It takes a lot to form a club in Penn and keep it running, but Ridhima Parvathaneni, founder of the Wharton Supply Chain Organization, has definitely gone above and beyond. The WSCO was only founded in Spring 2012, but it has already held the biggest conference in Wharton and organized a career exploration trek to Gilt Groupe and Fab.com. Here, this former fencer and member of the business fraternity of Delta Sigma Pi takes some time out of her busy schedule to talk to us about WSCO and its upcoming events, including a workshop collaboration with the famed and prestigious brand Ralph Lauren.
Name: Ridhima Parvathaneni
Year: 2013
School: Wharton/Engineering (M&T)
Major: Management/OPIM/Systems Engineering
What is the Wharton Supply Chain Organization (WSCO)?
The Wharton Supply Chain Organization is all about exposing us students to the what, why, when and how of successful companies around the world in various industries.
What made you decide to start the organization?
I was shocked to see how many Penn students did not what ‘supply chain’ – the very words that can make or break great companies – meant.
Although we see the marketing or finance facets of Google, Walmart and upcoming enterprises like Fab, we hardly know ‘how’ these firms operate behind the scenes. In essence, we are ignoring the backbone that helps make these companies so successful – the supply chain. I wanted to bridge this gap and make the Penn community better prepared for the real world with fundamental knowledge of supply chains.
Aside from that, this organization gives the WSCO Board and club members the invaluable privilege of meeting with senior executives of some of the best companies in the world!
Is the organization open to anyone? What kind of person would you encourage to join the WSCO?
It’s open to everyone. Anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals behind building/transforming enterprises and wants to personally meet and be inspired by senior executives from different industries is encouraged to join.
Although this organization was recently founded, it seems like you’ve organized several note-worthy events.
For starters, our inaugural Wharton Supply Chain Conference was the largest ever conference at Wharton, with 700+ attendees and senior executives of the world’s finest firms. Our second event was a truly prestigious career trek to Gilt Groupe and Fab.com, where we met with Gilt’s Founder and Chief Supply Chain Officer, as well as Fab’s COO.
Each and every WSCO event has, is and will always be unique and valuable. You will go home with knowledge you could never have gained elsewhere.
What can we expect to see from the WSCO in the future?
Next semester, we have numerous events in the pipeline including a tour of Amazon’s fulfillment center in Allentown, a workshop on manufacturing in China and dinner with a Walmart executive. Overall, it’s going to a busy and fun-packed year for us!
My favorite spot on campus is… Huntsman Hall (it’s home for me!)
My favorite time of the year at Penn is… September!
My most memorable experience at Penn is… The day that I crossed Delta Sigma Pi and the inaugural day of the Wharton Supply Chain Conference.