IRVING, Texas, April 21, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- YPO, the premier global network of chief executives and business leaders, is preparing to showcase global innovations through its new initiative YPO Innovation Week, a series of more than 30 events taking place around the world, from New York and London to Sydney and Silicon Valley, during one week in May.

"In a world that is getting increasingly smaller and more interconnected, YPO provides a unique platform for business leaders - who are not just visionaries, but also doers - to share insights and inspire future executives around the world," said Scott Mordell, chief executive officer of YPO.

Members of YPO, many of whom are considered the best and brightest in their industries, have developed different collaborative platforms, including livestreaming events and global conference calls, to engage the 24,000 YPO members and their companies around the world, sharing not only disruptive technologies but also flexible innovation strategies that adapt to fast-changing market trends.

YPO Innovation Week events will include workshops, conferences, panel discussions, presentations, global conference calls, as well as "idea jams" where YPO members can host structured sessions to turn new ideas to actionable goals at their own companies. Also included is a "Shark Tank" style faceoff between top student entrepreneurs, allowing YPO members to vote virtually for their favorite entrepreneur-leading business schools.

In another event, a virtual classroom designed to reproduce the intimacy and interaction of Harvard Business School's famed case study method, allows participants an unprecedented virtual learning experience leveraging the best that HBS faculty have to offer. Similarly, in a global conference call, Dr. Johan Wiklund, professor at Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University, explores the correlation between ADHD and entrepreneurship.

The kickoff event for YPO Innovation Week features the founding father of Australian private equity and venture capital, Bill Ferris, discussing how to take advantage of new innovation initiatives. Later in the week, YPO members in Silicon Valley will take an exclusive tour of the PayPal campus where they will discuss strategy and innovation. 

One of the leading entrepreneurs in Asia, CEO and president of GLOBIS Yoshito Hori, will discuss how innovation can transform businesses and societies. Hori will lead members through innovation principles being successfully embraced by many Japanese companies.

"While entrepreneurship is the development of business from the ground up, innovation is the main engine of growth for companies already in business today. Today's top innovative companies design processes and frameworks that drive continuous results. For them, it is a robust discipline managed similarly to sales or operations," said Kevin Fallon, chair of YPO Innovation Week. "Studying successful innovators provides a better track to accelerate your innovation performance."

ABOUT YPO

YPO is the premier chief executive leadership organization in the world, a global community of peer leaders committed to the shared mission of becoming "Better Leaders Through Lifelong Learning and Idea Exchange." YPO today provides more than 24,000 members in more than 130 countries - representing a diversified set of industries and types of businesses - with access to extraordinary educational resources, alliances with leading institutions, and specialised networks designed to support their business, community and personal leadership. Altogether, YPO member-run companies employ more than 15 million people around the world

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CONTACT: press@ypo.org