version Date: April - The Wharton School of the University of ...

Management 621 The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania MBAExec (West) – Summer 2012
how Cisco approaches the acquisition process from an organizational design and human resource
systems perspective, and consider whether this strategy for innovation is sustainable over time.
Reading: Peter Cappelli, “A Market-Driven Approach to Retaining Talent,” Harvard Business
Review, January-February 2000, pp. 103-111.
Case: Cisco Systems: Acquiring and Retaining Talent in Hypercompetitive Markets, from Charles
A. O’Reilly III and Jeffrey Pfeffer, Hidden Value: How Great Companies Achieve Extraordinary
Results with Ordinary People, Harvard Business School Press, 2000, pp. 49-74.
Plus: Recent articles about Cisco
1. How does Cisco evaluate potential acquisition candidates
2. How does Cisco’s organizational structure facilitate the integration of acquired firms
3. How do Cisco’s human resources policies facilitate the integration of acquired firms
4. Can Cisco’s acquisition policies provide a sustained competitive advantage Are they
difficult to imitate
5. How will Cisco need to change its acquisition strategy following the dot.bust How
should it pursue innovation under these changed circumstances
Day 8, Session A MANAGING A START-UP Sat., July 20
Description: The challenges associated with a start-up company are very different from those of
managing a long-established firm. Even if acquiring and retaining talented individuals is key to a
start-up’s success, the pressing needs of establishing the business often push attention to “managing
people” issues to the bottom of the priority list, particularly implementing systematic approaches to
such basic functions as hiring, training, assessing performance, and providing non-financial rewards.
We will use the reading about different managerial/cultural “blueprints” found among a sample of
Silicon Valley start-ups and a case about a recent start-up to examine how entrepreneurs can most
effectively accomplish innovation and sustainable business success through their management of
highly skilled human capital. We’ll also explore the start-up experiences of class members.
Reading: James N. Baron and Michael T. Hannan, “Organizational Blueprints for Success in High-
Tech Start-Ups,” California Management Review, Vol. 44, No. 3, 2002, pp. 8-36.
Case: Automated Travel Systems
Day 8, Session B CREATING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE CULTURE Sat., July 20
Description: Here we explore the sources, and consequences, of a strong, performance-oriented
organizational culture. The readings provide definitions and frameworks for thinking about
organizational culture and point out how difficult culture change can be. The case, Mary Kay
Cosmetics, reveals how a strong performance-oriented culture emerges from the early choices of the
firm’s founder and is reinforced through the skillful use of ritual and ceremony. We will discuss the
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