Optimize your Balance Sheet for Sustainable Growth (.pdf)
The battlefield of commerce is littered with companies that overemphasized sales growth beyond sustainable levels. Before you have a close encounter with Chapter 11, learn how to streamline your company’s balance sheet for sustainable growth from the experts at Wharton and GE Capital.
Content: Article | Sources: GE Capital, Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Finance
How Companies Sponsor, Listen in and Learn From Chat Rooms
When Chrysler wanted to promote interest in its new stylized PT Cruiser, the company set up chat rooms and discussion boards on its own corporate website where customers could share information about the product and create that all important buzz. Yes, there are downsides to corporate chat rooms/discussion boards, but for certain companies the benefits can be substantial.
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Marketing / Sales
CEOs Serve Themselves First in Mergers of Equals
In “mergers of equals,” target company CEOs frequently strike deals that benefit them personally but are not in the best interests of their shareholders, according to a new study by Wharton management professor Julie Wulf. Her analysis of 40 mergers of equals that took place during the 1990s includes explanations for the lower returns as well as a way to prevent their recurrence.
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Corporate Governance
Equity Loans: How to Sell What You Do Not Own
The market for lending equities is obscure and privately negotiated, but the benefits are substantial, according to Wharton finance professors Christopher Geczy and David Musto and Wharton doctoral student Adam Reed. In the article below, reprinted from the Financial Times’ Mastering Investment series, the three authors discuss short-selling in equity lending, short selling of IPO stocks and the legal issues of shorting.
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Finance, Industry Specific | Industry: Finance / Banking
US Equity Lending Market
U.S. Banking Industry M&A Activity 1980-1998
Has Bank Consolidation Been Good for Customers, or Bad?
As the once-fragmented banking industry continues the consolidation that began a decade and a half ago, what has been the impact of bank mergers on consumers? Are they finding higher fees and fewer free services, or lower interest rates and more service options? Some experts offer their opinions.
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Finance, Industry Specific | Industry: Finance / Banking
Poachers Are Out to Plunder Your Intellectual Property – Can You Do Anything?
As more companies outsource non-core activities and enter into alliances to extend their competitive reach, the risk that someone – a potential partner or vendor – could poach their intellectual property is increasing. While the risk of such theft is hardly new, it is rapidly becoming a serious problem in today’s post-industrial, information-driven society. Wharton’s Eric K. Clemons and Lorin M. Hitt have been studying … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Legal, Management
Measuring Returns on IT Investments: Some Tools and Techniques
How can executives measure returns on investments they make in information technology? This complex issue touches everything from decisions about replacing desktop computers with laptop models to investments in complex software systems. Experts from Wharton and Intel, the giant chip maker, suggest some methods that may help executives approach these questions.
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Finance, IT / Technology / E-Business
Are Efforts to Extend Patent and Copyright Laws Good for Business or Good for Society?
When it comes to foreign trade, U.S. businesses are famous advocates for strong, consistently applied intellectual property rights. Drug companies worry about weak patent law in India and software companies complain about the Chinese approach to property law. But what about the application of intellectual property laws at home? Are many firms more concerned with securing competitive advantage than with ensuring impartial laws?
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Legal
Good vs. Great Leaders: The Difference is Humility, Doubt and Drive
Lee Iacocca was a level 4 leader: effective in running the company but often more committed to self-aggrandizement than the sustained future of the institution. Darwin Smith, the little-known former head of Kimberly-Clark, was a level 5 leader. James Collins, author of Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies and the forthcoming book Good to Great, explains the difference.
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Leadership
How Deception, Reputation and E-mail Can Affect Your Negotiating Strategy
How widespread is deception in negotiation and how can you detect it? What are the pros and cons of using e-mail during the negotiating process? How does a good, or bad, reputation influence the outcome of a negotiation? This article gives an overview of three chapters in a new book entitled “Wharton on Making Decisions.”
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Negotiation
When Shareholder Groups Complain, Management Would Do Well to Listen
With the annual-meeting season getting underway, corporate executives can once again expect to be publicly targeted by shareholder groups unhappy over recent stock returns. Just how effective are shareholder activists and how constant is the pressure they exert on non-performing managers?
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Corporate Governance, Finance
Infosys’ Murthy: Sharing a “Simple Yet Powerful Vision”
Twenty years ago, N. R. Narayana Murthy and six others founded Infoysys Technologies Limited based on a vision “powered by intellect and driven by values.” Today, Infosys, based in Bangalore, India, is a world leader in IT consulting and software services.. During a presentation at Wharton, Murthy, chairman and CEO, shared his experiences as an entrepreneur.
Content: Article | Author: Narayana Murthy | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Leadership
How Employees Value (Often Incorrectly) Their Stock Options
Given recent increases in the use of stock options, one might reasonably expect that employees – the beneficiaries of this perk – understand how options work. But according to recent research by Wharton professors David Larcker and Richard Lambert, employees tend to be relatively uninformed as to the basic economics of stock options, a finding that has important implications for employers, boards of directors and … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Finance, Human Resources
Thinking of Buying a High-Tech Start-up? Read This First
Large companies in high-tech industries often buy small start-up firms with innovative products that supplement their existing product portfolios. The challenge in making such takeovers work, however, is that the big company should be able to integrate the upstart into its operations without losing the creativity and innovation that give the small company its value. How can managers deal with this complex challenge? Phanish Puranam … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton
Historical Cost Vs. Current Cost: Accountants Wrestle with Reporting Question
One of the foundations of American accounting is the Historical Basis approach, under which assets are presented on the balance sheet at their value at the time of acquisition. But in an era marked by the widespread use of complicated financial instruments and risk management strategies that may render yesterday’s prices obsolete, some people are asking if historical cost should be replaced by a current-cost … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Accounting
What Makes a Good Entrepreneurial Leader? Ask Middle Managers
Entrepreneurs, as most people know, are risk-takers who thrive on uncertainty and change, always on the lookout for their next startup. But according to new research from Wharton management professor Ian C. MacMillan and co-author Vipin Gupta, entrepreneurs aren’t the only ones who should be able to operate in unpredictable, high-risk environments. Drawing on an extensive worldwide survey of middle managers, the two authors outline … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Leadership
Will Stock Prices Keep Falling? Look Again at the P/E Ratio
Many analysts argue that despite the carnage on Wall Street over the past year, stock prices are still high by historical standards. Is that true? Could stocks fall some more before they reach bottom? Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel, author of Stocks for the Long Run, suggests that benchmarks such as the price-to-earnings ratio present a more hopeful picture than many market observers believe.
Content: Article | Author: Jeremy Siegel | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Finance, Market/Investment | Industry: Investing
A Fresh Look At Mutual Funds’ Performance Data
For mutual fund analysts, new insights into evaluating a fund’s performance don’t come along every day. Lately, though, financial experts at Wharton and other schools have collaborated on research that challenges some long-held notions about which funds are best for investors. Included in that research is a paper by Lubos Pastor of the University of Chicago and Wharton’s Robert Stambaugh on how to improve standard … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Lubos Pastor, Robert Stambaugh | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Finance | Industry: Investment Banking