Successful innovation managers act on ideas the competition hasn’t even thought of yet.
The Mack Institute’s Corporate Partner Network is an exclusive consortium that connects business leaders, researchers, world-class Wharton faculty, and students. Through conferences, workshops and publications, we facilitate knowledge-sharing between academia and industry, helping business leaders across industries to harness the power of emerging technologies and markets.
Each of our corporate partners receives a customized experience. We work with our partners individually to identify challenges, opportunities and connections that serve their unique needs.
Benefits of Corporate Partnership
In addition to facilitating access to academic thought leadership, talented students, and a network of peers, other benefits of corporate partnership include:
Partner Meetings
Involvement with the Mack Institute begins with meeting our faculty leadership, who will spend 2-3 hours evaluating and discussing the partner’s current issues. These meetings help our faculty incorporate the partner’s concerns and interests into our research activities and conferences.
Conferences and Workshops
Partners gain complimentary access to our industry conferences and academic workshops; we feature experts from a wide range of disciplines, companies, and industries to engage in thoughtful discussion of cutting-edge topics around technology and innovation. These events often include periods of intensive small group discussion on critical business issues.
Speaking Opportunities
From speaking at an industry conference to interacting with students at a club event to starring as a guest speaker in the classroom, the partnership provides a number of highly desirable chances to take the stage in front of a Wharton audience.
Cross-Industry Networking
Members share approaches on managing innovation by collaborating with their peers from various industries. Our conferences serve as great starting points to meet peers in the network. As the relationship deepens, the Mack Institute facilitates customized partner interactions, providing companies the chance to partner with one another.
Partner Roundtables and Workshops
Roundtables and workshops on emerging technologies, innovation strategies, and best practices are available for partners of the Mack Institute. Faculty moderate these roundtable events and provide insight on industry trends, challenges, and current research. Roundtables and workshops may be held virtually or in person.
Student Access Through Collaborative Innovation Program (CIP)
CIP connects our three main stakeholders: faculty, students, and industry leaders. Corporate partners propose a current business challenge they’d like to address and the Mack Institute selects students to work on the project under faculty guidance. Partners indicate deliverables they wish to receive and meet with the student team to review project outcomes.
Customized Access to Wharton/Penn
After identifying each partner’s unique areas of interest, the Mack Institute helps identify opportunities for engagement, both at Wharton and in the wider Penn community. We facilitate connections to scholars, corporate partners, students, and various schools and centers across the university, allowing partners to participate in research and explore topics of mutual interest.
Partnership can also include site-visits by Mack Institute leadership, scholars, and researchers in Town Hall events, cross-industry workshops, and student challenges.
Current and Past Corporate Partners
In addition to our current corporate partners above, the Mack Institute hosts innovation leaders from a wide range of industries as guest speakers at our conferences and sponsored events. The following is a sampling of the companies represented at our most recent events.
Knowledge Network
In addition to our corporate partners above, the Mack Institute hosts innovation leaders from a wide range of industries as guest speakers at our conferences and sponsored events. The following is a sampling of the companies represented at our most recent events.
