Wharton’s Web site boosts its brand, and brings in cash

The Wharton business school’s interactive site offers free podcasts, videos and social networking — and brings in revenue

While he’s not exactly cheering on the economic crisis, Mukul Pandya sure is flush with first-rate content as a result of it.

Knowledge@Wharton, the online journal for the Wharton School of Business, has never been more relevant, says Pandya, editor-in-chief of the site.

“As the financial crisis becomes more and more painful for people around the world, the need for knowledge about what is happening has become greater,” says Pandya, who is also executive director of the site. “These tools allow us to share knowledge faster with our audience at a time when such knowledge has real value.”

Knowledge@Wharton, which launched in 2006, has become much more than an online journal. Over the past year or so, Pandya and his team have expanded the site into a thriving portal with text stories, audio, video, social networking and a blog that is updated daily.

The benefit for users of the portal is obvious: They gain free access to the intellectual capital of one of the world’s preeminent business schools. The benefit for Wharton is a derived one, Pandya says.