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Ford Motor Company MBA Fellowship
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About the Ford Motor Company MBA Fellowship |
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Prof. Paul Schoemaker, the Mack Center's research director, has announced the guidelines for this year's Ford Fellowship grants for research in technological innovation. The guidelines for submission are listed below.
The Ford Motor Company has given the Mack Center of the Wharton School a generous gift to support MBA students interested in managing emerging technologies to work on field research projects in focused areas. The gift will support up to four students (or student teams) per academic year. Each MBA student or student team chosen will receive a fellowship stipend of $8,000 and must enroll in MKTG 890 for a half term of credit in the second part of the fall. In addition, the student or team may request up to $2,000 for expense purposes connected with the project such as data gathering, conferences, telecommunication, and travel to companies to conduct the study.
Below you will find the guidelines for applying for a Ford MBA Fellowship. Also, you can click here to view papers from previous years:
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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: How to Apply |
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Any Wharton MBA or WEMBA first year student in good academic standing. There are no prior course requirements.
Submit a project proposal of 1,000 words or less describing the project you wish to undertake. In a cover letter give your name, the project title, a statement of how you plan to address the topic, and an itemized request for expenses for the project (up to $2,000). More than one MBA student may work on a project, in which case the stipend and expense budget will be prorated according to the ratios specified in your proposal. That is, your budget should state how the stipend and the $2,000 in expenses are to be apportioned among the MBA students on the project if more than one. No more than four projects will be supported.
The four winning proposals will be selected by faculty associated with the Mack Center. The approved projects will be supervised and evaluated by Professor Paul Schoemaker, the Researcher Director of the Mack Center and Adjunct Professor of Marketing. Dr. Schoemaker is also the CEO and Chairman of Decision Strategies International Inc. ( www.thinkdsi.com) and as such will bring a pragmatic as well as academic perspective to the supervision of these projects. |
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Appropriate Topic Areas |
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The Mack Center defines emerging technologies as science or engineering based innovations and applications that have the potential to transform existing industries or create entirely new ones. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Mack Center website (http://mackcenter.wharton.upenn.edu) for examples of previous projects. Also, we encourage you to consult the book Wharton on Managing Emerging Technologies (Wiley, 2000), edited by Professors Day and Schoemaker, for guidance on approaches, concepts and frameworks. We favor concrete proposals (in terms of technologies, industries, companies or markets) over general or broad ranging ones.
The Appendix below summarizes current research priorities of the Mack Center. The more closely your proposal aligns with some of these, the better. It should be clear from each proposal (1) which priorities it connects to, (2) which specific emerging technologies are being studied, (3) what research questions will be addressed and (4) what conceptual approaches or methods will be used to study your topic. Also, please explain why you are personally interested in these issues and how they related to your background, qualifications and future interests. The more focused your proposal is, the better chance it has of being funded. We especially welcome connections to the real world, in terms of contacts, issues, companies and data access.
The topics studied can range from information and communications technologies to the biosciences, or from nanotechnology to space exploration. We do not favor any type of emerging technology over another per se, although bioscience projects are getting much attention now. The Mack Center has produced an extensive scenario report on the future of the biosciences as well as the future of medical devices. Research connections are developing between Wharton and Penn's Medical School as well as with the Center for Bioethics at the University. Proposals that enhance these connections are especially welcome. Our Center can provide introductions to these other parts of the University.
It should be clear from each proposal (1) which emerging technologies are being studied, (2) what questions will be addressed and (3) what conceptual approaches or methods will be used to study your topic. Also, please make clear why you are personally interested in these issues and how they related to your background, qualifications and future interests. The more specific your proposal is, the better chance it has of being funded (other things being equal). We favor specific proposals (in terms of technologies, industries, companies or markets) over general or broad ranging ones. We especially welcome connections to the real world, in terms of contacts, issues, companies and data.
Requirements and Conditions upon Acceptance:
- Enrollment in Mktg. 890 in second part of fall semester (half unit course)
- Physical attendance of 5 classes with other recipients and the professor
- A written and/or oral progress report by October 30, 2007
- The final written report is due December 20, 2007 (soft and hard copy)
- Successful completion of Mktg. 890 and Ford Fellowship report
- Grant permission to post report as a protected PDF on Mack Center's website
- Grant permission to quote report (with acknowledgement) in Center research.
Half of the total stipend will be paid when the grant is announced. The remaining half will be paid on submission of an acceptable final report. You need to enroll in the MKTG 890 mini-course with Professor Schoemaker during Sept-Oct of 2007 and you must be in residence during that time period so that you can attend meetings in person as needed.
Application Deadline: April 30, 2007 Submit to:
Professor Paul J. H. Schoemaker
Research Director
Mack Center for Technological Innovation
Dep. Of Marketing, 7th Floor Jon M. Huntsman Hall
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA. 19094
Email: schoemak@wharton.upenn.edu
Telephone: 215 - 573 - 2895
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Appendix |
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RESEARCH PRIORITIES FOR THE MACK CENTER The priorities below signal the scope of our activities and guide us in deciding which research projects to develop and support. Please indicate in your proposal which research priorities it mostly closely connects with from the list below.
Impact of Emerging Technologies 1. The Disruptive Effects of Emerging Technologies on Industries
How do emerging technology-based industries differ from established industries? How do they emerge and evolve? What explains patterns of competitive entry, shakeout and survival in these industries? When and how do new entrants prevail over established companies?
2. Assessing Future Markets
How do firms assess the prospects for breakthrough product concepts based on emerging technologies, and cope with uncertainty in market potential, customer requirements, and competitive actions? What techniques are most effective for revealing the latent needs of customers?
Organic Growth and Innovation 1. Seeing New Opportunities Sooner
How can firms improve their opportunity set? What is the role of mental models and how can better questions prompt deeper innovation? What is the role of connect & develop, blue ocean strategy and other recent approaches in spurring organizational creativity.
2. Strategies for Participation
How do firms decide whether to aggressively pursue an embryonic technology on their own, acquire or license new technologies, participate in a web of alliances, or actively watch and wait? How should portfolios of options be balanced and managed over time? What should the balance between incremental and radical innovation projects?
3. Managing Intellectual Property
What is the role of intellectual property in a knowledge economy where information is ubiquitous? How do firms manage the tension between protecting their knowledge assets and sharing knowledge with partners? How do firms preserve competitive advantage and profitability as new technology systems become increasingly complex?
Organizing for Technological Innovation 1. Designing and Managing Alliances
How can established and entrepreneurial firms ally themselves to capitalize on their core strengths to achieve mutual benefits? How does the alliance life cycle evolve? How do single alliances differ from webs of alliances? What are the best practices?
2. Managing Innovation Ecosystems
Networks of innovation enable firms to draw on resources far beyond their immediate boundaries. How should the many partners in this ecosystem be selected, coordinated and motivated? What are the interdependencies and integration risks, and how is value created and shared among the partners?
3. New Forms of Organizations
What forms of organization are made possible by advances in technology? How are traditional forms being recombined to gain competitive advantage, and can a new form itself be a source of advantage? How can technology be used to improve the speed and quality of decisions in these organizations?
Navigating Uncertainty and Complexity 1. Managing High Uncertainty
Ambiguity and high levels of uncertainty along many dimensions are inherent in emerging technologies. How do best practice firms turn this uncertainty to their advantage? How useful are tools such as real options and scenario analysis? What biases interfere with managers' ability to understand these uncertainties?
2. Scanning from the Periphery
What processes and methods are used by best practice firms use to sense and act on the weak signals of threats and opportunities sooner than their rivals? How can new technologies be used to improve the gathering and interpretation of early intelligence from the periphery?
Investing in Technology Innovation 1. Justifying Uncertain Investments
How should firms value, select and track their investments in emerging technologies when the payoffs are distant and uncertain? What can be learned from the investing frameworks and processes used by venture capitalists? What is the role of NPV, options thinking and portfolio perspectives?
2. Balancing Risk and Reward in Growth Portfolios
How can firms improve their success rate in commercializing technological innovations, while protecting against undesirable outcomes?How should development processes be managed, when each project is part of an innovation system with many projects at a time and resources are limited? How should the portfolio of growth and development initiatives be optimized?
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