June 2005

Wharton Executive Education and ITC Limited launched a custom program for ITC executives today, Wharton’s first custom executive program in India. Wharton faculty will deliver the Advanced Marketing Strategy program for 50 chief executives and other senior managers in Kolkata from June 30 to July 2.

“The changes in India and economic momentum today are nothing short of remarkable,” said Jonathan Spector, Vice Dean and Director of Wharton Executive Education. “We are very pleased to be collaborating with one of the leading companies in driving India’s transformations. ITC has been a strong supporter of Wharton’s programs in the US over the past few years. We are looking forward to deepening our relationship with ITC and expanding Wharton’s presence in India.”

“ITC has been nominating managers to Wharton's Executive Development Programs for the past decade and believes that these managers have gained immensely from their participation, both in terms of gaining new insights as well as being exposed to the state-of-the-art management theory and practice,” said Anand Nayak, Executive Vice President of ITC. “ITC looks towards forging a long term and sustained partnership with Wharton.”

The focus of ITC's in-house Executive Development Programs is to build organizational capability to position ITC as one of India's most valuable multi-business enterprises. “Some of India’s most valuable brands belong to the ITC stable,” Nayak said. “ITC is already a leader in its traditional businesses and aims to seek a leadership position in the new businesses it has recently entered. ITC believes that this program will contribute to enhancing its organizational capability and strategic, customer-centric focus. It will enable consolidation of ITC’s leadership and market standing.”

The three-day program, led by Wharton Marketing Professors Jagmohan Raju and Barbara Kahn, offers intensive study of marketing metrics and strategy. It includes sessions on the lifetime value of the customer, branding valuation, psychological and competitive pricing and customer satisfaction. “We believe India is an increasingly important business center in today’s global economy and we want to play a pivotal role in that development,” said Kahn. “ITC is one of the most respected and valuable companies in India. It is a diversified company that ranks third in pre-tax profit among India’s private sector corporations. We look forward to broadening our relationship with ITC.”

Although this is Wharton’s first custom program in India, the business school has delivered many other programs in India, including the recent Wharton Fellows Master Class in Bangalore and Mumbai in March. Wharton also has been active in other areas, such as supporting the founding of the Indian School of Business and working with Infosys to establish and present an annual “Business Transformation Award.” India is the largest source of Wharton MBA students from any country outside the United States.

The program with ITC is expected to be the first of many in India. “Wharton Executive Education's strategy in India is to develop broad and deep relationships with leading Indian organizations who share our belief in the power of world-class executive education to deliver high business impact,” said Wharton Director-Executive Programs, Sandhya Karpe. “We are very excited about working with ITC and are currently in the process of discussions with several leading Indian organizations.”