Dear Conference Participant,

Welcome to the 5th Annual Wharton European Conference!

The Introduction of the Euro in January of 1999 has significantly changed the economic and business landscape for the continent, unifying European capital markets and acting as a catalyst for mammoth corporate restructuring and investments. The continent is becoming the next New Economy center, promoting entrepreneurial ventures, spearheading global wireless telecommunications growth, and dominating the world through global mergers and acquisitions.

Interest in European development in the MBA community is also at an all-time high. More and more students and professors are becoming involved with European or transatlantic ventures, while the European component of the Wharton population continues to grow at a steady rate.

This year, we are also pleased to introduce a special focus on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union as part of the European Conference. In addition to our opening keynote and various other speakers who will be introducing Eastern European perspectives to the day's panels, we will be featuring a breakout session focused exclusively on the European emerging markets.

All of Europe, East and West, stands poised for historic levels of business development in the years to come and we are pleased to play a part by presenting the Fifth Annual European Conference organized by MBA students here on the Wharton campus

We are especially grateful to our Platinum sponsors, Booz Allen Hamilton and Goldman Sachs, our Gold and Silver sponsors, and all of our dynamic speakers for their support of this conference.

Thank you!

Cedric Duchamp, Co-Chair
Andrea Wetzler, Co-Chair
David Poritzky, Chair of the Eastern European Committee

Welcome Letter from Dean Harker and Vice Dean Herring

We are pleased to welcome you to the Fifth Annual Wharton European Conference. Wharton is proud to be hosting the conference that is run by MBA graduate students.

Wharton is making strides in maintaining a global leadership foothold in business education; over 8% of the 2000-year matriculating class is a Continental European citizens. The Fifth Annual European Conference, organized in large part by Wharton MBA students from European origin, is a demonstration of Wharton's international make-up and viewpoint.

The four panels that comprise the Fifth Annual Wharton European Conference will discuss key issues that will define the European business landscape in the next decade. Intra-national, international, and pan-European entrepreneurial ventures are re-shaping the business playing field, boosting European economies, and providing opportunities for growth and making Europe the next New Economy center. Europe is strides ahead of most of the world in mobile telephony. European telephone companies are moving quickly at attaining and developing third generation telephone applications, as well as developing businesses that marry the Internet and mobile telephone worldwide. Eastern Europe is recovering from the economic recession and political turmoil of the late 1990's and is becoming hub for many business opportunities. The recent surge in European-led Mergers and Acquisitions shows that the continents' businesses are not sleeping giants. These issues are pivotal in defining the European business landscape for years to come.

We hope you enjoy the Conference.

Sincerely,

Patrick T. Harker
Dean of The Wharton School

Richard Herring
Vice Dean and Director of The Lauder Institute

November 17, 2000 Philadelphia, PA