Are Stock Option Rescissions an Unfair Benefit?

When the tech-stock bubble burst in 2000, a number of companies allowed key employees to cancel previous options-based stock purchases that had left them with deep losses. The implications of such favoritism are troubling enough that the SEC – not to mention shareholder activists – are taking a closer look.

Technology, Talent, And Tolerance

The nation’s leading high-tech centers are places where people from virtually any background can settle and make things happen.

The Web Gets Joined Up

So what exactly is Microsoft’s “.Net” and why should we take notice?

When Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer announced Microsoft’s new strategy 18 months ago, their explanation of this “bet-the-company” move was – at least to this columnist – as clear as mud. As it turned out, I was not alone.

As Leaders, Women Rule

Twenty-five years after women first started pouring into the labor force–and trying to be more like men in every way, from wearing power suits to picking up golf clubs–new research is showing that men ought to be the ones doing more of the imitating…That’s the essential finding of a growing number of comprehensive management studies conducted by consultants across the country…By and large, the studies … [ Read more ]

New Economy or Old Economy, a Shakeout is a Shakeout

Still wondering why the dot.com bubble burst? And what’s going to happen to all those smaller bubbles, the approximately 12,000 dot-coms that are still alive, many of them just barely? In a paper entitled, Shakeouts in the New Economy, Wharton marketing professor George Day and co-author Adam Fein analyze the causes of the bust and tell how to pick which companies will survive the downturn. … [ Read more ]

A Wireless Revolution Called Bluetooth

Article provides a plain-english look at a new wireless technology that has the potential to shake up several markets.

There’s Still a Lot of Life Left in These Old Economy Companies

David Komansky, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co., finds it ironic that the head of a financial services firm gets asked to lecture on the new economy these days. “Our company has been called ‘a relic from the Cro-Magnon era’,” he said during a visit to Wharton. “But because of the patterns that started in the last year, some of the virtues of … [ Read more ]

Syria’s Rough Road to Reform

Interesting article discusses the challenges facing Syria in changing its economy. Offers some useful background for those not knowledgeable about this country.

The New Old Economy: Oil, Computers, and the Reinvention of the Earth

“The New Economy is based on the production of knowledge. The Old Economy is based on natural resources and the production of physical goods. Now the line between them is beginning to blur. A New Old Economy is making productivity surge and ushering in an Age of Plenty.”

Excellent article looks specifically at the Oil industry and how it has moved into the modern technology era. … [ Read more ]

Marc Andreessen: Act II

Marc Andreessen is interviewed by Fast Company and discusses what he believes is still true – and what never was – about the Internet.

Surfing the Edge of Chaos: The Laws of Nature and the New Laws of Business

In this breakthrough business book, Pascale, Millemann and Gioja troll the emerging science of complexity for “ideas [that] can produce a concrete bottom-line impact.” Extracting key “dynamics of survival” from the life sciences, these three management consultants successfully show business leaders how to turn their companies into agile and adaptable “living systems” that achieve long-term vitality and sustainability in a swiftly evolving environment. Their four … [ Read more ]

The Social Life of Information

From the chief scientist of Xerox Corporation and a research specialist in cultural studies at UC-Berkeley comes a treatise that casts a critical eye at all the hype surrounding the boom of the information age. The authors’ central complaint is that narrowly focusing on new ways to provide information will not create the cyber-revolution so many technology designers have visualized. The problem (or joy) is … [ Read more ]

The Godzilla Companies of the New Economy

This interesting article (written before the dot.com shakeout) shows some interesting fallacies of thought but also makes some interesting and useful observations and analyses. Discusses three types of coprorations: Godzillas, Titans and Bystanders. Lists the following as features critical to Godzilla companies: Clarity of Focus; The Primacy of the Customer; Zero-Based Organization; Location Irrelevance; Value Chain Shortcuts; Pointcast vs. Broadcast; The CEO as … [ Read more ]

Sharing Power

Linking thousands of PCs was a neat way to hunt for space aliens. Now it’s a serious business tool.

Control Geeks

Websites bombard us with billions of banner ads. Avid surfers want to dodge the deluge. Arm both sides with shrewd software and you have the makings of a nasty little war.

How to Get a Date

Will e-scheduling turn humdrum service websites into “appointment Internet”?

The Morning After

This isn’t the first investment boom to go bust. Lessons have been learned from OPEC, Michael Milken and Japan.

Wharton Emerging Technologies Management Research Program

This independently managed site at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was established by the Wharton School to identify and explore the best ways for companies to compete, survive and succeed in industries that are being created or transformed by emerging technologies. The site has four major sections: Research, Insights for Industry, Events and What’s New.

Inside the Machine

This Economist article examines the impact and importance of the Internet on business and management. Raises some interesting points, some novel and some commonly known.

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