Stock Options: The End of the Affair?
It was front-page news when Microsoft announced early in July that it was shutting down its options program and planning instead to award employees shares of stock. To many corporations, especially technology firms, the move smacked of heresy. Options, they say, are the best way to motivate employees and lure top talent. Critics, however, believe options fueled the corporate scandals of the past few years … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Finance, Human Resources
US Annual Philanthropic Support
Venture Philanthropy in the US
Stock Option Repricing: Employees Benefit But What about Investors?
When the stock price of computer networking equipment maker Brocade Communications Systems skidded in late 2002, the pain was widespread. But it did not fall equally on all investors. Like other companies in similar situations, Brocade protected one class of investors – employees with stock options whose strike, or exercise price, had fallen below the market value – by simply issuing new stock options at … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Finance | Industry: Finance / Banking
Call Centers: Using Social Networks to Spur Staff Retention and Productivity
Call-centers are usually regarded as high-pressure workplaces where pay is often skimpy and turnover is rampant. Employee turnover rates in the industry range from 25% to 45% a year – which poses a problem for employers who invest substantial amounts in training workers only to see them leave. A new study by Emilio J. Castilla, a professor of management at Wharton, shows that if call-center … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Human Resources
The Triple Bottom Line: Student Activists Demand More from B-Schools
The idea that it is the business of business schools to teach future execs how to solve social and environmental problems has been slowly infiltrating B-schools around the world. But socially-conscious students are interested in changing more than their curricula; they also want to change the way businesses behave. Knowledge@Wharton looks at a variety of new B-school initiatives that are attracting students interested in “using … [ Read more ]
Content: Prospective MBA Content | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Miscellaneous MBA-related Resources
The Hidden Dangers – and Payoffs – of “Targeted Pricing”
Should your firm target your competitors’ customers with lower prices than the competition charges them? When might it make sense, instead, to offer discounts to your own customers? Under what conditions might this sort of approach – known as “targeted pricing” – backfire by driving everyone’s prices down too far? Recent research by Wharton marketing professor Z. John Zhang and several colleagues examines the complex … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Marketing / Sales, Pricing
Two Major Errors That Companies Make In Outsourcing Services
When companies outsource back-office services overseas, one of the biggest challenges they face is measuring the results. Failure to monitor whether work is being performed correctly after it moves outside a company can result in massive and costly errors. How can companies protect themselves against such risks? Ravi Aron, co-director with Jitendra Singh of a recent Wharton executive education program on business-process outsourcing, offers some … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Management, Outsourcing / BPO
Joseph L. Rice III
founder of private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Content: Thought Leader | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Management, Venture Capital
The Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Dispute
Few issues have fueled more transatlantic distrust than the ongoing dispute between the European Union and the United States about data privacy. Wharton management professor Stephen J. Kobrin probes the often overlooked roots of the controversy in his report, “The Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Dispute, Territorial Jurisdiction and Global Governance.” Resolving the issue will be especially challenging, he notes at one point, because the two sides … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: International
In International Private Equity Deals, Finding the Right Managers Is Key
Private equity investment in international markets comes with the same risks and rewards that it does in local ones – only more so, according to speakers on a panel entitled, “Go Local to Be Global,” at the Wharton Private Equity Conference in January. To profit from global economic growth, private-equity investors need strong people on the ground to source potential deals and nurture new companies. … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: International, Venture Capital
The Changing Use of Derivatives: More Hedging, Less Speculation
During the early and mid 1990s, companies – and at least one county – lost millions on derivatives speculations, leading to a rash of bad press and concerns over future losses. But today, derivatives rarely make the news. It’s not that they are in disfavor, says Wharton accounting professor Wayne Guay; it’s that they are used differently in a market that has matured. In a … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Finance
Are Stock Options In Your Future?
Given the recent turmoil surrounding stock options, employers and employees alike may be looking more skeptically at this once-popular form of compensation. Among the issues to be considered: How effective are stock options in aligning the interests of managers with the interests of shareholders? Do broad-based option programs improve company performance? And should companies be required to include stock option compensation as an expense on … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Finance, Management
Why Some Companies Retrain Workers, and Others Lay Them Off
In today’s economy, the odds that employees’ skills will need to be updated have increased, says management professor Peter Cappelli. The question then becomes, is your employer going to reinvest in you through retraining or lay you off and hire someone new? As director of the school’s Center for Human Resources, Cappelli wanted to know why a few companies have remained committed to retraining, even … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Human Resources, Management
China Can Help the U.S. Tackle Its Social Security Crisis
Much has been written about the looming pension crisis in the U.S., Europe and Japan, whose populations are aging. Wharton finance professor Jeremy J. Siegel argues that economic growth in China and the rest of the developing world holds the key to dealing with the impending crunch.
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Economics
Russia’s Struggle for Competitiveness
Is it safe to go back in the water for would-be investors in Russia? How far has Russia come? How far does it have to go? And what models will it follow? Linked by video from the World Bank office in Moscow, the Wharton School in Philadelphia, and World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., two dozen educators and researchers attempted to answer those questions last … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: International
Why Some Companies Succeed at CRM (and Many Fail)
What makes some companies so much better at managing customer relationships than their competitors? Put a different way, how are companies like Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Pioneer Hi-bred Seeds, Fidelity Investments, Lexus, Intuit, and Capital One able to stay more closely connected to customers than their rivals, in ways that significantly influence the profitability of the firm? It’s a question that Wharton marketing professor George Day answers … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Customer Related
Re-Examining the Role of the Chairman of the Board
As the debate continues over what constitutes good corporate governance, one suggestion has proved particularly intriguing – that the positions of chairman and chief executive officer be held by different people. The idea has both defenders and detractors, but everyone agrees that new checks and balances are necessary to prevent the types of abuses that have allowed some senior executives to virtually bankrupt their companies. … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Corporate Governance
What Works, What Doesn’t: Lessons from Two Companies that Outsource Back-Office Tasks
Many Western companies are considering moving back-office operations such as call centers to low-wage countries like India. While this approach can result in significant savings when the project is handled right, potential pitfalls can undo the benefits. Knowledge@Wharton spoke with two executives who have undertaken such projects for their organizations to understand where the pitfalls lie and how to avoid them.
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: International, Operations
You Could Have Shorted Dot-coms: You Just Didn’t
When the next round of finance texts is written, the American Dot-com Bubble of the late 1990s is sure to take its place with the classics – the Tulip Bubble, the South Seas Bubble, the run-up to the great crash of 1929. But what caused it? According to one theory, the problem was a shortage of short selling, say Wharton finance professors Christopher C. Geczy … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Finance | Industry: Investment Banking