Knowledge at Wharton

The earthquake that rocked Haiti last week has caused unimaginable death and destruction a reminder that catastrophes are usually unforeseeable and therefore almost impossible to prepare for. Can any country or region of the world rich or poor take meaningful steps to avoid the destruction caused by catastrophes ranging from earthquakes and hurricanes to terrorist attacks and pandemics? Knowledge...

U.S. stocks boomed in the last nine months of 2009 but remained well below earlier highs. Indeed many people referred to the first 10 years of the 21st century as ”the lost decade ” because stocks returned virtually nothing while investors had been conditioned to expect 10% a year. Meanwhile bonds and commodities experienced a stunning run. Have the rules of investing changed? What’s ahead for 201...

Despite renewed GDP growth and other positive signs the U.S. isn’t out of the woods says Wharton finance professor Franklin Allen. In fact the country could be heading into a ”double dip” scenario that tips it back into a recession. That depends on how a number of factors play out in the coming months -- or even years -- not only in the U.S. but also around the world. Global interest rate policies...

Earlier this year Harbir Singh Wharton’s vice-dean for Global Initiatives launched a series of trips to foreign countries as a way for faculty to gain a deeper understanding of international economies and then use this knowledge in their teaching and research. Six professors recently visited the Chinese cities of Beijing Shanghai and Shenzhen and met with executives from Lenovo Haier and Huawei am...

In 2001 the merger between America Online (AOL) and Time Warner was accompanied by lofty hopes of synergies between new-world Internet prowess and old-world content delivery. But those hopes were short-lived. Now with a $30 billion deal to take control of NBC Universal (NBCU) Philadelphia-based Comcast is looking to integrate its cable pipes with many of the channels it distributes. But while much...

More than 100 world leaders gathered in Copenhagen on December 7 for a two-week summit meeting whose ambitious aim is to renew the Kyoto protocol on climate change. The issues being discussed include reducing emissions of green-house gases and setting a price for carbon among others. What are the likely business implications of these issues? What new challenges and opportunities will they create d...

When Dubai World announced late in November that it wanted a six-month delay on payments on $26 billion in debt the financial markets were thrown for a loop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 155 points or 1.5% European stocks dropped and oil prices plunged. The Dubai story is still unfolding -- the emirate’s stock exchange fell for the third consecutive day on December 9 after Moody’s downgra...

The global financial meltdown has been marked by shortages -- of oversight due diligence moral fortitude and common sense. Today approximately two years after the housing bubble burst and world stock markets collapsed possibly the only surplus left from the crisis is that of finger pointing and blame. A panel discussion earlier this week titled ”Responsibility and the Financial Crisis of 2008 ” br...

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If the past month is any indicator acquisitions are not only thawing but heating up. In October Comcast made a bid to merge its operations with NBC Universal to create a cable programming giant. In early November Kraft Foods announced a $16.5 billion bid for U.K.-based chocolate maker Cadbury -- also being sought by confectioners Hershey and Ferrero. The activity spans several sectors including te...

The current downturn has left many companies scrambling to manage workplace issues -- ranging from how to avoid a brain drain to how they can provide better value to customers and clients. Employees for their part face the challenges that arise from working in a leaner organization that demands increased productivity with fewer resources. Knowledge at Wharton talked about these issues with Peter C...

Marc Rowan founding partner of Apollo Management one of the world’s largest private equity investment firms makes it sound simple: Stick to the fundamentals -- that is buy a good business at a low price -- and you ultimately will see returns. Of course identifying those businesses is the challenge. Rowan who was in mergers and acquisitions at Drexel Burnham Lambert before starting Apollo spoke wit...

A key question that all would-be entrepreneurs face is finding the business opportunity that is right for them. Should the new startup focus on introducing a new product or service based on an unmet need? Should the venture select an existing product or service from one market and offer it in another where it may not be available? Or should the firm bank on a tried and tested formula that has work...

Last week the Obama administration’s ”pay czar ” Kenneth Feinberg announced that the government will impose caps on compensation for the 25 highest-paid executives at seven companies that received ”exceptional assistance” through the Troubled Asset Relief Program -- including American International Group (AIG) Bank of America Citigroup Chrysler Chrysler Financial General Motors and GMAC. Under the...

In a year when DVD sales are falling and studios are facing major shakeups in their executive ranks the movie industry has at least one success story to cheer about: Netflix. Despite the recession the Los Gatos Calif.-based company continues to thrive and is now in a race to transition to a business model focused on streaming content online while continuing to exploit its current model based on ph...

James Riady is the CEO of Lippo Group one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates with annual revenues of some $3 billion. The Group among the most active property developers in Southeast Asia has expanded into China and Hong Kong and plans to invest $10 billion over the next five years in the Asia Pacific region. It also has interests in media telecommunications retail and health care. Fifteen years...

Microsoft dipped its toe into retail waters this month by opening its first company store as a way to showcase the latest and greatest in PCs Zunes and Xbox consoles. But computer companies aren’t the only manufacturers moving into the retail space says Wharton marketing professor David Bell. Whether it’s handbags from Coach shoes from Nike or suits from Ralph Lauren consumers increasingly have th...

Five years ago C.K. Prahalad published a book titled The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid in which he argues that multinational companies not only can make money selling to the world’s poorest but also that undertaking such efforts is necessary as a way to close the growing gap between rich and poor countries. Key to his argument for targeting the world’s poorest is the sheer size of that mark...

Philadelphia-based Comcast the largest cable company in the U.S. has made a bid to merge its operations with NBC Universal -- home to the NBC television network Universal Studios and popular cable channels including Bravo USA CNBC and MSNBC. If the deal goes through it would create a programming giant allowing Comcast to produce and distribute content throughout its cable networks and on web sites...

Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski in late September outlined principles of net neutrality to promote more open use of the Internet. What will these developments mean for business in the U.S. and other parts of the world? In a new interview format called Five Questions Rajesh Jain CEO of India-based Netcore asks Wharton legal studies and business ethics professor Kevin W...

Unlike micro lending -- the better-known side of micro finance -- micro insurance has been a hard sell among the world’s poor. The reasons why include a lack of understanding of how insurance products work a general reticence on the part of poor populations to part with their meager financial resources badly designed products and a shortage of localized risk management knowledge among providers. W...

According to some estimates high-frequency trading by investment banks hedge funds and other players accounts for 60% to 70% of all trades in U.S. stocks explaining the enormous increase in trading volume over the past few years. But critics of the practice worry that those profits are coming out of ordinary investors’ pockets. Defenders on the other hand say high-frequency trading improves market...

On September 14 President Barack Obama gave a speech in New York to mark the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers failure. It was a year ago when -- during the course of a single jaw-dropping week -- the investment bank declared bankruptcy; Bank of America took over Merrill Lynch; and the U.S. federal government bailed out American International Group. How has Wall Street changed during the past yea...

For cable TV companies in the U.S. August 28 was a day to celebrate. Ending several years of regulatory battles a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals came down in favor of Philadelphia-based Comcast which sought to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s contentious 30% market share limit on cable TV operators. Not everyone is happy about the ruling fearing it will lead to cable monopolie...

Thailand’s Bumrungrad International Hospital is one of a growing number of institutions making a name for themselves among ”medical tourists” by offering patients from Boston to Bahrain a combination of lower-cost state-of-the-art medical care along with service worthy of a five-star hotel. But what will it take for such hospitals to gain acceptance among national policy makers major insurers and...