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Knowledge@Wharton 2008 Readership Survey
If you enjoy Knowledge@Wharton, please consider filling out our 2008 readership survey. We'd like to ensure we are providing the content that matters to you, the best matches between marketers and this site, and your general thoughts how we can improve. Your answers are invaluable. Better responses will help Knowledge@Wharton thrive. Thank You.
'In the Eye of the Storm': Citi CEO Vikram Pandit Sees a Difficult Recovery Ahead
As negotiators in Washington struggled to devise a plan to rescue Wall Street and avert a global financial catastrophe, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit noted during an interview at Wharton last week that even with government intervention, global financial markets will need years to recover.
Do the Answers to Our Current Financial Woes Lie in the Past?
Bad debt. Frozen credit. Stock market panic. Popular outrage. Political paralysis. The financial crisis that has dominated September's headlines may feel unprecedented to many Americans. But it feels altogether familiar to scholars who have examined the economies of other nations around the world that have undergone recent banking crises. During a panel discussion held the day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged a record 777 points, Wharton and University of Pennsylvania faculty offered their views on what the United States can learn from the past tribulations of markets as diverse as Japan, Mexico and Turkey.
On the Clock: Are Retail Sales People Getting a Raw Deal?
Ann Taylor Stores -- a New York-based retailer of upscale women's clothing -- is using a new computer scheduling system that assigns the busiest and most desirable hours to employees with the strongest sales numbers. Those with less success on the selling floor get far fewer and less desirable hours when new schedules are posted. While systems like these can help improve productivity, Wharton faculty and others warn that they are no substitute for hands-on management when it comes to dealing with workers.
Wanted: A President Who Can Lead During a Time of 'Daunting' Challenges
The new president's job, says one Wharton professor, "will be as hard as any job any person has ever had." For the 44th president of the United States, extraordinary managerial and cognitive abilities will be needed to tackle unprecedented challenges, including wars being waged in two countries and a financial system on the verge of collapse. Wharton and University of Pennsylvania faculty members offer their views on which leadership qualities will be most important over the next four years, and why. This article is the third in a series about economic and leadership issues focusing on the November 4 election.
Seth Berger's Full Court Press: Building a Company from the Ground Up
Seth Berger is founder and former CEO of AND 1, a company specializing in basketball shoes and apparel. Started by Berger and several classmates while they were students at Wharton in the early 1990s, AND 1's original product line featured t-shirts targeted at young basketball players; the company later expanded to offer a full line of apparel. Under Berger's leadership, revenues increased from $1 million in 1993 to more than $200 million in 2001. In 2005, Berger sold AND 1 to American Sporting Goods, a private footwear company based in Anaheim, Calif. Currently the head boys' varsity basketball coach at the Westtown School in Westtown, Pa., Berger spoke with Knowledge@Wharton about what it takes to build a successful company.
3D Movies: Adding Depth or Falling Flat?
Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg called the latest 3D movie technology "the greatest innovation to occur in the movie business in 70 years." A bevy of theater chains are exploring or installing digital cinema and 3D systems in the second half of 2008 into 2009. Intel and others are creating tools for companies to make a new generation of 3D animation films. Experts at Wharton say 3D movies are back in vogue, but it's unclear whether the latest greatest technology can give theaters a sustainable competitive advantage over other forms of entertainment.
'Feeling the Love' (or Anger): How Emotions Can Distort the Way We Respond to Advice
Here's a piece of advice: Don't read this story if you have just had a fight with your spouse or a co-worker. You will probably ignore it, despite its grounding in solid academic research. At least that's what Maurice Schweitzer, a Wharton professor of operations and information management, would suggest. In a recent co-authored paper, he shows that emotions not only influence people's receptiveness to advice but they do so even when the emotions have no link to the advice or the adviser.
Craig Mundie's 'Primordial Soup': Steering Microsoft through the Next Big Technological Disruption
When Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates stepped down from daily involvement with the company this past summer, the company's chief research and strategy officer, Craig Mundie, was one of two Microsoft executives tapped to fulfill Gates's role as technological visionary. In an interview with Knowledge@ Wharton, Mundie talks about his vision of the future of computing, the challenges and opportunities of disruptive technologies and how he intends to keep Microsoft relevant in the post-Gates era.
Ebb without Flow: Water May Be the New Oil in a Thirsty Global Economy
Is water the new oil? The answer is yes, according to a number of economists, business leaders, scientists and geopolitical strategists, who argue that it's time to stop taking for granted the substance that covers 70% of the planet and makes up a similar proportion of the human body. Just as the late 20th century saw an oil shock, the early 21st century may feature a water shock, where scarcity leads to a sharp price hike on a resource that has always been plentiful and cheap. Such a scenario could have an even bigger impact than peak oil, transforming markets, governments and ecosystems alike.
The $700 Billion Question: How Much Is That Exotic Security?
Economists and financial experts don't all agree that the Bush Administration's $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan -- a taxpayer-funded purchase of troubled mortgage securities -- is the best way to attack the credit crunch. However, even those who support the plan acknowledge that there is an unanswered question at its core: How would the government know if it is paying the right price for the exotic securities it plans to buy?
The Race for Energy: What Will It Mean for Western Firms?
Rising energy demand from China and India has unleashed a worldwide race to secure access to scarce fossil fuel resources, a more difficult proposition with the emergence of national oil companies in the resource-owning countries. While Western companies will likely feel the pain of increasing energy costs, there is a potential upside to global energy scarcity, according to experts from Wharton and The Boston Consulting Group: Renewable and nuclear energy present huge opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs.
Political Tensions Are Creating New Rules for International Business
Emerging economies still promise opportunity but also political risk for international businesses. Growing income disparity in rapidly developing economies, geopolitical tensions and anti-U.S. attitudes are among the broader political trends that could shape global business in the future, according to Wharton faculty. "Increasingly, politics will intervene and political management skills will be valuable for multinationals," says Wharton management professor Witold Henisz.
Not What, Not How, but Who? Western Companies Face a Worldwide Talent Crunch
Faced with an aging workforce and a growing demand for skilled workers in emerging markets like China and India, companies in the West are grappling with a talent crunch of unprecedented scope. According to experts at Wharton and The Boston Consulting Group, management responses include over-hiring to meet future needs, upgrading training in concert with universities and in-house corporate schools, and extracting greater productivity through innovation.
Huge Reserves, Emerging Market 'Challengers' and Other Forces Are Changing Global Finance
Rapidly developing economies have become drivers of change -- and sometimes disruption -- in global financial markets. That has important implications for companies in the U.S. and Europe as new players emerge, including sovereign wealth funds, state-controlled entities and acquisition-minded corporations. According to experts at Wharton and The Boston Consulting Group, these entities will increasingly look to buy assets beyond their borders, including controlling stakes in foreign companies.
BCG's Hal Sirkin on 'Globality' and the New Two-way Street of Global Business
According to Hal Sirkin, senior partner and managing director at The Boston Consulting Group, "The age of globalization is over." In its place is a new reality that Sirkin and BCG colleagues Jim Hemerling and Arindam Bhattacharya define in their recently published book, GLOBALITY: Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Sirkin describes how rapidly developing economies like India and China have changed global business from a "one-way street" benefitting Western multinationals to a two-way competition in which "blending the best of the East with the best of the West is most likely the winning formula."
Wharton Faculty Debate the Impact of the Financial Crisis
In a roundtable discussion on the fallout from a week of turmoil on Wall Street, Wharton professors Richard Herring, Susan Wachter and Franklin Allen discussed the ripple effect of the crisis across U.S. and global markets. They also speculated on the AIG bailout, which was announced shortly after this video was recorded on September 16.
Note to Investors: Don't Play Games with Asset Allocation
Big market downturns and jarring volatility have left small investors feeling whipsawed -- and nervous. But it would be a mistake to abandon classic long-term personal finance principles in the face of recent challenges. The 60% stocks, 30% bonds and 10% cash approach remains the best strategy. Wharton finance professors Jeremy Siegel, Richard Marston and Franklin Allen explain why.
Linking Commerce to Geopolitics: The Candidates' Views on Global Trade
With global financial markets in turmoil, trade will most likely be an urgent concern for the next president. As part of Knowledge@Wharton's ongoing coverage of the upcoming November election, we examine the candidates' views on trade issues. So far, both Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have tended to follow predictable party lines: McCain is a supporter of free trade and would back additional multilateral trade pacts, while Obama urges a reexamination of trade agreements and their effect on the environment and U.S. workers.
Jeremy Siegel on the Market: Rough Going for Now, but Stocks Still a Good Bet
The government's rescue of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG demonstrated clearly that the financial turmoil continues on Wall Street. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel says there are some positive signals in stocks and corporate earnings, but that it's too soon to conclude the market has hit bottom. Siegel also talked about inflation and commodities.
AIG Rescued: Was an $85 Billion Loan the Right Answer?
After refusing to bail out Lehman Brothers, the government agreed to an $85 billion loan to insurance giant AIG, effectively taking over the company. Knowledge@Wharton talked to Wharton insurance professors Olivia Mitchell and Kent Smetters to find out how the world's largest insurer got into this situation and how it can be prevented from happening again.
