Focus on: Pioneering

There can be tremendous advantages to getting out early and defining a new market, right? After all, look at how Apple's iPod has swept aside all contenders in digital music. But did you forget about Apple's Newton? Or the Segway Personal Transporter? In this issue, Karl Urlich examines some of the pitfalls of new-to-the-world products and how to avoid them. Paul Schoemaker discusses the importance of "peripheral vision" in recognizing opportunities and threats outside your core area of focus. We also look at scenarios for making sense of our complex world and the use of simulations to help test sales force strategies.

These insights can help you get out front in your own business.

Sincerely,

Michael McTigue
Director, Marketing Communications

"I'm a pragmatist, Leon. Before I put a new product on the market, I ask myself, 'Will it sell?'"

© The New Yorker Collection 1999 Edward Koren from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved.

Thought Leaders I
What Segway Learned the Hard Way: Three Pitfalls of New-Category Product Strategy

Remember how the Segway Personal Transporter was going to change the world? Do you recall how the Iridium Global Satellite network came crashing to the Earth? New-to-the-world products are very tricky and very risky. Professor Karl Ulrich, who teaches in a new Wharton program, Strategic R&D Management, says avoiding three common pitfalls could help increase the chances of success. More

Thought Leaders II
Peripheral Vision: Seeing Opportunities To Accelerate Growth

How can companies see opportunities that others miss? Paul Schoemaker, one of the faculty members of a new Wharton program on accelerating growth, discusses his research on "peripheral vision," which is the subject of a forthcoming book. More

In the Classroom
Simulation Allows Sales Executives To Test Their Selling Strategies

A new simulation in Wharton's Leading the Effective Sales Force program helps participants examine sales force challenges to design more effective strategies. More

Wharton School Publishing
Finding Clarity (and Growth) in an Age of Transformation

How do we make sense of the complex and extraordinary world in which we live? In a new book, Global Business Network CEO Eamonn Kelly uses scenario planning to help understand the dynamic tensions that are shaping our "powerful times." More

Education à la Carte
Be Prepared, Whatever the Future Brings

The future is uncertain. Changes are occurring at the periphery. Many different scenarios could unfold. Whatever opportunities emerge, Wharton can help you prepare by strengthening your core business knowledge and providing just-in-time education in new areas. Among our upcoming programs:

Any comments or suggestions? Please send us your thoughts at execed@wharton.upenn.edu. We want to make every effort to respect your confidence, so please let us know if you don't want us to share them in future issues of Wharton@Work: E-Buzz.

© The New Yorker Collection 2000 David Sipress from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved.

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