CEO Boot Camp to Focus on Early Landmines To Survive and Thrive in New Positions

- Korn/Ferry, Wharton Club of New York & PrimeGenesis Join for Event with Aim
to Slash the 40% New Executive Failure Rate -

NEW YORK, N.Y., February 1, 2005 –  Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY), a premier global provider of talent management solutions, The Wharton Club of New York and PrimeGenesis have joined together to create a “boot camp” for CEOs that focuses on how to generate positive results quickly in new, high-risk positions.

The one-day boot camp will host its initial corps of CEOs on May 11 at the Penn Club in New York City.

“The number of demands that a new CEO encounters today is unprecedented,” says Joe Griesedieck, vice-chairman and managing director of the CEO practice at Korn/Ferry International, the executive recruiting firm that will select and invite the participants. “We’ve created the ‘boot camp’ concept to help equip CEO’s for the myriad of challenges and intense scrutiny they face in their early days.”

Included among the skills to be worked on are bridging the gap between strategy and execution, self assessment, building high-performing teams and learning how to accomplish in 100 days what might otherwise take six months or longer.

“We expect an intimate group of CEOs who have been recently promoted into or hired for roles in which they must hit the ground running in order to survive and thrive,” notes Kenneth Beck, president of The Wharton Club of New York. “They need intense training because, as the Center for Creative Leadership reports, 40% of new executives fail in their initial 18 months and newcomers to an organization fail even more frequently.”

To be conducted by Boot Camps Unlimited, an entity created by Beck and George Bradt, CEO and managing director of on-boarding and executive transition firm PrimeGenesis, the day will focus on value creation born out of strategies, capabilities and performance. It will stress eight essential elements:

The Building Blocks of Tactical Capacity:

• Shared Purpose
• Milestones
• Early Wins
• Roles
• Culture

Critical Executional Dimensions:

• Human
• Operational
• Financial

“These elements are the crucial differences between success and failure for new executives in a challenging transition,” says Bradt. “We’re confident the boot camp will harden participants for their coming encounters and enable them to make and sustain the best starts possible.”

He adds that the boot camp will be led by current and former CEOs as well as specialists in human, operational and financial matters.

About Korn/Ferry International
Korn/Ferry International, with more than 70 offices in 35 countries, is the premier provider of executive search and leadership development solutions. Based in Los Angeles, the firm partners with clients worldwide to deliver unparalleled senior-level search, management assessment, coaching and development and middle management recruitment services through its Futurestep subsidiary. For more information, visit the Korn/Ferry International Web site at www.kornferry.com or the Futurestep Web site at www.futurestep.com.

About The Wharton Club
The Wharton Club of New York is the networking, career guidance, educational and social forum for the 18,000 plus MBA and undergraduate Wharton alumni in the New York City metropolitan area. The club conducts a variety of events each year through the coordinated hard work of alumni, who are dedicated to the furtherance of the Wharton network and to giving back to the Wharton School and community at large. For additional information, visit www.whartonny.com.

About PrimeGenesis
PrimeGenesis is an executive on-boarding and transition acceleration group that helps leaders in challenging and new positions develop high-performing teams in their first 100 days to deliver sustainably better results faster and reduce the risk of failure. Its expert specialists have senior line management and organizational consulting experience with leading companies throughout the world and are based in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and London.  For additional information, visit www.primegenesis.com.

About Boot Camps Unlimited
Boot Camps Unlimited was created by Kenneth Beck and George Bradt as an entity to manage the CEO Boot Camps separate from their roles at The Wharton Club and PrimeGenesis. Beck is president of The Wharton Club of New York and was CEO of Beck Office Furniture before selling it in May 2004. He is a lifelong entrepreneur who has started and run several successful ventures. Bradt is the CEO and managing director of PrimeGenesis. His previous experience over the past two decades was in senior sales, marketing and general management positions at companies including Lever Brothers, Procter & Gamble and The Coca-Cola Company.

Media Contacts

Anneli Ballard  
Korn/Ferry International
+1 212 984 9350  

Sue or Bob Cole
Cole Communications
+1 914 793 0318