Knowledge at Wharton

The eurozone’s economy has begun a fragile turnaround since European Central Bank head Mario Draghi announced late last year that the institution would do “whatever it takes” to backstop the euro. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new start-up CommonBond is trying to revolutionize America’s student loan market by offering competitive loans via alumni investors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This second part of a two-part podcast on the new face of private equity (PE) in Africa looks at the areas of the economy most ripe for growth and also at some business models that PE firms are pursuing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The executive director of the Wilderness Foundation discusses his organization’s success integrating social programs into its mission and the important role that conservation has to play in Africa’s economic development. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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According to the United Nations tourism organization there were one billion international trips taken during 2012 alone. In a new book titled Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism journalist ElizabethBecker traces the history of tourism and points to the challenges facing the fast-growing industry which currently contributes $6.5 trillion to the world’s economy. In an interview...

How did IBM General Electric and other companies become growth leaders? Why is it that some companies lag behind -- and stay behind? Those are the questions that Wharton marketing professor George S. Day asks and answers in his book Innovation Prowess: Leadership Strategies for Accelerating Growth. Recently Day spoke with David Heckman practice leader senior management at the Wharton School’s Ares...

A Pew study last year confirmed that U.S. political partisanship has risen sharply. In the face of that trend is it possible for Democrats and Republicans to get along? Wharton professor Philip Tetlock recently spoke with Jonathan Haidt author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion to explore this question. Haidt breaks down why it is so hard for liberals and c...

In Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work bestselling authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath argue that humans don’t have a particularly strong track record of making good choices -- whether it is about our careers business matters or our personal lives. Knowledge at Wharton recently had an opportunity to talk with Chip about how widening your options reality-testing your assumptions atta...

According to Barbara Kahn director of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at Wharton the increasing popularity of social media has two implications for marketers: First customers now control the message and second companies must make sure that key elements of their brand can translate throughout the world. In a recent interview with Wharton MBA candidate Alexandra Idol Kahn discusses her new book Gl...

In their ebook The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook Ian C. MacMillan a Wharton management professor and James Thompson director of the Wharton Social Enterprise Program offer specific suggestions to strengthen the effectiveness of social enterprises. In the second of a two-part interview the authors discuss how two African social enterprises -- one in the chicken feeds business and the other in the...

LEGO has built a global empire and become a household name thanks to the interlocking bricks that its founders developed half a century ago. But the company almost went belly up in the early 2000s due to an innovation binge that took it too far away from what LEGO did best. In a new book Wharton practice professor David Robertson details how thinking too far ”outside the box” almost bankrupted LEG...

Studies put the failure rate of organizational change at 70% or higher. Yet managers face increasing pressure to implement change to meet short- and long-term goals. Gregory P. Shea and Cassie A. Solomon share their approach to dealing with this challenge in Leading Successful Change: 8 Keys to Making Change Work. Jeff Klein director of the Wharton Graduate Leadership Program recently spoke with t...

In the past few years the United States government has issued fewer regulations and worked to eliminate or improve existing ones. Cass R. Sunstein led many of these changes as administrator for the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. In his new book Simpler: The Future of Government Sunstein talks about how a more streamlined government can improve health lengthen lives and s...

Social entrepreneurs -- those who try to tackle major social problems such as poverty and disease while generating revenues -- are often well-meaning people. But in their desire to make a difference to society they sometimes fail to subject their ideas to rigorous tests. Ian MacMillan a professor of management at Wharton and James Thompson who leads the Wharton Social Enterprise Program have just...

Global organizations operating in the contemporary business landscape need to tightly link financial rigor and strategic insight. Increasingly senior financial executives are playing influential roles in strategy development and implementation working closely with the CEO and the board to creatively assess and design growth opportunities. The question is: Are CFOs prepared to move beyond the numbe...

Donna Noce entered college with the intent to major in veterinary medicine. But when a part-time job at a local retail store led to the chance to try her hand as a fashion buyer she became hooked on the retail industry. For the past six years Noce has been president of White House Black Market a retail chain that sells designs focused around the classic color combination. In this interview with Kn...

Many people in the Western world used to anticipate retiring in their 50s or 60s. Now they are embarking on new ”encore” careers at the very time when they might have previously been expected to begin a life of leisure. Marci Alboher author of The Encore Career Handbook: How to Make a Living and a Difference in the Second Half of Life spoke to Wharton professor Stewart Friedman about second -- and...

Brad Feld sold his Boston startup and moved to Boulder Colo. in 1995. The city already had a bustling entrepreneurial community and Feld was soon in the thick of things. He co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and earlier Intensity Ventures a company that helped launch software companies. More recently he co-founded two early-stage venture capital firms -- the Foundry Group and TechStars -- which pro...

READ Global an international non-profit that uses community libraries as a platform for creating social change in rural villages throughout India Bhutan and Nepal is the winner of the second annual Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize awarded to an organization that is creating social impact through leadership and innovation. Wharton administers the prize on behalf of the University of Pennsylvan...

Online real estate marketplace Zillow has brought to home buying and selling what a previous generation of travel websites provided to shoppers wanting to compare the prices of hotels rental cars and airline flights -- transparency. But finding data that is reliable across the board can be difficult according to Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff. And the key is not just simply to offer the information Ra...

A colleague asks you for feedback on a report. A LinkedIn connection requests an introduction to one of your key contacts. A recent graduate would like an informational interview. New research from Wharton management professor Adam Grant reveals that how you respond to these requests may be a decisive indicator of where you’ll end up on the ladder of professional success. Grant recently spoke with...

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In a world focused on increased productivity and instant gratification it’s hard to imagine that businesspeople have much time for meditation. But huge corporations -- including Google Monsanto Hearst and National Grid --have discovered the benefits of meditation at work  including improved teamwork more effective decision-making and lower levels of employee stress. In this interview with Knowledg...

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- better known as Obamacare -- was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010. Since then it has generated enormous amounts of debate controversy and uncertainty. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Bruce Broussard president and CEO of Humana the fourth-largest health care insurance group offers his take on Obamacare and the challenges -...