461 Posts found for Source: Knowledge@Wharton

It would be difficult to find a CEO or manager who says creativity isn’t a valued attribute of a good leader. So why do so many once-innovative companies get bogged down over time, with continuous original thinking the exception and not the norm? A new study co-authored by Wharton management professor Jennifer Mueller found that although creativity is often named as being important, individuals who … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Jennifer Mueller | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Leadership, Organizational Behavior

Competing successfully in this new decade requires companies to meet the needs of both low-growth and high-growth markets while differentiating themselves from foreign and local competitors. Building a low-cost global production network that taps into the strengths of each geographical region is critical. Also crucial to success: innovating products, processes and business models to increase margins wherever possible — and to gain market share. Key … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Sources: Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: International, Strategy

Wharton finance professor Luke Taylor has heard the conventional wisdom that boards of directors often fail to do their jobs when it comes to firing underperforming CEOs. And while data shows that only 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs on average are fired each year, Taylor notes that there is no benchmark for judging whether that figure is “a lot or not enough.” To address that … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Luke Taylor | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Corporate Governance

What exactly is the relationship between money and happiness? It’s a difficult question to pin down, experts say. While more money may make us happier, other considerations — such as whether you live in an economically advanced country and how you think about your time — also play into the equation. An increasing number of economists, sociologists and psychologists are now working in the field, … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Economics, Organizational Behavior

To come up with the next iPad or Amazon, the pacesetters of the future need solitary brainstorming time, according to new Wharton research. In a paper titled, “Idea Generation and the Quality of the Best Idea,” Wharton professors Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich argue that group dynamics are the enemy of businesses trying to develop one-of-a-kind new products, unique ways to save money or distinctive … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Christian Terwiesch, Karl Ulrich | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Innovation

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 … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Education, Leadership | Company: General Electric (GE)

Multinational corporations have a lot of good things going for them. They have built up a rich store of knowledge over the years, allowing their subsidiaries to share ideas and best practices in ways that smaller companies can only dream of. They also exploit their vast global reach and on-the-ground knowledge to sniff out new concepts or products being used by rival companies in other … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: L. Felipe Monteiro | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Innovation, Organizational Behavior

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 … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Pricing

Could a simple five-minute interaction with another person dramatically increase your weekly productivity? In some employment environments, the answer is yes, according to Wharton management professor Adam Grant. Grant has devoted significant chunks of his professional career to examining what motivates workers in settings that range from call centers and mail-order pharmacies to swimming pool lifeguard squads. In all these situations, Grant says, employees who … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Adam Grant | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

Irrationality is the focus of behavioral economists, who appear to be gaining greater credibility in macroeconomic circles since the housing bubble of 2008 and the ensuing global financial meltdown. They are also at the center of an age-old debate recently reignited by columnist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman in a September 6 New York Times Magazine article titled, “How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?,” … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Economics

When developing business strategies, it is wise to think about “frictions,” the forces that make it difficult for buyers and sellers to connect. Those elements — location, convenience or lack of information — help explain how different firms, such as a small local retailer and a national store, can coexist in the marketplace, according to research by Wharton management professor Olivier Chatain and an INSEAD … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Olivier Chatain, Peter Zemsky | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Strategy

Venture capitalist, consultant and former Apple software “evangelist” Guy Kawasaki talked about “the art of innovation” during a recent visit to the University of Pennsylvania. He offered 10 rules for entrepreneurs and innovators.

Content: Article | Author: Guy Kawasaki | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, People

Executive compensation packages that provide huge payouts for short-term stock-market gains have been blamed for playing a role in the risky behavior that triggered the continuing financial crisis. In a new research paper, a Wharton professor and several colleagues say they have come up with something better: A compensation structure based on long-term escrow accounts.

Content: Article | Author: Alex Edmans | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Corporate Governance

Risk managers armed with the most sophisticated quantitative tools available did not foresee the biggest development in a generation — the systematic breakdown and global contagion of financial markets. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, John Drzik, president and CEO of the Oliver Wyman Group, Richard J. Herring, a finance professor at Wharton, and Francis X. Diebold, a Wharton professor of economics, finance and statistics, discussed … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Risk Management

This year, companies are reluctant to make predictions about their financial performance in the months ahead. The problem, according to the companies, is not that they don’t want to present a gloomy picture; it is that they just don’t know how the economy will perform. Risk management models have been criticized for failing spectacularly to predict or prepare firms for the crisis now shaking the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Risk Management

We have seen a tendency to separate risks into rigid silos — operational risk, market risk, credit risk and so on. But what we have found is that major shocks and problems do not come that way. For instance, in the financial world, you would see trading desks staffed with people who were experts in market risk, but they were trading instruments that were laden … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Richard J. Herring | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Risk Management

The great unspoken issue is about payoffs, and the degree to which payoffs are skewed in an industry. In an industry with many players, low barriers to entry and where only a small number will make a lot of money, the payoffs are highly skewed. If this is the case, you cannot afford to take a conservative approach. So winning is not about limiting the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Phil Rosenzweig | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Risk Management

We tend to forget that the computer only answers questions; it does not ask them…. Those who live only by the numbers may find that the computer has simply replaced the oracles to whom people resorted in ancient times for guidance in risk management and decision-making.

Content: Quotation | Author: Peter Bernstein | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Risk Management

Mark-to-market accounting rules require toxic assets to be carried on companies’ books at fire-sale prices, based on recent trades of similar assets for far less than they would command in normal times. Many big banks say the crisis has been made worse by these rules. Not everyone agrees.

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Accounting, Finance

Getting customers to spread the word about a new product through their social or professional networks is a hot strategy in the marketing world. But how do companies find the right individuals to deliver the message? New research by Wharton marketing professors Raghuram Iyengar and Christophe Van den Bulte finds that traditional targets may not be so influential.

Content: Article | Authors: Christophe Van den Bulte, Raghuram Iyengar | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Marketing / Sales