U-Penn, Flooring Associations Finalize Program

Philadelphia, PA, Sept. 21, 2012 -- The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts and Sciences and four leading flooring trade associations have finalized the curriculum and established dates for the customized learning program that is the basis of “The Institute for Leadership and Business Growth.”

The Institute is designed to enable participants to study the essentials of business management and develop new skills and strategies to grow their businesses.

The program is available exclusively to members in good standing of the Association of Rug Care Specialists, National Wood Flooring Association, North American Association of Floor Covering Distributors and the World Floor Covering Association.

Participants must be business owners, senior managers or managers being groomed to lead a business in some capacity.

The curriculum was developed after extensive conversations among Penn faculty and leaders of the four trade associations.

Rick Holden, chairman of the National Wood Flooring Association indicated, “Leaders of the four trade associations and the Penn faculty and staff have invested a great deal of time and effort in ensuring that the courses offered provide value and an excellent return on investment.” 
 
The customized learning program will balance traditional classroom work with online courses, reducing the amount of time participants spend away from their businesses.

Faculty will include professors from Penn’s Wharton School, widely recognized as one of the world’s leading business schools, and the School of Arts and Sciences’ Organizational Dynamics Program, among other Penn faculty and practitioners.

The academic program will officially begin with a dinner on January 13 on the University of Pennsylvania campus.

Participants will reside on the Penn campus January 14-16, immersed in courses such as:
• Family Business Issues
• Customer-Centric Innovation
• Negotiations

Following these classes, participants will study online over several weeks.

The online program will offer real time classroom lectures, discussions with faculty and peers and storage of all course work.

Participants will be required to spend three hours or more per week taking advantage of courses in: 
• Financial Management: Theory and Practice
• Entrepreneurial Marketing
• Communications and Branding
• Operations Management
• Human Resource Management:  Recruitment and Retention Strategies

In April, participants will return to the Penn campus for a final two days of focused classes.  Course topics during this two-day period will be:  
• Leadership and Organizational Culture
• Leadership Development
• Leading Organizational Change
• Succession Planning as a Leadership Tool

Tuition for the educational program will be $7,800 per participant.

Additional information is available by contacting Rita McGlone at mcgloner@sas.upenn.edu.