Plenty of people in the publishing world fear that new media and the Internet will kill interest in reading literary fiction. Andy Hunter and Scott Lindenbaum however think of Twitter YouTube and the iPad as opportunities to introduce new audiences to the art of the short story -- and to tell stories in unique ways. They are the founders of Electric Literature a quarterly literary magazine that publishes using a print-on-demand model and enhances its stories through collaborations between author...
May 26, 2010•20 min
Teresa Lunt who directs the computing science laboratory at the Palo Alto Research Center is involved in a wide range of activities including ubiquitous computing security and privacy and ethnography for organizational environments and technology design. During a talk with Knowledge at Wharton at the recent Future of Publishing Conference in New York she discussed a few of her current projects -- such as research into workplace efficiencies a study on mobile advertising and the creation of a ric...
May 26, 2010•9 min
In the book In Search of Bacchus: Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism author George M. Taber took on the task (someone had to do it) of visiting a dozen of the most breathtakingly beautiful wine regions around the globe. What he came back with is a travel guide for oenophiles that also serves as a primer on how and why winemakers are increasingly turning themselves into destination sites. In addition Taber’s tour opens a window on the growing segmentation of the travel industry as ...
May 25, 2010•24 min
As use of the Internet grows and changes so has the ability of users to search for specific content or stories photos and videos that relate to certain topics of interest. One of the companies trying to harness and expand the power of search is Cuil which is developing Cpedia -- an engine that promises less repetition an encyclopedia-style summary for each search and results that integrate related topics and input and recommendations from users’ social networks. Cuil vice president of business d...
May 24, 2010•11 min
The Great Recession has given a black eye to the tools of financial innovation. Collateralized debt obligations synthetic derivatives and other once-arcane investment vehicles are now the poster boys of what went wrong -- toxic players in the boom-and-doom scenario of the housing implosion and market rout. But these highly opaque and complex instruments are not representative of real financial innovation which stresses transparency and responsible management of risk argues Wharton finance profes...
May 19, 2010•19 min
At the Wharton-sponsored Future of Publishing conference held on April 30 in New York one of the panels looked at the changing nature of content specifically the increasing popularity of user-generated content spilling forth from an ever-growing variety of sources. The panel included Katharine Zaleski executive producer and head of digital news products for The Washington Post and before that senior editor in charge of special projects at The Huffington Post. Following her participation in the p...
May 19, 2010•13 min
In the run-up to this week’s announcement of the European Union’s $960 billion stabilization plan Wharton management professors Mauro Guillén and Saikat Chaudhuri and Jean Salmona founder and chairman of the editorial board of ParisTech Review participated in an interview with Knowledge at Wharton on likely outcomes from the financial crisis facing Greece some of its sister countries and the European Monetary Union more generally. How did events spin so out of control? How will the politics of t...
May 12, 2010•1 hr
In recent years GE has faced severe business challenges -- the company’s $200 billion market cap is half of what it used to be. Still an area of enormous strength is the way the company identifies and builds leaders. Much of the credit goes to GE’s corporate learning programs executed through a learning facility in Crotonville N.Y. As business becomes more global how is leadership development at GE changing? How does GE use technology to teach leadership? What impact will the influx of the Faceb...
May 12, 2010•25 min
The recession and pullback by American consumers have dealt serious blows to the retailing landscape. Yet while some big names have gone under Polo Ralph Lauren has emerged relatively unscathed from the wreckage according to company president and chief operating officer Roger Farah who recently spoke on campus during the University of Pennsylvania’s Fashion Week an event co-sponsored by Wharton. He attributes the company’s revival and continued growth -- which includes a major push into the Asia...
May 12, 2010•11 min
Once dubbed the ”Celtic Tiger” for its transformation from an economic laggard to a growth powerhouse Ireland is now suffering from a stunning reversal of fortune. What once helped drive its economic surge -- a booming real estate market -- has now become the country’s bane. Wharton faculty and other experts weigh in on whether it’s fair to lump Ireland with Europe’s other sick economies such as Greece and what needs to happen for the country to regain its former glory as a magnet for internatio...
May 12, 2010•14 min
Goldman Sachs is the Wall Street mega-firm whose money-making prowess leaves many impressed envious or suspicious. Now the firm’s reputation is on the line as it fights a fraud suit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a single deal in 2007 the sale of a complex ”synthetic collateralized debt obligation” called Abacus 2007-AC1. The deal lost investors $1 billion but produced $1 billion in profits for Goldman’s collaborator Paulson & Company a hedge fund betting the hou...
Apr 28, 2010•20 min
What if you could print a perfect-bound volume for as little time as it takes to brew a cup of coffee? That is the premise behind the Espresso book machine which turns digital PDF files into paperbacks in minutes. Jason Epstein and Dane Neller chairman and CEO respectively of On Demand Books in New York the company behind the Espresso book machine believe their technology has the potential to transform book publishing. Epstein who was editorial director of Random House for 40 years recently wrot...
Apr 28, 2010•41 min
After losing $60 billion in the last decade -- and billions more recently when a cloud of volcanic ash grounded flights across Europe -- airlines are looking to consolidate as a way to return to profitability amid continued struggles with high fuel prices competition from low-cost carriers and a limited customer pool that shriveled even more during the recession. But experts are skeptical about the ”bigger is better” strategy. Many observers say the carriers have proved downright flighty at foll...
Apr 28, 2010•13 min
The Dow has closed above 11 000 the European Union is bailing out Greece and the U.S. economy seems to be perking up. Is the future as bright as it looks? In fact it looks pretty good says Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel. While the Dow’s 11 000 close doesn’t mean much to professional market watchers it can give ordinary investors a psychological boost. According to Siegel the U.S. economy is in a self-sustaining recovery no longer dependent on government stimulus. And while the housing m...
Apr 14, 2010•23 min
Your company has developed a new product that you think will be a winner. A lot of money has been poured into research and development analysis of the competition and advertising. But there is one key element you may have overlooked: What do you charge for the product? Wharton marketing professors Jagmohan Raju and John Zhang say companies frequently don’t put anywhere near as much thought into pricing as they should. In their new book Smart Pricing Raju and Zhang argue that firms ought to engag...
Apr 14, 2010•30 min
When microfinance began its scope was simple: Charitable donor-driven organizations with a mission to eliminate poverty gave out very small business loans to help the world’s poor. Big banks -- deeming the loans too small to be profitable -- steered clear. That is now changing said microfinance leaders who gathered recently at Wharton’s Aresty Institute of Executive Education to participate in the Women’s World Banking Advanced Leadership Workshop. Banks realizing there is money to be made at th...
Apr 14, 2010•14 min
To find the hottest restaurant bar or concert venue in town many young adults are no longer checking in with their friends. They’re ”checking in” virtually via Foursquare a location-based social networking site. While Foursquare is being touted as the Next Big Thing experts say the true potential lies in companies knowing exactly where customers are and pitching offers or services based on the spots these customers frequent. The challenge for Foursquare and others observers suggest is transition...
Apr 14, 2010•14 min
High-tech e-book gadgets are one thing that is revolutionizing publishing. If companies like Silicon Valley startup FastPencil get their way social-networking-based self-publishing services will be another. FastPencil is what CEO Steve Wilson calls a ”next-gen” publisher which uses social networking and an arsenal of widgets to take authors through their book projects from the drawing board to the bookshelf potentially for as little as $10. In a recent interview with Knowledge at Wharton Wilson ...
Apr 14, 2010•27 min
”Dire” is one adjective that Linda Katz founder and executive director of Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI) uses to describe the U.S. education system which is leaving an increasingly high number of children without adequate reading and writing skills. For more than 20 years CLI has been working with school systems across the country to overhaul how teachers are trained hired and mentored. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Katz discusses not only why classroom teaching is broken and w...
Mar 31, 2010•34 min
After discovering that hackers based in China had broken into the Gmail accounts of Chinese human-rights advocates Google halted operation of its Internet search engine on the Chinese mainland earlier this month and started directing users to its Hong Kong site. On March 29 Chinese officials retaliated by blocking some of Google’s mobile Internet services. While conflict may have seemed inevitable what does it mean for Google’s long-term plans for operating in China? And what lessons can other m...
Mar 31, 2010•31 min
America’s health care reform may be out of the emergency room but its prognosis remains sketchy. Passage of the historic 2 400-page legislation by no means ended the health care debate say Wharton experts: It just splintered one massive question mark into a lot of new big ones. As one Wharton professor noted: ”The current legislation is going to be in play for a good long time.” But he also pointed out that the bill offers new business opportunities in such areas as medical information technolog...
Mar 31, 2010•14 min
The Sweet Sixteen the Elite Eight the Final Four: It’s that time of year again when college basketball fans everywhere are betting on who will win this year’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament. But forget the fans. The big winners in terms of money are spread all over the playing field from the network broadcasting the games to the ticket sellers to the colleges that attract the players. How did the NCAA get to be such a money-making powerhouse? Hosted on Acast. See acas...
Mar 31, 2010•15 min
Just when consumers thought they had their 3G wireless gadgets all figured out it’s now time to start getting a grip on the fourth generation of wireless technology -- which will be much faster and far more disruptive than anything we have experienced before according to Scott Snyder in his recent Wharton School Publishing book titled The New World of Wireless: How to Compete in the 4G Revolution. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Snyder who is president and COO of consulting firm Decisi...
Mar 17, 2010•20 min
Fear is growing that Greece may default on a massive pile of debt creating a ripple effect of problems throughout Europe and beyond. Following pressure from the European Union and the European Central Bank the Greek government on March 3 announced a new round of austerity measures that include spending cuts and tax increases which critics fear will harm Greece’s economy. Meanwhile Wall Street banks are facing scrutiny for the complex financial instruments they used to allegedly disguise the coun...
Mar 03, 2010•28 min
Last fall after losing previous bids Rio de Janeiro -- Brazil’s second-largest city -- won the approval of the International Olympic Committee to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. According to Carlos Roberto Osorio secretary general of the Brazilian Olympic Committee this time around Rio had learned from its earlier failed bids and had the success of hosting the 2007 Pan American Games under its belt. That combined with Brazil’s ”special circumstances” of economic stability amid the global dow...
Mar 03, 2010•24 min
Alex Panos and his colleagues at TSG Consumer Partners a San Francisco-based investment fund believe that consumers will always be interested in products that enhance their lives even if it means paying more than they have in the past. That philosophy has brought impressive results for TSG primarily in the beauty food and beverage areas. Panos who joined the 23-year-old firm in 1998 spoke with Knowledge at Wharton about the company’s strategy why it favors family-owned businesses where to find o...
Mar 03, 2010•25 min
While some students may be using notebooks or netbooks to read textbooks these days some experts predict that within the next 10 years most U.S. college students -- and many high-school and elementary-school students as well -- will probably be reading course materials on an electronic device instead of in a paper book. And that will have a broad impact on students and teachers not to mention the $9.9 billion textbook-publishing business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...
Mar 03, 2010•14 min
When an entrepreneur has identified a potential business opportunity the next step is developing a business plan for the new venture. What exactly should the new plan contain? How can the entrepreneur ensure it has the substance to find interest among would-be investors? In this installment of a series of podcasts for the Wharton-CERT Business Plan Competition Wharton management professor Ian MacMillan explains that business plans must contain several crucial elements: They must articulate a mar...
Mar 02, 2010•16 min
Why do more than half of all start-ups fail? Because they bungle their marketing according to Leonard Lodish a professor of marketing at Wharton and co-author of two books Entrepreneurial Marketing and Marketing That Works. ”The dogs won’t eat the dog food is the way venture capitalists describe it ” Lodish says. The key lies in how a marketing plan is crafted. In this installment of the podcast series for the Wharton-CERT Business Plan Competition Lodish explains that marketing plans must take ...
Mar 02, 2010•17 min
A critical step in the creation of a new venture is raising the capital to bring the new business to life. What sources of capital can an entrepreneur tap and what factors must she or he keep in mind while going through the process? According to Stephen Sammut a senior fellow and lecturer at Wharton so-called angel investors represent one possible option. Another source is venture capitalists (VCs) who may fund start-ups or invest at a later stage in a company’s growth. In this podcast for the W...
Mar 02, 2010•26 min
