Despite the hurdles they face in entering the global market companies emerging from the highly fragmented and competitive domestic market in China will have distinct advantages that many Western competitors are unprepared to deal with according to experts from Wharton and Boston Consulting Group. Among them: steep cost savings in wages and safety requirements and a widespread lack of concern or clear regulation regarding intellectual property protection. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...
Oct 16, 2006•21 min
Experts from Wharton and Boston Consulting Group say that firms should not underestimate the skills they will need to navigate the labyrinthine networks of state-owned distribution companies and small private wholesalers in China -- particularly as they try to expand outside the country’s largest 30 or 40 cities into its 500-plus other large markets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 16, 2006•14 min
Despite rapid urbanization and the emergence of a strong status-conscious middle class experts from Boston Consulting Group and Wharton point out that China is still ”a country of extremes ” where it pays to understand the differing habits and mindsets of the rich and poor as well as the subtleties of consumer rationales for trading up and down when making purchases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 16, 2006•20 min
Because it is so difficult to generalize about Chinese consumers multinational companies using global ”one-size-fits-all” marketing strategies seem destined to fail in China. Knowledge at Wharton spoke with Deepak Advani senior vice president and chief marketing officer of computer manufacturer Lenovo and Hal Sirkin senior vice president of BCG and leader of the firm’s Global Operations Practice about strategies for selling to Chinese consumers. The key they point out is to tailor products and m...
Oct 16, 2006•16 min
Less than three years after emerging from nowhere the hot social networking website MySpace is on pace to be worth a whopping $15 billion in just three more years. Or is it? And is the much smaller Facebook really worth the $900 million or more Yahoo is reported to have offered for it? The problem say Wharton experts is a dearth of information -- including data on expected revenue generation and cost structure -- to plug into the standard valuation models. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy ...
Oct 04, 2006•11 min
In writing his latest book The Go Point: When It’s Time to Decide -- Knowing What to Do and When to Do It Michael Useem asked more than 100 leading decision-makers to analyze decisions they had made to name their best and worst decisions to describe how they reached them and to comment on what if anything they would change about how the decisions were arrived at. Useem director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management at Wharton talks with Knowledge at Wharton about The Go Point. Hoste...
Oct 04, 2006•32 min
When Henning Kagermann became the sole CEO of SAP in 2003 a position he had formerly shared with company co-founder Hasso Plattner he faced a number of challenges including an economic slowdown that hurt SAP’s growth. Kagermann quickly reshaped the company’s product offerings and adjusted its market focus to position SAP for the next generation of software. But because SAP’s software is critical for many businesses change requires a delicate balance between progress and stability. Knowledge at W...
Oct 04, 2006•37 min
At a recent Wharton roundtable discussion on leadership and innovation panelists were asked how the two are linked and what single factor they think is most critical to innovation in their industry. The answers (in a word): culture passion marketing among others. The event during which panelists also reflected on their career choices was part of Wharton’s 125th anniversary celebration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 04, 2006•14 min
A deal between YouTube and Warner Music Group to share music videos and revenue could usher in an era where the interests of content copyright holders and freebie-loving consumers align. Or it could wind up being just another stab at a business model for YouTube. The outcome will be determined by how the revenue between copyright holders and distributors like YouTube gets shared say experts at Wharton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 04, 2006•16 min
People who access the Internet for what have become routine functions -- sending emails writing blogs and posting photos and information about themselves on social networking sites -- do not realize how much of their personal privacy they put at risk according to Wharton faculty and legal experts. Nor they add have the courts fully addressed the ways in which the Internet can be harnessed for questionable purposes that encroach on privacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...
Oct 04, 2006•17 min
It’s always been assumed that when employees leave their companies to join other ones that all their knowledge and experience leave with them. But new research suggests that at least in the high-tech field firms can wind up gaining access to the knowledge being generated at their former colleague’s new place. The results of this research are presented in a paper titled ”Learning from Those Who Left: The Reverse Transfer of Knowledge through Mobility Ties ” by Wharton management professor Lori Ro...
Oct 04, 2006•9 min
It’s not work/life balance and it’s not career burnout. Instead some employees are starting to set career paths based on their own needs values and definitions of success. They are otherwise talented and energetic workers who are ”plateauing” -- setting boundaries around their ambitions rather than striving to climb the next step up the corporate ladder. Some companies are beginning to take notice providing new options and opportunities in the ongoing war for talent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...
Oct 04, 2006•22 min
In the five years since the attacks on September 11 2001 Howard Kunreuther Wharton professor of operations and information management has collaborated with members of the private and public sectors to determine how individuals and firms can be motivated to enhance security in our interconnected world. In a new book titled Seeds of Disaster Roots of Response: How Private Action Can Reduce Public Vulnerability Kunreuther and other contributors argue that the United States will continue to be at ri...
Sep 27, 2006•21 min
Alex Gorsky was named head of Pharma North America and CEO of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. the U.S. affiliate of Swiss drug giant Novartis in the fall of 2005. Since joining the company in 2004 as chief operating officer and head of general medicines Gorsky has overseen the continued growth of Novartis’s industry-leading cardiovascular franchise notably the blockbuster drugs Diovan and Lotrel. The company sells a variety of products including those that treat endocrine and respiratory disease ...
Sep 27, 2006•21 min
Optimism seems to be everywhere just as the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee gets ready once again to pass judgment on where interest rates are headed. The consensus is that Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will keep the federal funds rate unchanged. Part of the reason is that oil prices are down and inflation seems to be under control. Still the bursting of the commodities bubble has not been a universal blessing -- as investors in the Connecticut-based hedge fund Amaranth Advisors discovered a...
Sep 20, 2006•17 min
It’s been an exciting couple weeks for fans of digital downloads of music and movies with Microsoft’s official announcement of its Zune portable music player along with the Zune Marketplace download service; Apple’s announcement of several new models of its iPod music player and the new availability of movie downloads from iTunes; and Amazon.com’s introduction of its ”Unbox” service offering rent-or-own movie downloads. Knowledge at Wharton spoke with Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader and ...
Sep 20, 2006•26 min
Shiv Nadar is chairman and CEO of HCL Technologies a subsidiary of Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL) a firm he co-founded in August 1976 and which includes HCL Infosystems. While most Indian IT firms have made their mark in software HCL has been a pioneer in hardware (although it is also the fifth-largest Indian software maker). In the first of a two-part interview with Knowledge at Wharton and Ravi Aron a senior fellow at Wharton’s Mack Center for Technological Innovation Nadar discusses issues...
Sep 20, 2006•15 min
Three years ago mutual funds were accused of allowing favored customers to engage in late trading and market timing that hurt ordinary investors. The scandal has subsided but questions remain: Is short-term trading encouraged by the use of out-of-date or ”stale ” stock prices in valuing fund shares? And what remedies will work without penalizing ordinary investors? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 20, 2006•9 min
Facebook a social networking site known as an online meeting place for college and high school students is opening its doors to more people in an effort to grow beyond its current nine million registered users. Could such a move end up blurring the company’s focus and diluting its brand? Are there better ways to expand? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 20, 2006•12 min
On August 21 2006 Time Warner’s America Online revealed that it had released three months of search queries from 658 000 subscribers which contained enough data to possibly identify some of the users. The privacy breach underscored the perils of supposedly ”anonymous” Internet profiling. Yet a different type of anonymous Internet profiling is highlighted in a new research paper by Wharton professor Balaji Padmanabhan and Catherine Yang. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...
Sep 20, 2006•11 min
As Wharton marketing professors George Day and Paul Schoemaker see it the recent and well-publicized travails of Ford Motor Coca-Cola and Pepsi offer clear examples of the distinction between vigilant leadership and operational management. To explain that distinction Day and Schoemaker have identified four leadership traits: external focus conceptual ability organizational role and time horizon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 20, 2006•15 min
First it was textiles and consumer electronics. Next may be cars. China is once again looking to target a key consumer market in the U.S. Can China become a powerhouse in the global automotive industry and if so when? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 20, 2006•14 min
The struggle to raise pay for low-income workers once fought in agricultural fields and on factory floors is moving to the aisles of big retailers in Chicago where large national chains like Wal-Mart and Target may be forced to offer higher wages along with every-day low prices. While retailers complain the legislation may lead them to stall plans for new downtown stores Wharton faculty say Chicago’s proposed living wage law is largely symbolic and would have little real impact on large retail c...
Sep 06, 2006•13 min
Floyd Landis’s potential as a product endorser dropped faster than a cyclist speeding down a mountain road when he tested positive for synthetic testosterone after winning this summer’s Tour de France. Sports columnists denounced him even as the companies that had invested tens of millions in him and his team dropped their sponsorships. Landis of course isn’t the only celebrity or athlete who managed to misbehave this summer. Consider sprinter Justin Gatlin French soccer player Zinedine Zidane a...
Sep 06, 2006•12 min
Two Wharton researchers have developed a mathematical model that they say will allow companies for the first time to predict at what pace new products will gain acceptance in markets where purchasing decisions by knowledgeable influential customers sway the buying habits of others. Wharton marketing professor Christophe Van den Bulte and doctoral student Yogesh V. Joshi say their model can be put to use in industries as diverse as movies music pharmaceuticals and high-technology. Their findings ...
Sep 06, 2006•12 min
When making a purchase a consumer has a choice between using frequent-flier miles cash or some combination thereof. Which will he or she choose? Another consumer has an opportunity to participate in a special program to get a free car wash after paying for a certain number of washes. What’s the best way for the car-wash owner to motivate the customer to participate? Such questions are serious business for airlines hotel chains credit-card companies and other corporations that offer loyalty progr...
Sep 06, 2006•13 min
Roberto Civita is chairman and CEO of The Abril Group one of Latin America’s largest and most influential communications companies. Based in Sao Paulo Abril publishes nearly 100 magazines including its flagship Veja launched by Civita in 1968 and now the world’s fourth largest news weekly. The publication well-known for exposing political corruption in Brazil has been instrumental during the past year in bringing about the resignation of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inner circle. At the...
Sep 06, 2006•15 min
The day after Michael Dell’s visit to Wharton on August 29 2006 the Wall Street Journal published a front-page article entitled ”Consumer Demand and Growth in Laptops Leave Dell Behind.” The article replayed the drumbeat of bad news that has recently hit the $56 billion PC maker -- a 51% decline in second quarter earnings from the same period a year ago a stock price that is down 60% from its high in 2000 the exodus of key executives to rival manufacturers -- and suggested that the company’s str...
Sep 06, 2006•19 min
Given Microsoft’s efforts to create a music player and service dubbed ”Zune ” and its offer of design assistance to PC makers in preparation for the company’s new Vista operating system it appears that the software giant is increasingly dabbling in hardware and playing a bigger role in product design. The big question is: Why? While some analysts dismiss Microsoft’s efforts as Apple envy experts at Wharton say there is a bigger picture. Microsoft wants more control over integrating its software ...
Sep 06, 2006•14 min
After 17 consecutive interest rate hikes during the past two years the Federal Reserve’s open market committee decided on August 8 to leave the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25%. While stocks immediately rallied in response they fell back as it became clear that inflationary pressures persist and they could prompt more rate hikes in the future. What does this mean for markets and investors? Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel told Knowledge at Wharton that Fed chairman Ben Bernanke met e...
Aug 09, 2006•12 min
