporation.  

Note: For information on the conference, see http://leadership.wharton.upenn.edu/l_change/conferences/conf_060701.shtml 

To register online for the conference, go to http://www-management.wharton.upenn.edu/chr/registration.htm


Corporate form:  Global Convergence – or Not? 

By Mauro F. Guillén, Associate Professor of Management, the Wharton School 

The Limits of Convergence: Globalization & Organizational Change in Argentina, South Korea, and Spain (Princeton University Press, 2001).   

My new book challenges the notion that globalization encourages convergence across countries. A systematic comparison of organizational change in Argentina, South Korea and Spain since 1950 shows that the presence of different organizational forms – business groups, small enterprises, and foreign multinationals – varies depending on the country’s development trajectory.  In turn, differences in organizational form and corporate governance enable countries and firms to excel at different types of activities in the global economy.  

The empirical chapters analyze the social, political, and economic conditions underpinning the rise of the various organizational forms and systems of corporate governance, including natural endowments, ideologies, and the interaction among state, business, and labor elites.  The evolution of business groups reveals that this organizational form is best suited to undertake large-scale, capital-intensive activities like automobile assembly, chemicals, and construction. Business groups thrive when there is foreign trade and investment protectionism, and their growth and diversification come at the expense of smaller firms and foreign multinationals. Small and medium enterprises, by contrast, are best fitted to compete in knowledge-intensive activities like component manufacturing and branded consumer goods.  They prosper when export-oriented multinationals are allowed to operate with few restrictions.  

The book ends on a positive note as to the effects of globalization. Evidence is presented to demonstrate that it is possible – though not easy – for countries to break through the glass ceiling separating the poor countries from the rich, that globalization encourages diversity in economic action and organizational form, and that democracy is the best suited form of government to deal with the contingencies of globalization.  

Note:  Information on Mauro Guillén is available at http://www-management.wharton.upenn.edu/guillen
and he can reached at guillen@wharton.upenn.edu.


Leadership Development:  The U.S. Naval Academy 

By Harry Hirschman, Loree Hirschman, and Jason Santamaria
Wharton MBA Students (WG 2001) 

“We develop leaders morally, mentally and physically” – So goes the mission statement of the United States Naval Academy and the order of the three tenets is no accident.  The military holds itself to higher moral standards than society at large, and the people in charge of the leadership curriculum at the USNA start with the moral and ethical aspects of leadership, followed by leadership theory and physical training.  

A small group of faculty and students from the Wharton School’s MBA program visited the Naval Academy recently to find out more about how they teach leadership to America’s future Navy and Marine Corps officers.  Admiral Hank Chiles retired from the Navy after more than 30 years in the submarine force.  Even without his four stars, he commands respect and admiration from his students and staff.  It is the kind of respect that comes to a person who has “been there, done that” but lets others discover for themselves the lessons he already knows.  Forceful and scientific in his approach, yet compassionate and non-judgmental – the personality of the program flows from him.  He believes in teaching from the original works of primary philosophers such as Aristotle and Kant.  

The leadership program at the Naval Academy consists of an undergraduate and a Master’s program.  Midshipmen (undergraduate students) have classes in leadership and ethics each of their four years at the academy.  Practical applications in leadership are provided every day through duties and responsibilities within the Brigade of Midshipmen.  Company officers are Navy and Marine Corps Officers with three to five years of experience who are on the staff to shepherd the midshipmen through their Naval Academy experience.  Company officers earn a Master’s degree from the Naval Academy’s leadership program before assuming their duties.  In a change from past policies, not all company officers are Naval Academy graduates themselves.  Participants agreed that this will make the academy less insular over time, one of the major criticisms of the school. 

Part of being an effective leader is relying on those being lead.  The Academy’s program addresses “followership” nearly as much as leadership.  Two chapters in the freshman textbook are devoted to followership and many other courses discuss topics such as “lawful orders” and when an order MUST be disobeyed.  Military and civilian examples of failures in followership and their tragic consequences are discussed freely, the massacre at My Lai and the Jonestown mass suicide among them.  

Each member of the Wharton delegation sat in on a sophomore ethics course to see firsthand how things are done.  One class was taught by the Assistant Commandant, Captain Bowle, an aviator with 25 years of experience.  Most of the Academy’s senior staff also teach in the classroom.  The 20 students sat at tables arranged in a “U” with Capt. Bowle at the open end.  His demeanor in the classroom was relaxed and non-authoritarian.  The first five minutes of class were reserved to discuss current issues such as the Florida election recount and the USS Cole bombing.  There was no shortage of opinions in the room on any given subject.  

This day’s lesson plan was quite full: a discussion of term paper topics chosen by students (“The Ethics of the Iran-Contra Affair”, “How Could Tailhook Happen in an Ethical Organization?”); an exercise on applying the Weinberger Doctine (a set of six criteria established by secretary of defense Caspar Weinberger for the commitment of U.S. troops abroad) and “Just War Theory” to fictional 1939 negotiations between U.S., British, and German delegations role-played by students; and a discussion of “proportionality” and “utilitarianism” as applied to possible U.S. responses to the terrorist attack on the USS Cole. 

Any concerns about whether the military environment stifled sharing or the range of opinions were quickly laid to rest.  Regarding proportionality in the U.S. response to the attack on the USS Cole, opinions ranged from “None – it’s the cost of being the only superpower” to “Kill them all and let God sort it out.”  A similar range of opinions was expressed on the pre-World War II role-playing exercise.  When students voted which side they would take if they were President Roosevelt, given the constraints of the Weinberger doctrine, they had a difficult time justifying a vote for the British.  All this was very consistent with the quest for knowledge at any institution of higher learning, yet the emphasis on leadership through ethical and moral decision-making was unmistakable.  Every student was keenly aware that they would face difficult decisions in their military careers as soon as they graduated and each student struggled to form a moral and ethical framework on which they could rely.  

The Academy’s leadership program functions on several layers – students, faculty in-training, and sitting faculty.  Though they have been teaching leadership for over one hundred years, the program is still a work-in-progress – much like Wharton’s leadership program.  Admiral Chiles experiments with new ways of bringing old concepts to life.  

Note:  Harry Hirschman can be reached at hirschmh@wharton.upenn.edu, Loree Hirschman at Loree.Hirschman.wg01@wharton.upenn.edu, and Jason Santamaria at santamaj@wharton.upenn.edu.  Information on the U.S. Naval Academy’s Department of Leadership, Ethics, and Law is available at http://prodevweb.prodev.usna.edu/LEL/index.htm.


Mountaineering as management metaphor:  
The Wharton Leadership Expedition to Ecuador 

By Mark Davidson, Wharton MBA Graduate (WG 1998)   

Leadership by action:  This is the theme that emerged from the inaugural Wharton Leadership Expedition to Ecuador, parallel in conception to the annual Wharton Leadership Trek to Mt. Everest http://leadership.wharton.upenn.edu/everest/index.shtml.

In early January, eleven Wharton students and alumni joined the ranks of high-altitude mountaineers.  The group climbed to nearly 19,000 feet on Cayambe, a glaciated dormant volcano 60 miles north of Quito, Ecuador.  A second team plans to travel to Ecuador in March to climb another peak of similar height, Cotopaxi.   

 “Climbing a mountain is a lot like running a company,” suggested trip participant Nathan Romano.  “You’re out there in very unfamiliar territory, working with and literally tied to your colleagues.  You can see the goal, the summit, right in front of you.  You have a group of experts advising you (in this case professional mountain guides).  But ultimately you make the decision every step of the way whether or not to go for it.” 

Many obstacles can prevent you from closing the deal:  Deep crevasses, altitude sickness, group apathy, inadequate training, or insufficient resources.  The group worked together to identify and overcome these obstacles, strengthening individual members and the team as a whole in the process.  

As with business, some of the most successful learning experiences in climbing can result from an inability to reach the original goal.  After successfully summiting Rucu Pinchincha (15,400 ft.), the group turned its attention to Cayambe.  On summit day, our climbing team left a high shelter just after midnight, and by 7:30 AM it reached at an enormous crevasse just 100 feet below the summit.  We found a thin ice bridge to cross the chasm, but a previous day’s snowfall and a steep final slope plunging into the crevasse made it risky to push for the summit.  In subsequent discussions, all members of the team felt that the right decision had been made to forgo the final 100 feet.  

Risk management, group dynamics, team motivation, decision making:  They were all part of the experiential learning of our mountaineering effort.  Each climber learned to work with and rely upon others while making personal decisions about how to realize his or her own goals without compromising the safety and interests of the group.  We also appreciated that reaching a mountain summit or company goal is far more than a personal achievement, for it always depends on collective effort with the contribution of each required for the success of all.  

The outdoor lessons can usefully inform indoor learning as well.  “Getting out there and living it –  that’s really powerful stuff,” offered participant Neil Whiteing. “These are the sort of personal stories and first-hand accounts that can be brought into the classroom to make leadership lessons really meaningful.” 

Note:  A description of the expedition and photographs from it can be found at http://leadership.wharton.upenn.edu/l_change/trips/2001_expedition.shtml, and for information on subsequent trips, contact climb@wharton.upenn.edu.  Mark Davidson can be reached at mdavidson@carescience.com and Arthur Steinert, a co-organizer of the trip, can be reached at arthstein@yahoo.com.


Upward Mentoring:  The Wharton Fellows in eBusiness  

By John Joseph, Wharton MBA Student (WG 2001)  

Today, businesses need leaders who are technologically capable.  To be successful, leaders need to be conversant with technological tools and capable of using them.  The problem is that for many veteran managers, the Internet is new territory.  Many top people, because of their background, have difficulty understanding the Internet.  But it’s a matter of survival. 

Some corporations are using their younger generation to web-train top managers in reverse mentoring programs.  At General Electric Company, senior business leaders receive an e-mentor drawn from a pool of younger talent within the company.  The mentors help their more senior associates navigate the Internet, coaching them on searching and organizing information.  They assist them in better understanding the management potential of the new technologies and how they are viewed and used by members of a generation that has gown up with the Web.

GE chief executive Jack Welch ordered over 600 of his top managers, ranging in age from 30 to 60, to seek out young Internet savvy professionals in the company and become their students.  Welch was no exception.  He turned to Pam Wickham, 37, who runs the company’s corporate Web site, to show him the ropes.  

Jerry Wind, marketing professor at the Wharton School, has set up a reverse mentoring for the Wharton Fellows in eBusiness program, a new initiative for senior managers.  “The learning is focused on a co-production between a learner and a coach where the relationships are no longer hierarchical,” he explained. 

According to Wind, the biggest impediment to upward learning is often embarrassment.  “How do you design a program that will increase the comfort level of senior executives in their 40’s, 50s, and 60s?  There may be very senior people who would feel uncomfortable in a classroom setting, so you come to the one-on-one reverse mentoring.” 

Chris Wilkerson, a second year MBA student, organized the reverse mentoring program for the Wharton Fellows, used the GE model as a template.  He recruited undergraduate and MBA students and paired them with program participants.  According to Wilkerson, what made for effective reverse mentoring was the mutual learning.  “You need to make sure both the mentors and the executives are getting some value out of the experience.  From the reverse mentors perspective, any advice on career or potential introductions is all very helpful.  From the point-of-view of those being mentored, they should feel comfortable in asking very basic questions.”   

When Wharton Fellow Robin Torgerson, e-Business Leader at 3M’s Medical Division, joined the program, she was paired with Wilkerson.  “It’s a way to have a trusted advisor,” she observed.  “Someone whom you can go to with the questions and the concerns that you have.  You can’t go to someone who’s in your formal chain of command.  You can’t easily explore things on an official basis.  You need someone who will give you new perspectives.” 

Academic research confirms that traditional downward mentoring helps careers and builds self-confidence, and reverse mentoring is no different.  “There’s always value in looking at something with fresh eyes,” said Torgerson.  Her mentor, Wilkerson, had worked in health care and in an Internet business, both close to what Torgerson was working on at 3M, and she said, “getting his perspective on those was extremely valuable.”  Upward mentors, concluded Torgerson, “won’t tell you exactly what to do or how to do it, but they’ll help you figure that out for yourself.  It helps make you a better, smarter person.” 

Note:  John Joseph can be contacted at John.Joseph.wg01@wharton.upenn.edu, and information on the Wharton Fellows in eBusiness program is available at http://aresty-direct.wharton.upenn.edu/execed/efellows.cfm.


Leading Pharmaceuticals:  What It Will Take  

By Victor Franco M. Calanog and Monica McGrath 

Victor Calanog is a Wharton MBA Graduate (WG 2000) and Doctoral Student, and Monica McGrath is director of the Wharton Leadership Program.           

The U.S. pharmaceutical market has grown 20 percent on average the last five years, and the aging baby boomer population will sustain and increase that expansion in the next 10 years.  In light of this continued growth and increased complexity of managing a global business in the pharmaceutical industry, what leadership are qualities and characteristics are needed to be successful? This is a question that the Center for Leadership and Change Management and Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. will seek to answer this year in a new study. 

Guided by an advisory board, practitioners and researchers will combine their efforts to focus on the following issues: 

• Define the features of future leadership in a continually evolving industry, including characteristics, team effectiveness, and drivers of success.
• Specify the needs, both quantity and quality, for leadership in 2005.
• Examine “best practices” in pharmaceuticals and other industries related to attracting and retaining top talent, leadership development and succession.
• Identify unique differences in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Recommend practical ways for companies to build the leadership they require.

Structured one-on-one interviews will be conducted with top-tier pharmaceutical executives and division heads.  Surveys will be used to assess high potential employees in sales and marketing, product manufacturing, and research and development.  The study will also benchmark innovative leadership development initiatives in manufacturing, consulting, not for profit, e-business, and consumer products.

Note:  Victor Calanog can be reached at vcalanog@wharton.upenn.edu and Monica McGrath at 
mcgrath@wharton.upenn.edu, Andrew Wheeler of  Heidrick & Struggles can be contacted at aiw@h-s.com.


Chief Information Officers:  Transforming the Federal Government

By Robert D. Childs, Director, Information Resources Management College, National Defense University 

The National Defense University is a professional military educational institution for developing senior military and diplomatic leaders for the United States.  Within it, the Information Resources Management College prepares military officers and civilian personnel to exercise information leadership, integrate technology with organizational goals, leverage information technology for strategic advantage, and transform federal agencies into “information age” institutions.  The college believes that an understanding of information strategies and related technologies is critical for all future national security leaders.    

To implement the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Joint Vision 2010 – the guideline for national security for the next decade – the college prepares leaders to bring order to a chaotic environment of emerging technologies, cultural change, and diminishing resources.  Its programs explore strategies for leveraging information to improve leadership, advance readiness, reengineer processes, and enhance effectiveness. 

The college’s Chief Information Officer program has grown exponentially and now enrolls 2,500.  Its curriculum focuses upon strategic planning and policy; capital planning; security and information assurance; systems acquisition; performance and results management; architectures and infrastructure; technology assessment; and leadership and organizational change.  

The college’s students are employees of the Defense Department, federal agencies, private industry, and foreign countries.  It also brings students from its sister colleges, the National War College and Industrial College of the Armed Forces.  To reach students located aboard ships and other remote sites around the world, the college is building Internet learning methods.  To foster lifelong learning, the college is developing “Knowledge Net,” a web-based portal that provides current information on issues, policies, resources, and best practices in a digitized world.  To enrich the learning experiences, the college partners with civilian universities (Maryland, Syracuse, and East Carolina) for the awarding of master’s degrees, research organizations (Gartner and the Naval Research Lab) for the tracking of technology trends, and industry for the identifying of best practices. 

Note: Robert Childs can be reached at childs@ndu.edu, and information on the Information Resources Management College of the National Defense Industry can be found at http://ndu.edu/irmc.


Internet boards:  Held to Higher Standards 

Mike Useem, editor of the Wharton Leadership Digest, argues that Internet boards should be held to higher standards because the risks are greater.  His article in the January 15 issue of The Industry Standard on “Board Games: Once-High-Flying Internet Companies Need Good Governance Now More than Ever,” can be viewed at http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,21396,00.html.

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