Singapore has long realized a nation's greatest natural resource is its citizenry-one that is highly educated. Years of effort have yielded in Singapore one of highest literacy rates in Asia, at 95 percent. In turn, the highly educated workforce has attracted high growth industries like IT, financial services and electronic component manufacturing.

The Wharton School has long recognized Singapore as a leading engine driving Southeast Asia's growth. For example, when Singapore Management University opened in 2000, its founding President was Wharton GFA Faculty Research Committee member Prof. Janice Bellace. Last year Wharton GFA and SMU signed a research partnership in which "SMU faculty provid[e] unique insights from Asia that will inform the research of the Wharton Global Family Alliance network of scholars," according to Prof. Raffi Amit, Chairman of the Wharton GFA Executive Committee. And just a few months ago Wharton helped SMU join the Knowledge @ Wharton network with the debut of Knowledge@SMU, an online journal of articles and interviews showcasing university faculty and visiting experts.

Wharton GFA Research Snapshot

An SMU study shows that hedge fund portfolios that invest locally earn a 4% premium

Singapore Management University is one of Wharton GFA's key research partners. SMU is creating knowledge on topics highly relevant to families and high net worth individuals.

One example is the work of SMU finance professor Melvyn Teo, who is also director of the university's BNP Paribas Hedge Fund Centre. According to Knowledge@SMU, in his paper, "The Geography of Hedge Funds", Teo puts forward evidence for the hypothesis that locally-managed hedge funds are better able to monitor their investments and, therefore, generate superior returns. His distinguishing variable: "a hedge fund's geographical location relative to its investments". » MORE

Company leadership today is critically watched and discussed in the news. The articles below selected from Knowledge @ Wharton discuss Wharton's thinking and research regarding CEO leadership and performance measurements.

Can't Run, Can't Hide: New Rules of Engagement for Crisis Management
September 19, 2007
The corporate apologies are piling up. Mattel CEO Robert Eckert apologized on September 12 for lead paint found in millions of the company's toys. TD Ameritrade CEO Joe Moglia apologized on September 14 for a database breach. Apple CEO Steve Jobs apologized on September 6 for cutting the price of the high-end iPhone. Dell executives apologized in August for delayed deliveries of certain models. JetBlue apologized in February for canceling flights and leaving passengers stranded during an ice storm. While executives moved quickly to stem damage to their companies' reputations, it takes more than speed to manage a crisis. As Wharton experts and others point out, the rules governing crisis management have changed.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1807

Leading for the Next Act: Why CEOs Must Evolve or Step Aside
August 8, 2007
... The secret to long-term CEO success, suggests David Nadler, a consultant to boards and senior executives, is conceiving of a CEO's tenure as a performance with a series of distinct acts. "Each act requires the CEO to lead, think and behave in ...
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1784

The Art and Science of Measuring CEO Performance
August 22, 2007
The long-term performance of a company's stock may be the ultimate test of a CEO's talents. But that's not the only measurement used by boards of directors to gauge how well the boss is doing. Experts at Wharton and elsewhere say that companies use ...
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1794

Prescriptions for Managing the Leadership Crisis
Universia Knowledge@Wharton, January 11, 2006
... are more commonplace, and they can occur in several different ways. The CEO can decide to move in a different direction, or the board of directors can decide to remove the CEO and change the direction of the company. It can happen because of pressure ...
http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewfeature&language=english&id=1080

Family Business: Why Firms Do Well When Founders Are at the Helm November 3, 2004
... performs better than non-family firms when the founder serves as the CEO of a family firm or as its chairman with a hired CEO. When a descendent serves as the CEO of a family-run company - even if the founder remains chairman - the firm's market ...
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1065

Wharton GFA in the News

Recent Appearances:

Forbes
Monday, November 05, 2007
Profs. Guillen and Amit's study on factors for economic development and entrepreneurship worldwide are the focus of "A (Little) Bit Of Government Can Go A Long Way" (republished from Knowledge @ Wharton).
http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2007/11/05
   /small-business-government-ent-law-cx_kw_1105whartonregulation.html

Expansion Monday, November 05, 2007
In a profile of Wharton GFA, Prof. Raffi Amit is interviewed along with a discussion of Wharton family business research and Wharton GFA's partnership with Spain's IESE.
http://www.expansion.com/

Economic Times of India/Corporate Dossier
Friday, November 02, 2007
An interview with Prof. Guillen is headlined, "Emerging economies' move on developed countries" and discusses the impact of "reverse" foreign direct investment.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Features/Corporate_Dossier
/Emerging_economies_move_on_developed_countries/articleshow/2510714.cms

India Knowledge @ Wharton
Thursday, November 01, 2007
In a new study titled, "The DNA of Indian Leadership: The Governance, Management and Leadership of Leading Indian Firms," based on interviews with 100 chief executives of leading Indian companies, Wharton management professors Peter Cappelli, Harbir Singh, Jitendra Singh (now dean of the Nanyang business school in Singapore) and Michael Useem -- concluded that while top Indian leaders do share several attributes with their U.S. counterparts, they also have distinctive characteristics.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4238

For regular news updates visit the Wharton GFA newsroom

Please share any comments or questions you have with us. You can reach us by email at wgfa@wharton.upenn.edu or by phone at +1.215.898.4470.

The Wharton GFA Team